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Issue #33 | August 2022
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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Register for the 2022 MA Food System Forum: Reconnecting, Celebrating, and Moving Forward
The 2022 MA Food System Forum will be on Wednesday, October 12 from 8:30am - 4pm. It will be held at the Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center, located at 366 Main St. in Sturbridge, MA.
Join hundreds of advocates, farmers, and other food system stakeholders in celebrating the innovative work and positive changes in the Massachusetts food system since the completion of the MA Local Food Action Plan in 2015, and in planning our next steps as we continue to work together toward an equitable, sustainable, and resilient local food system. Back in person for the first time since 2019, the Forum will offer ample opportunities for people to meet and re-connect, to help build strong working relationships.
Registration is $40 until September 15 and includes a locally sourced breakfast and lunch. Read more about the agenda and workshops on our website.
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Highlights of the
Collaborative's work.
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Legislative Update
The legislature’s formal session for 2021-22 wrapped up on July 31, and while there still may be some movement on bills during the informal session things will be relatively quiet on Beacon Hill until the new legislature is seated in January, as attention turns to campaigns.
The biggest news of the past few months was the completion of the state’s operating budget for fiscal year 2023. Thanks to advocacy from many of you, most of the Collaborative’s priorities were included. A new grant program for local Food Policy Councils was funded with $250,000. UMass Extension received $620,000 to hire new educators and replace outdated soil testing equipment. HIP funding increased to $20 million, and language was added to the line item increasing reporting transparency and ensuring that the program will operate year-round. Thank you to all of you who reached out to legislators in support of these investments, and to the legislative champions who made sure they passed!
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Candidates Weighing in on Food System Policy Positions
The Collaborative has been engaging candidates for local and statewide office in the 2022 elections on local food system issues. For those interested in this project or in working to engage candidates in your own community, the Collaborative will be holding a meeting on August 9 at 1:00 to discuss how community-based organizations are involved in this work. Email Rebecca at rebecca@mafoodsystem.org for the zoom link.
Since July, four more candidates for state representative and senator and two candidates for Lieutenant Governor have responded to our questionnaire, bringing the total to 33 candidates weighing in. The Collaborative recently held a food system conversation with Senator and candidate for Lieutenant Governor Eric Lesser, to discuss the issues facing the local food system and what his priorities will be to build a sustainable, resilient, equitable local food system if elected. You can watch the full recording here.
In response to a question on food literacy in education systems, candidates suggested:
- “I support increased educational programming such as farm days as part of school curriculum to assist children in understanding the importance of sustainable practices, supporting local business, and the importance of learning where our agricultural products are sourced from.”
- “I am incredibly grateful to organizations like Growing Places, who not only support food literacy for our young residents, but aim to increase accessible healthy eating for all ages. I believe we should integrate food literacy into our K-12 school curriculum, and provide the resources our school districts need to recruit and train the personnel to implement these priorities.”
- “I would promote local programs at schools and town community gardens to help start a community garden. This is a great way to teach children where food comes from. Planting a seed, taking care of it as it grows, and ultimately harvesting and eating it helps children realize food doesn’t just come from the store. I would like to have community partnerships with local farms so kids can visit and learn the importance of agriculture to our local community and economy.”
- “I would ensure that children understand where food comes from by making sure schools are offering Home economics classes. We need to have an educational program available to students to learn food literacy issues. I think it’s important to have guest speakers such as medical professionals, athletes come and promote healthy eating.”
- “Educating our children on food literacy is of the utmost importance in ensuring that our children will eat healthy and will have continuous access to nutritious meals. I will carry on the fight of my former boss, friend, and my district's departing Senator, Eric Lesser, by supporting S.349/H.686 and carrying it forward in future legislative sessions. Additionally, If elected, I will secure funding for the district in order to provide the resources for our schools to educate children efficiently and effectively.”
If candidates in your area are not on this list, consider reaching out to them to encourage them to share their thoughts on the local food system!
The Collaborative does not endorse candidates, but encourages all voters to learn about where candidates stand on food system issues.
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HIP Budget Success!
Governor Baker signed the fiscal year 2023 budget into law in late July. $12 million plus a commitment to move forward unspent funds (commonly known as a PAC, or a prior appropriation continued) was included for the Healthy Incentives Program. The Collaborative has confirmed with the Department of Transitional Assistance that the PAC amount, originally estimated at $8 million by the Legislature, is around $12 million. This brings the total amount available to the program to $24 million, a huge win for sustainable farms and healthy households, and a solid base for the new farmers that will be added to the program shortly following the Department's open process seeking new vendors. Language that will increase transparency for the program that the Collaborative had advocated for was also included in the final budget, as well as language ensuring that the program shall operate year-round. Please reach out to your state representative and senator to thank them for their support, if you have not already done so.
To maintain the advocacy that has helped make this program such a success, the Collaborative will be collecting stories about HIP from farmers and consumers. Please use this form and this postcard template to gather stories of HIP consumers’ experience with the program, so that we can amplify the voices of SNAP clients and farmers in the Campaign. Stories, in combination with data on the statewide impact of the program, have helped lead us to wins, and have centered the voices of those most impacted by the program. Please share any filled out postcards with Rebecca by taking a photo and emailing them to rebecca@mafoodsystem.org.
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MA Food System Priorities Sent to White House
The Collaborative worked with other organizations to develop and send a letter to the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, scheduled to be held in November. More than 40 stakeholder organizations signed on to the letter. The letter highlights state and community-based programs and policies that have connected agriculture and food security over the last several decades, from the APR program to HIP to local food policy councils.
“Yet despite all of these efforts and their successes, Massachusetts is still not food secure” reads a portion of the letter. “Our innovative responses to challenges demonstrate resilience and can serve as models, but all too often we are working against larger food systems and policies that suppress our efforts. Federal action is needed to ensure true food security.”
“The focus should be on systemic solutions that give consumers better physical, educational, and financial access to healthy food…[T]he solutions generated by this process must prioritize regional food systems, supporting local production, processing, distribution, and access that is equitable, sustainable, resilient, and connected. It must illuminate and address root causes of hunger, and acknowledge the connections between food insecurity and systemic racism, low wages, poor access to child care, and a lack of nutrition and food system education. And it must invest heavily in transformative measures that place power and land and jobs into the hands of people of color who have been excluded from equitable participation in the food system.”
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Inspiring work being done by some
of our friends in Massachusetts.
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Hannan Healthy Foods: Growing South Asian Vegetables in Lincoln
Mohammed Hannan began farming in Massachusetts several years ago, as a way to feed his family healthy foods that they had been used to eating in Bangladesh. He now leases two plots of land, totaling seven acres, from the town of Lincoln. He grows South Asian and other vegetables on his farm, Hannan Healthy Foods and the produce is available via a CSA with drop off spots in Cambridge and Somerville, at the farm stand in Lincoln, and to those who participate in a work share. In addition to a variety of eggplant, spinach, gourds and many other vegetables, this year he’s excited to be growing torpedo onions, which are sweet and purple.
Mohammed is working hard to make the farm profitable but has struggled to hire a farm manager due to the hard work required and the fact that the farm’s revenues can’t sustain high enough wages for workers. Because he doesn’t own the land, he is reticent to make large investments in the land and isn’t able to purchase large equipment, like a tractor or a delivery van, which would help make his farm more efficient. Also, the land doesn’t include a place to live on site and finding housing in Lincoln is difficult. Until the farm is more profitable, Mohammed continues to work at a tech company during the week, driving out to the farm on nights and weekends.
Looking to the future, Mohammed would like to hire staff, live closer to the farm, and ultimately purchase land so he can have something to pass down to his children. But he wonders how, as an industry, farming can be more profitable and attract more people to do this hard work.
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Thoughtful insights about
food system issues.
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How Foreign Private Equity Hooked New England’s Fishing Industry
As part of national efforts to limit overfishing, fishermen must have a permit to catch particular species of fish, which they can buy, sell, or lease to others. Blue Harvest Fisheries, a company owned by a billionaire Dutch family and with facilities in New Bedford, has snapped up the permits from many local fishermen, and now owns permits approaching the antitrust limit of 15.5% for the groundfish caught in New England, according to the article. And they may be leasing additional unreported permits. The fisherman they contract with must accept Blue Harvest Fisheries’s price for fish, rather than the market rate, and pay for the cost of the permit, fuel, fishing gear, and vessel maintenance, among other costs. For one boat out of New Bedford that meant that during six trips over 14 months, the captain earned about 14 cents a pound and the crew received about 7 cents each while the fish itself was worth around $2.28 per pound at auction.
The most lucrative seafood species in New Bedford is scallops and currently leasing scallop permits is prohibited. But a proposal being considered by federal regulators - and supported by large seafood companies - might allow it, which would open the door to consolidation in the market. More than 100 New Bedford fishermen have signed a petition against the proposal.
Photo: Tony Luong, special to ProPublica
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Upcoming Food System Events
Know of another great source of events or jobs? Let us know!
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Job Posting Sites
Job Listserv
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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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