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Issue #32 | July 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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Share your thoughts on hunger, nutrition, and health
In September the White House will host a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health with the stated goals of ending hunger, improving nutrition and physical activity, and reducing diet-related diseases and disparities. This is the first event of its kind in more than 50 years, and findings will be used to shape federal food policy for many years. It is being held largely because of the efforts of Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern, who has championed these issues for decades. The Conference is soliciting public input, and we encourage Massachusetts organizations and individuals to share their perspectives.
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Highlights of the
Collaborative's work.
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Help Make the Local Food System an Election Issue!
The Collaborative has embarked on a project to engage candidates for local and statewide office in the 2022 elections on local food system issues. A toolkit for local organizations that are interested in engaging in this work is available with background of the election process in Massachusetts, a database of candidates running, and a menu of options to engage candidates.
Thirty candidates for state representative and senator in competitive races and one candidate for Lieutenant Governor have responded to to the Collaborative's questionnaire, thus far. These candidates represent districts across the Commonwealth, from the Berkshires to Boston. Candidates responded to a series of questions about local food system priorities. For example, in response to a question on how to further racial equity in the food system, three legislative candidates offered the following suggestions:
“For this, we need to deeply invest in folks of color with cash money. This is the answer to creating equitable access to opportunities in food systems. The deep disinvestment that has happened over the years is partially why folks of color are not represented in farming as much.”
“By speaking in spaces and elevating this issue - that the food system stakeholders of color - consumers, workers, farmers, landowners, and others-- have been left out from the resources and access. By ensuring that grant funding from the state around farm/farming/agriculture opportunities, is accessible and widely shared through different venues and languages. By pushing for more culturally relevant food.”
“Equity is important throughout every facet of life and making sure our food system - what fuels our lives - is equitable is paramount. We must make sure our Black and Brown food producers have access to equitable opportunities and resources. I will work with colleagues from our farming and fishing communities to hear from them about their needs. We also need to look at our restaurant industry and food distributors and work with the Office of Supplier Diversity at the State House to ensure equitable contracts and opportunities. And, we need to be supporting programs that have CSAs, urban farms, farmers markets, and community gardens in all our neighborhoods.”
The Collaborative thanks each candidate who has taken the time to fill out the questionnaire. You can check out the candidates’ full responses here. We encourage stakeholders to share the link to the responses to help inform your communities as they consider their voting options.
The Collaborative is asking local food system organizations to invite candidates to a meeting with your organization, to your farm or farmers’ market, or to plan a candidate event so food system issues are one of the top issues candidates hear about. Please reach out to Becca Miller, rebecca@mafoodsystem.org to get more involved.
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The FSIG Program: A Promising Start, an Uncertain Future
The second round of Food Security Infrastructure Grants were announced in April, distributing $22.5 million to 147 projects ranging from farms and fisheries, to food pantries and schools. In the two rounds of funding, the state has committed $62 million to essential food supply chain projects through this program, helping sustain farms and emergency food system providers, and boosting local food system resilience and increasing food security for the Commonwealth. Those grants have only been able to meet 21% of the demand, however – there was more than $299 million requested in applications – demonstrating a clear need to continue the program.
Despite the success of the program, the administration has no plans to fund another round of grants in the new fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023). A bond bill currently under consideration would authorize $51 million in spending for the program. If that measure passes it would be up to the new governor to use it to invest in FSIG through their first capital budget in the spring of 2023.
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State Climate Plan: Protect More Farmland, Support Healthy Soils
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and the Environment (EEA) has released the state’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030. The Plan is focused on greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction, including includes CO² sequestration, while the 2022 Massachusetts Climate Change Assessment focuses on identifying the most urgent issues and update to the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan (SHMCAP) in order to better address them.
The Collaborative has been participating in these two projects, and encouraging other food system stakeholders to do so as well. The projects will ultimately inform policy and regulation related to climate change, and will impact the food and farming sectors, with the potential to provide support to as well as challenges for local farmers, fishers, and other food businesses. Plans include greater investment in programs that protect natural and working lands, consideration of policy that would extend protection programs to smaller parcels than currently permitted, and further investment in soil health and other climate-smart land management practices.
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Mark your Calendars! 2022 MA Food System Forum: October 12 in Sturbridge
The 2022 MA Food System Forum will celebrate the innovative work and positive changes that have occurred in the Massachusetts food system, despite many challenges, since the completion of the MA Local Food Action Plan in 2015. We will also work together to develop and refine proposals for policy changes that we would like to see, and create plans to move those forward. And there will be ample opportunities for people to meet, or re-meet, each other to help build strong working relationships. Discussion topics will include equity, agriculture, food access, and the supply chain.
Mark your calendars to join us on October 12 in Sturbridge! More details, and registration information, will be available next month.
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Inspiring work being done by some
of our friends in Massachusetts.
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Home Grown Springfield
Home Grown Springfield (HGS) is the Culinary and Nutrition Program of the Springfield Public Schools. Throughout the summer, HGS hosts weekly taste tests served from a food truck, rotating cookouts, prize giveaways, and garden workshops.
This year marks a new partnership with Springfield Public Libraries, which participates in Summer Eats, a statewide program that provides free, nutritious meals free of charge to children and teens 18 and under, with no registration or I.D. requirements. HGS will facilitate 21 garden workshops among five public libraries, several of which also host community gardens. HGS will expand their meal program and Farm to Summer activities to these locations to engage families at trusted locations where seating and air conditioning are available. Garden workshops will include activities including teaching students about locally grown herbs used in cooking, culminating with a planting activity providing plants for children to take home with them.
The food truck also provides an opportunity for HGS to sample new menu items not yet featured on the school lunch menu, receive feedback on menu items in development, and administer surveys to the public to get more ideas for future dishes. Kids and teens 18 or younger can visit and sample new menu items and submit feedback to the culinary team. Participants receive an entree to sample, along with fruits, veggies, and milk to fuel the rest of their day. They test their sample, leave a quick review, and submit it to the Student Engagement team, which funnels all feedback to Springfield's Culinary and Nutrition Center.
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Thoughtful insights about
food system issues.
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Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future
The American Farmland Trust has released Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future, a report modeling scenarios for how farmland could best be preserved across the country. The report shows that, due to sprawling cities, climate change, energy development and remote work, the US is on track to convert more than 18 million acres of farmland and ranchland — an area the size of South Carolina— from 2016-2040. This threatens the land that grows food, jeopardizing the nation’s food security and the environment.
The 2040 report projects this data into the future to present three alternative development scenarios — Business as Usual, Runaway Sprawl and Better Built Cities. Better Built Cities is not just about saving farmland. Smart growth aims to make life better for folks living in cities and suburbs, and to protect rural lands nearby to provide local food and access to nature.
Everyone has a role in achieving Better Built Cities: residents can attend planning meetings and promote land-use decisions that protect farmland and ranchland, support local land trusts, buy locally produced food, and choose to live in compact cities and town centers, and farm owners can protect their property with a permanent agricultural conservation easement.
“For too many Americans, it is easy to brush off farmland loss or view it as inevitable. This puts our future at risk,” said John Piotti, AFT president and CEO. “We need farmland not just to feed a growing population, but to provide essential ecological services that nurture wildlife, cleanse water and capture atmospheric carbon. If we remain on our current development path, we will ultimately run out of land to grow our food; but long before that, I fear we will run out of the farmland we need to heal an environmentally degraded planet.”
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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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