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Issue #52 | April 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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Budget Briefing for Food System Advocates: April 5, 10 am
Please join the Collaborative, Project Bread, the Food Banks, the Buy Locals, Mass. Public Health Association, La Colaborativa and Mass. Law Reform Institute for a fiscal year 2025 budget advocacy briefing for food system stakeholders starting at 10 am on April 5th! The group will share budget asks and campaign updates, go over how to advocate together, and answer any questions advocates may have! No experience with advocacy is necessary, all food system stakeholders are welcome to attend! Register for the zoom link here.
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Food Waste Prevention Week
April 1-7, 2024 is National Food Waste Prevention Week. According to data from ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss and waste by advancing data-driven solutions, 1.5 million tons of food waste were generated in Massachusetts in 2022. Food Waste Prevention Week is a chance to raise awareness about this critical issue that affects our food system.
Network Manager Emily Fidanza, who facilitates the Collaborative's Food Waste Reduction Network, is looking forward to attending several exciting webinars this week, including:
- From Food Scraps to Soil Food: Starting a Drop-Off Program in Your Community, and
- Policy That Produces Progress: Model Ordinances and Other Governance Tools to Reduce Food Waste.
The Food Waste Reduction Network convenes organizations that help to reduce wasted food in Massachusetts through food rescue, gleaning, and composting, as well as other environmental groups working to reduce food waste. The Food Waste Reduction Network shares information and builds relationships across the sector. The Collaborative works to engage network participants around proposed state legislation and regulatory changes that could impact food waste and the stakeholder organizations doing that work. Reach out to Emily, at emily@mafoodsystem.org, to learn more and get involved.
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Highlights of the
Collaborative's work.
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HIP Lobby Day Recap
The Collaborative organized a successful Campaign for Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) Funding advocacy day at the state house on March 26. Together, the Campaign coalition advocated to state legislators for $5.1 million for HIP in a fiscal year 2024 supplemental budget to ensure that HIP continues running without interruption this spring, and $25 million in FY 2025 to support the continued growth of the program. Thank you to all the participating speakers, advocates, and legislators who attended the briefing and support HIP!
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Network Updates
In March, the Local Food Policy Council Network held a monthly meeting. In addition to sharing updates about the Collaborative's current work, council members discussed grant opportunities and their next steps. In the months ahead, the Local Food Policy Council Network will host skill shares around how to accomplish a Community Food Assessment, advocate for municipal urban agriculture ordinances, structure regional food policy councils, and engage in federal policy.
The March Urban Agriculture Network skill share focused on grant programs that support urban agriculture and how to write an effective grant. We heard an overview of MDAR’s Urban Agriculture Program grant funding- with an upcoming May 6 deadline- and discussed plans for applying to this grant program.
Finally, the Food Waste Reduction Network reconvened for its first quarterly meeting of 2024. During this meeting, stakeholders from around the state caught up with one another and heard updates about their work. Around the state, stakeholders are working to establish food scrap drop-off and compost programs, on state policy advocacy, and on education campaigns to reduce food waste.
Please reach out to Emily Fidanza to get involved in these networks!
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Inspiring work being done by some
of our friends in Massachusetts.
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Food waste reduction organizations
Second Chance Composting offers drop off, hauling, and processing of food scraps and organic matter in the Berkshires. This compost operation is the only full-scale local community-based composting operation in the Berkshires. In twenty-one months, the Second Chance Composting has diverted 535,461 pounds of material, including 212,997 pounds of food scraps.
The Open Door, a food resource center based in Gloucester and serving 10 cities and towns in Essex County, Massachusetts, distributed 1.98 million pounds of food (1.65 million meals) to 9,836 people in 2023. Of that food distributed, 9% was food rescue from 26 food rescue partners. Following the completion of a major capital project in late 2023, The Open Door has increased its capacity to continue meeting need in the community for free, custom weekly grocery orders, meals to-go and in-person, Mobile Markets, Medically Tailored Groceries, nutrition education, SNAP assistance, and much more.
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Thoughtful insights about
food system issues.
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New farmers market sustainability grant program announces first awards
MDAR recently announced a new grant program that will benefit farmers' markets. More than $200,000 in grant funding was distributed to assist farmers' markets in enhancing their marketing, promotion, consumer education, planning, and infrastructure investments. For the full list of farmers' markets please visit MDAR's website here.
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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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