Dear Friends:
Welcome, summer! And with it, welcome to long, sultry days, more time to relax and spend time with family and friends, and an abundance of fresh, local food, produced by the people and places that BAV supports every day of the year.
Photo: Angela Cardinali

Program Updates

In April, BAV announced the launch of the Market Match Fund, an economic development and food access initiative designed to provide a consistent, annual funding stream to match customer SNAP benefits at Berkshire area farmers markets. Since then, BAV has raised and distributed $100,000 across 9 different Berkshire area farmers markets! The feedback from markets, community members and farmers has been inspiring.

“When we started farming, it was important for us to produce great food for more than just a narrow segment of our community,” said Michael Gallagher of Square Roots Farm, who sells at both the Pittsfield and North Adams markets. “The market match programs have been a big part of what has allowed us to do that. But it's a huge burden on the markets to raise those funds. Sometimes funds run low midway through the season and the markets have to reduce the amount they will match, or suspend the matching entirely. This funding will provide consistency and predictability for customers and vendors. I really love going to the market and connecting with all the people who we are able to feed. And I love seeing the egg carton overflowing with EBT market match tokens at the end of the day!”

BAV will continue to provide this funding to local farmers markets through 2022 and beyond.
SNAP tokens at the North Adams Farmers Market; A meaty conversation with Michael Gallagher of Square Roots Farm, Mark Phillips (former BAV staff), and Dan Carr (BAV Outreach & Technical Assistance Manager)
"Meating" the Demand – Currently, the demand for local meat in the Berkshire-Taconic region far exceeds the supply, primarily because of the limited capacity of processors (see chart). The goal of BAV’s Local Meat Processing Support Program is to expand the capacity of regional meat processors to better meet that demand.

As part of this effort, BAV is partnering with Berkshire Grown to coordinate a Livestock Working Group. The group, which meets bi-monthly, is made up of local meat processors, livestock farmers, and food distributors, and works to inform the larger project by talking about firsthand experiences with both the challenges and opportunities for our regional livestock industry. We aim to meet with as many local livestock farmers as possible to get a wide range of experiences and opinions. To find out more about the Livestock Working Group, please contact Jordan@berkshiregrown.org.

Jordan Archey, Livestock Working Group Coordinator
Farmer and Food Business Spotlight: Celebrating Pride Month!

“​​Seeing LQBTQ+ representation in farming does matter! Like with all careers, community spaces, and identities, seeing yourself represented makes you feel welcome. It means that you can feel, and be, safe in that community, or on that farm. By voicing and celebrating that we are a queer-owned farm, we hope to share that anyone can expect to be welcomed on our farm and their identity will be respected!”

Laura Tupper-Palches, owner, farmer, Full Well Farm (a BAV client farm in Adams, MA)

Why We Give

“Small farms and agricultural ventures have interested us for a long time. BAV’s leadership has been inspirational in the many ways the organization supports farmers. Because so much of our philanthropic efforts have been aimed at dealing with problems of food insecurity in our region, we especially appreciate BAV. With our roles in and support of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, we have witnessed how BAV’s work fits perfectly in with our major philanthropic interests.”

Bob and Mary Ann Norris, Great Barrington

The first-ever Columbia County Climate Carnival is a family-friendly event taking place on Saturday, July 16 at the Columbia Co. Fairgrounds in Chatham (NY) from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. You’ll find a Repair Cafe, a Free Store, Bike Recycling, a Compost Compound, plus demonstrations, music, entertainment, and food! BAV will be present to discuss climate-smart agriculture, and we hope to see you there!
Good music, good cause – Land tenure for farmers is a critical issue for the Berkshire-Taconic region. For our farmers to succeed, they must own – or have long-term leases on – the land they care for. A series of musical performances this summer and fall, hosted by The Harry Conklin Fund for Farmsteads Concert Series, will benefit one of those farmers, Molly Comstock, a recently displaced vegetable grower. We hope to see you there!

The Berkshire Food Co-op’s Round Up for Change campaign will benefit Berkshire Agricultural Ventures for the month of July. While you shop for the best in locally grown and prepared foods, your spare change can make a big difference in the local agricultural system, too!

In the News
The Berkshire Edge, Berkshire Eagle and other regional media helped share the news that BAV recently awarded $100,000 in grants to nine area farmers markets to match customers’ SNAP benefits while increasing sales for local farmers!
Thank you to all of our generous donors from
the past two months, with special thanks to:
The Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation
The Gilson Family Foundation Inc.
Neil Chrisman
Cream-O-Land Dairies LLC
Lee Venolia
Laura & Stuart Litwin
Jason Duffy
Photo credits: unless photo credits are placed in the footer for space-saving.