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Issue #45 | August 2023
Supporting collective action
toward an equitable, sustainable, resilient, and connected local
food system in Massachusetts.
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Things you can do right now to
support systemic policy change.
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Comment on food chain resilience
Comment on how MA should use the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure funds to strengthen the middle of the food supply chain. Farmers, food hubs, agriculture organizations, and distributors are especially encouraged to complete this survey.
Add suggestions to the MA Health Framework draft
The MA Health Framework will influence how students learn about nutrition and food literacy. The Collaborative would like to see more emphasis on school garden education, culinary skills, climate change, and food justice. Submit your comments by completing this survey or by emailing Kristen McKinnon by August 28.
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Highlights of the
Collaborative's work.
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Thoughts on the floods
This growing season has been particularly hard for farmers across the state. This summer’s frequent storms led to saturated soils and flooding in the Connecticut River Valley and central Massachusetts in mid-July. Subsequent floods during the following days added to the existing damage. This is the third extreme weather event farmers have dealt with this year, after a subzero deep freeze in February and a late frost in May killed fruit tree crops, greatly reducing the harvest of peaches, nectarines, cherries, and some apples.
The effects of these floods are felt deeply; small farmers and community gardeners have lost everything, impacting their household food security, and larger farmers have lost a significant portion of their acreage, potentially making their whole crop unmarketable and calling into question how they will pay their loans this year. According to MDAR, at least 110 farms have been affected by the floods, covering 2,700 acres, and totaling at least $15 million in damages. Each of these farms are economic drivers, as farms buy local services and goods, and sell directly to consumers, grocery chains, and institutions, keeping money circulating locally.
More extreme events will occur with continued climate change. Many farmers that were affected by this weather also participate in programs like the Healthy Incentives Program, the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, Local Food Purchase Assistance grant program, farm to school programs, and more. These events have reduced the food that will move through these programs.
The supplemental budget was signed into law by the Governor on August 1st and includes $20 million for farmer relief! This funding will be available as grants to cover crop losses by farmers affected by floods, deep freeze and late frosts, and will be jointly managed by MDAR and the Executive Office of Administration and Finance. The Collaborative deeply appreciates Senator Jo Comerford, Senate President Karen Spilka, and Ways and Means Chair Senator Michael Rodrigues and Rep. Natalie Blais for their work and understanding of how vital this funding is and farmers for their advocacy. The Collaborative will monitor implementation to ensure equitable allocation of funds, as state grant programs have not always been accessible in the past to small and BIPOC farmers. This funding will be available as grants to farmers affected by floods, deep freeze and late frosts, and will be jointly managed by MDAR and the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.
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Image of World Farmers’ land in Lancaster. |
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2024 State Budget includes significant funding for the food system
The fiscal year 2024 budget has been signed by Governor Maura Healey into law! This year’s budget includes several important wins for a sustainable, equitable, resilient food system. The Food Security Infrastructure Grant program is funded for the first time in the annual budget at $25 million, signaling a strong commitment from the Governor and legislature to make the program, which helps food system business and organizations purchase infrastructure needs to better serve everyone in their communities, permanent for the first time. The local food policy council grant program was funded at $250,000, creating another round of funding for councils which work collaboratively to strengthen local food systems. Thanks to great advocacy from the Campaign for Food Literacy, $1 million will go toward coordination between DESE and MDAR, funds for field trips, and a pilot program to enable several districts to hire food literacy coordinators. The Healthy Soils Program was funded for the first time with $1,020,000, thanks to NOFA-MA’s advocacy after the release of the Healthy Soils Action Plan.
We were pleased to see permanent, universal free school meals included in the budget, thanks to the work of the Project Bread and Feed Kids campaign! Language establishing a commission to study school food nutritional quality was also included, along with a requirement for DESE to produce a report on school food waste.
All of these wins are a strong signal that the support in the legislature for a sustainable, resilient, equitable food system remains high, thanks to your advocacy. However, we remain deeply concerned that the amount for HIP will not be enough for the program to operate for the entire year, as it was funded at a little under $14 million, with $5 million in new funding and a roughly $8.8 million carryover. The program spent $15.1 million in incentives in FY23.
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HIP surpasses $50 million!
Between April 2017 and June 30, 2023, more than $51 million of HIP has been spent! This is $51 million in nutritious, local produce purchased directly by low-income families from farmers. The Campaign for Healthy Incentives Program Funding thanks every advocate who has ensured the program has continued beyond its initial federal funding to become the growing program it is today. This is only possible thanks to the legislature’s continued investment, the HIP team at DTA and MDAR’s continued support, and HIP farmers' commitment to serve more members of local communities.
Farmers have shared that thanks to the program they were able to invest in their businesses in ways they would not have been able to previously, break even for the first time, and grow new crops that community members ask for. “The need for fresh food for people in need is real. Customers have commented on how much it means to them to have this benefit. It helps our farm more than I ever thought it would. Sales are strong, and as a farmer I am proud to serve all of our customers. The farms are the most important part of the food system.” said Lanni Orchards based in Lunenburg. “It's a pleasure to be a part of a program that actually helps people in a real way. Eating a healthy diet full of fresh fruit and vegetables is such an important part of our lives and we are proud to be able to promote this,” said Lisa Foppema, owner of Foppema’s Farm based in Northbridge.
The Campaign encourages farmers and farmers’ market managers to invite your state legislators out to visit you to see HIP in action. This growing season is a critical time to reconnect with legislators to thank them for supporting HIP, show them the impact the program has, and prepare for a potential supplemental budget campaign later this winter.
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State funding enables UMass Extension to purchase soil equipment
In the fiscal year 2023 budget process, the Collaborative prioritized advocating with UMass Extension to fund critical equipment needs so Extension could continue to serve almost 6,000 businesses across the state. As a result of this secured funding, UMass Extension has been better able to support farmers and farming in the state, and decades of disinvestment are starting to be reversed. Funds have supported staffing and enabled UMass Extension to take steps to hire four new educators in soil health, urban agriculture, integrated pest management, and pollinators. In addition, they have supported a number of key purchases with long-term benefits, particularly at the UMass Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Lab. The lab has received multiple pieces of new equipment and staff are receiving training over the summer. These equipment and other purchases will increase lab efficiency, reduce wait times for customers during peak periods, and support development of additional services. These funds support agricultural, horticultural, and forestry practices that protect pollinators, water, air, soil, and other natural resources.
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Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG) Program recipients announced
On July 20th, Governor Healey announced the businesses and organizations that will receive funds through this round of the FSIG program. $26.3 million will fund 165 projects to help strengthen the MA food system. Many of the recipients had been impacted by drought or extreme weather events.
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Save the date for the 2023 MA Food System Forum
This one-day event will be held on Friday, Dec. 8 at Holy Cross in Worcester. We look forward to strengthening the statewide food system community, discussing important food topics, and developing skills so we can all advocate for a stronger, more equitable MA food system.
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Inspiring work being done by some
of our friends in Massachusetts.
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Neighborhood Food Action Collaborative
Representatives from the Neighborhood Food Action Collaborative (NFAC) presented at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Ounce of Prevention Conference as a replicable model to address food insecurity and other health challenges in communities across the Commonwealth. They shared their learnings from two years of work on a hyper-local model that prioritizes community leadership and cross-sector partnerships to position those most affected by institutional racism and food access challenges to be in the driver’s seat of bringing solutions to their own neighborhoods. Read more here about their process, how they’ve helped 300 people enroll in SNAP, and their goals for the future.
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Thoughtful insights about
food system issues.
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Decision-makers tour flooded farms
On July 24th Senate President Karen Spilka, Sen. Chair of Ways and Means Rodrigues, Sen. Jo Comerford, Sen. Pacheco, and Sen. Gomez joined MDAR Commissioner Ashley Randle, and Director of Rural Affairs Anne Gobi in Hatfield at Smiarowski Farm. They were there to learn more about the impacts of the flooding and announce funding to help farmers who suffered tremendous losses. Over 100 farms were impacted from large multi generation farms to small farms operated by new farmers.
Farmer Bernie Smiarowski said he lost about 200 acres of potatoes among his farms in Hatfield, Deerfield and Northfield, and was still assessing additional damages caused by flooding. Mumat Aways, President of the New Family Community Farming Cooperative, a Somali Bantu farming cooperative with members who live in greater Springfield, also spoke. They farm land in Northampton and Hadley that was flooded. Read and watch more about this event.
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Job Posting Sites
Job Listserv
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Upcoming Food System Events
Know of another great source of events or jobs? Let us know!
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The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative envisions a local food system where everyone has access to healthy food, to land to grow food, to good jobs, and to the systems where policy decisions are made. Read more about our vision and our work.
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