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A New Law Allows Mobile Farmers’ Markets to Take Payments by WIC

Fresh fruits and vegetables are important to a healthy diet, but good access to is not easy for everyone, due to costs and whether a community even has a green grocer open for business. Mobile farmers’ markets help fill the gap.

With support from two local nonprofits—Concord-based nonprofit Fresh Approach and the Agricultural Institute of Marin—more Californians will be able to enjoy access to fresh produce as a new law introduced by District 18 Assemblymember Mia Bonta makes WIC benefits eligible at mobile farmers’ markets! More than 940,000 families participate in WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children funded by the federal government.

“Mobile farmers markets are an emerging strategy to bring fresh fruits and vegetables directly to communities,” says Bonta. “This bill will make nutritious, culturally relevant options more accessible to Californians who may otherwise rely on convenience stores with limited availability of fresh produce.”

Assembly Bill 2786, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, takes effect on January 1, 2025, establishing the definition of a mobile farmers’ market in state law and requiring the Department of Public Health to include these mobile markets in their state plan of operation for the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, enabling families to use their benefits at mobile markets.

Mobile farmers’ markets are already in operation in Butte, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, and Yolo counties with an additional market planned for Alameda, Napa, Los Angeles, and San Luis Obispo counties soon. If voters pass Proposition 4 (the Climate Bond) on the November 2024 ballot, $20 million will be invested for certified mobile farmers’ markets throughout California.

Make sure you are registered to vote in November, and then make sure to vote!