Advocacy and grassroots efforts are the cornerstones of change.  Your voice is important and your law makers and elected official need to hear your concerns directly from you. See below for a link to find your representative. 

There is so much going on and sometimes it is hard to put it into words.

You will find a letter from The Ecology Center and Roots of Change below.  Click the links for more information and a helpful tool kit.

Greetings, CNIP supporters.

We appreciate your ongoing support to ensure that the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP), which funds Market Match and programs like it, is included in the state budget.

We are in the final stretch and we need YOU, and your stakeholders (farmers' market managers, farmers, CalFresh customers, non-profit advocates) to Call the Governor and Senators about CNIP! 

We've prepared a small toolkit to assist you in this. You can find that HERE. I've also summarized the "script" for calling below.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, and thank you in advance for your engagement!

 

The most crucial action to take is to call Governor Newsom at 916-445-2841 and to call your State Senator.

Here’s an example script. Please modify it to suit your needs/experience:

CALLING THE GOVERNOR:

Hi, my name is [NAME], and I am a constituent calling from [LOCATION] to urge the Governor to support the California Nutrition Incentive Program, or CNIP, in the state budget.

CNIP was included in the Assembly version of the budget at $35 million, and I respectfully request that the Governor support including this one-time funding for this vital program.

CNIP provides a dollar-for-dollar match on CalFresh purchases, supporting California families, farmers, and the economy. I am [a farmer, a farmers’ market manager, a non-profit advocate, and a CalFresh recipient], and CNIP is essential because [it supports my business; it supports small farmers in my farmers’ market; it helps my family purchase more fruits and vegetables…ETC.]

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

- The Ecology Center and Roots of Change