There's a farmers market near me (about an hour and a half east of San Francisco) that used to take EBT but compliance was too difficult, so now they don't. It's not one of those preppy organic-only farmers market, but actually sells whatever produce is currently in season and in surplus, so it's half the price of even discount grocery stores.

EBT could go a lot further there, but the regulations weren't really written to work with dozens of short-term vendors, instead of a corporate contact.

Food assistance programs are so paternalistic. It is more efficient and gives better outcomes to provide money directly to those in need.

I'd imagine this is more common than one would think, unfortunately. Has SF tried to determine how much "fresh food" is purchased through this program? What qualifies as "success" here?