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Issue #55 | July 2024
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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Call your state senator TODAY to support the local food system!
Please call your state senator TODAY to ask them to support amendments #32, 33, 53, and 296 to the Senate’s proposed economic development bond bill, S.2856! These amendments, filed by Senators Jo Comerford and Edward Kennedy, would grant MDAR the authority to buy, protect, and sell farmland, create a food system coordinator position for the Mass. Food Policy Council, create an Agricultural Equity Commission, define agritourism, and more. See our full call to action here.
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Provide feedback on biodiversity goals!
Achieving no net loss of farmland has been a priority for the Collaborative. According to the most recent Agriculture Census, from 2017-2022, 27,000 acres of farmland were lost, or 5.5% of our farmland. That is more than double the rate of loss of the US overall, with only four states losing farmland at a greater rate. Please join the Department of Fish and Game's biodiversity listening session to support no net loss of farmland being included in this plan! Two sessions will be held on July 17 and 23, and written feedback is also welcome and is due by August 30, 2024. Register here.
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Highlights of the
Collaborative's work.
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Save the date for the annual Food System Forum!
Please save Tuesday, December 17, 2024, for the Collaborative's annual Food System Forum. We will again hold the Forum at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. Join us for a day of learning, sharing and discussion. At the Forum, there will be many opportunities for networking and relationship building.
Interested in sponsoring the Forum? Please reach out to Kristina@mafoodsystem.org
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Legislative Updates
As the end of formal session rapidly approaches, the legislature has been working through some larger packages that include food system wins. A fiscal year 2024 supplemental budget, H.4799, that passed the House in June included $5.1 million for the Healthy Incentives Program, and is currently with Senate Ways and Means. The fiscal year 2025 annual budget proposal has not yet been released by the conference committee, and may be released later this week. Remember, the conference committee proposal cannot be amended once it is released, so send your requests to the members of the conference committee this week!
Additionally, the agricultural equity commission passed the House in late June as part of H.4745! A recent climate bill that was passed in the Senate, S.2830, included a requirement for the Department of Environmental Protection to file a report on the status of composting as part of the implementation of the organics waste ban by the end of 2024. The economic development bond bill passed the House in late June, and is currently being reviewed by the Senate. See the above call to action for more information on how you can support the local food system policy in this process, and reach out to Becca Miller rebecca@mafoodsystem.org with any questions.
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Network Updates
In June we held a quarterly Food Waste Reduction Network meeting. During the meeting, network members had time for relationship building, small group conversations with others doing similar work in food rescue and composting & waste management, and heard updates on food waste reduction related policy efforts at the state and federal level. Policy updates included highlighting Zero Food Waste Coalition’s U.S. Food Loss & Waste Policy Action Plan and 2024 Farm Bill Priorities, Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic’s Not Really Expired campaign, the recently released White House National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics, and movement of the coalition's priority state-level bill An act encouraging the donation of food to persons in need. The Food Waste Reduction Network will meet again in September. You can register for the zoom meeting here.
The Local Food Policy Councils network also met in June, having an opportunity to share with each other about their approaches to member and community engagement. Together we discussed the variety of models councils use to organize their membership and explored ways to build trust and connection that leads to meaningful and sustaining engagement. Are you interested in establishing a food policy council in your area? Check out our Local Food Policy Council Network page to learn more about food policy councils across the state, access resources, and how to get involved with the network.
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Inspiring work being done by some
of our friends in Massachusetts.
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Healthy Soils awards $1 million in grants
Last month the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) awarded more than $1 million to 14 organizations working to protect and build soil health in Massachusetts. With this funding, these organizations will propel the implementation of the Healthy Soils Action Plan (HSAP), a roadmap for improving ecosystem health and enhancing the climate mitigation potential of land covers across the Commonwealth released by the office early 2023.
Learn more from Dago Driggs, Senior Policy Advisor at NOFA/Mass here.
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Thoughtful insights about
food system issues.
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Understanding Chevron and Agency Policymaking
In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the United States Supreme Court overruled the case that established the doctrine of Chevron deference. Chevron deference established a two-step approach for courts to apply when reviewing a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute the agency administers: if Congress spoke directly to the question at issue, that language controls, but if the statutory language is ambiguous or otherwise fails to answer the question, then a reviewing court should defer to the agency's interpretation, provided that interpretation is reasonable.
The Supreme Court ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises holds that “[c]ourts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority .… And when a particular statute delegates authority to an agency …, courts must respect the delegation, while ensuring that the agency acts within it. But courts need not … defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous.” The Loper Bright Enterprises decision says that courts are not required to defer to federal agencies' interpretations of federal law that they administer. This ruling potentially could impact the federal government’s ability to regulate the environment, public health, food safety and more. Read more about the decision here.
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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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