Sixty-eight-year-old Bah is like a kid in a candy store as she bounces from the veggie stand to the strawberries to the tamales and hummus at the Todos Santos Farmers’ Market in Concord on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Her money is stretching further than she expected today because when she swiped her EBT card for $15, she received $30 worth of market cash. “I just love buying these fresh potatoes; they’re so good they melt in your mouth,” Bah says as she tops off her bag to an even five pounds before moving towards Rodiguez’s organic strawberry stand. “And the strawberries are so sweet they’re like candy.” Bah is one of the more than 100 shoppers taking advantage of a grant provided by the California Nutrition Incentive Program, a market match initiative meant to help folks using WIC, CalFresh or EBT benefits by providing an extra $15 to shoppers. Since coming to fruition in 2009, CNIP has helped food-insecure families work towards being food secure. However, the market match program was slated for removal from Gov. Newsom’s January budget until supporters of the program petitioned, rallied and fought to save the program. Cheyenne Erickson, regional market manager for Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association, says she’s grateful the hard work to save the market match paid off because it helps everyone. “A lot of people don’t know they can use their EBT, WIC, Calfresh cards here. We want them to know that they can, and we encourage it,” Erickson says. “Not only can people get fresh produce, they’re also supporting the local community, stimulating the economy and helping farmers. And a lot of the farmers are eligible and use the program as well.” Francisco drives to the market with organic strawberries from Rodriguez Farms in Watsonville, a farm that has become a fixture in markets across the Bay Area over the past three decades. “The program supports people in need—especially moms who are raising their kids on their own or people with disabilities or anyone—[to] get healthy food,” Francisco says while doling out strawberry samples. “At the same time it helps us farmers, too.” Lorenzo Crocket, the assistant market manager, is on sight to distribute market dollars and answer questions. While relatively new in his role, he’s been a part of markets as a recycle/repurpose artist and vendor for nearly a decade. For those who feel self-conscious about using resources like food assistance, Crocket has one word of advice, “Don’t!” He adds, “Many people are going through tough times, and we’re here to help.” Crocket reveals that he’s 25 years into his sobriety journey, but it was the act of reaching out for help that helped him reshape his life. Along with therapy, Crocket took up art, which is what brought him to markets initially. “I started finding abandoned signs, trash, things that had been discarded because I didn’t have the funds to procure canvases,” Crocket says. “I know what it’s like to feel like garbage, to have my self-esteem shattered, to feel abandoned. It’s been part of my healing journey to repurpose garbage and make it into something beautiful.” During a break from customers at the market stand, Crocket shows me his Instagram account with an image of Harriet Tubman that he painted on a railroad sign and another of Bayard Rustin that he painted on a “Do Not Enter” sign. “Rustin was important in the civil rights movement but didn’t get as much recognition as MLK because he was gay,” Crocket says. “The sign represents the barriers that he faced—with white people because he was Black, with Black people because he was gay. The art representing those challenges is a history lesson and hopefully something that can bring folks together and help them see that there are more similarities than differences.” While farmers’ market patrons who stop by Crocket’s booth for information, recipes or market cash will likely never know about Crocket’s passion for connecting people to each other through art, chances are they’ll leave knowing that farmers’ markets are spaces where everyone belongs. “I love being out here, networking with the public, enjoying the sunshine and the fresh air,” Crocket says while inhaling deeply and opening his palms toward the sky. “And days like this, that bring so many people out. You can’t beat this.”  The Todos Santos Farmers’ Market happens year round, Tue 10am-2pm. To find the farmers’ market closest to you, visit www.cafarmersmkts.com. To learn about Crocket’s work, visit instagram.com/iconic_vinyl_art.