Ecology Center

Incorporated on April 22, 1970, Ecology Center is a 501c3 nonprofit with 50 employees, a $4.7M annual budget, and a broad base of community partners. Ecology Center’s mission is to inspire and build a sustainable, healthy, and just future for the East Bay, California, and beyond.

We address critical issues through a model of education, demonstration, replication, and advocacy. We envision a world where human activity nurtures the ecosystems that we all depend on — a world of sustainable cities; empowered, resilient communities; zero waste and zero toxics; equal access to healthy food; sustainable resource use; and a safe and stable climate.

Since 2013, Ecology Center has led the Market Match program.

The Ecology Center’s role in Market Match

  • Convenes the California Market Match Consortium (CMMC) quarterly calls and annual Market Match Face to Face Conference to effectively exchange best practices, facilitate discussion, and train new and returning CMMC partners.
  • Onboards new Market Match partners by providing training, technical assistance, tools, and promotional materials.
  • Provides centralized grant administration.
  • Develops centralized promotional strategy, tools, and materials to promote the Market Match program statewide.
  • Maintains publicly-available map and schedule of farmers’ markets that offer Market Match, in addition to the markets that accept EBT, and all other certified farmers’ markets in California (FMFinder.org).
  • Streamlines data collection and reporting tools; Aggregates statewide data.
  • Advocates for policies and legislation that strengthen the Market Match program.
  • Operates Market Match at our three Berkeley Farmers’ Markets.

Further, Ecology Center is working with the California Market Match Consortium to:

  • Bring Market Match to every region of the state in order to increase the purchase of farm-direct fruits and vegetables by low-income California consumers participating in SNAP.
  • Develop and test technological innovations that improve benefit redemption systems for use at direct-sales outlets, including farmers’ markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and Community Supported Agriculture outlets.
  • Evaluate overall program efficacy and specific programmatic elements, such as optimal incentive level.