Save the Date for the 3rd Annual MA Food System Forum
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The 3rd Annual MA Food System Forum will be on Friday, November 22, 2019 at the Hogan Campus Center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. Plan to join us for a day of learning new skills, celebrating successes, and collaborating across disciplines to increase equity and sustainability in the MA food system. More information and registration information to follow.
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Advocacy Works! HIP Funding Increased
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Governor Baker signed the FY2020 budget at the end of July, which includes $6.5 million for the Healthy Incentives Program. This is a significant increase from previous years, and indicates that the Legislature is committed to long-term support for the program. This victory is thanks to the 300+ members of the Campaign for HIP Funding’s advocacy work. Even with this increase, this may not be enough to keep the program operating year-round, and a supplemental budget request may be necessary later this year. See article below for other budget news.
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Analysis of HIP’s First Year
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A
report
on the first year of operation for the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) has been published, laying out patterns of initial use, and identifying issues to address for the long-term health of the program.
The largest number of HIP points of sale were located in Middlesex and Worcester counties, two of the largest counties in Massachusetts, with 53 and 41 points of sale respectively. Suffolk County had the highest number and value of HIP purchases, as expected since it is the largest metropolitan area in the state. The report further overlaid points of sale with SNAP household populations, showing where access could be improved in parts of the state like northern Worcester County, southern Berkshire county, and the Hilltowns. Unfortunately, the map lacks finer detail in the Suffolk county region, where differences in transportation options make issues of access more complex compared with suburban and rural areas.
Read more here
.
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Supporting Small Parcel Farming
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Lack of access to affordable land is routinely cited by aspiring and established farmers alike as a primary challenge to entry and expansion. Since the 1940’s farmland has been steadily converted to other uses and regrown into New England forest, creating a patchwork of separate small parcels of farmland and former farmland. Many of these parcels are less than five acres, and so cannot benefit from Chapter 61A tax reduction as currently written. At the same time, economic and social forces have generated significantly more small and urban farming operations, many taking place on parcels under five acres, and many struggling with economic viability. Thousands of people, many of them immigrants and low-income, tend parcels that are less than one acre.
As a result, some agricultural land protection policies no longer support farming in the Commonwealth as well as intended, or as necessary to meet current conditions. The MA Local Food Action Plan cites the five-acre threshold as barrier to preserving the type of small parcels valuable to startup farm enterprises or those serving urban markets. And these policies are significant barriers to both equity and food justice. Communities and individuals that do not have access to chapter land, typically provided through inheritance and family wealth, remain systematically disadvantaged because wealth is often generated from owning property. Maintaining ownership is predicated on being able to afford to pay taxes, and exclusion from the tax reductions of 61A creates extensive barriers to maintaining ownership, continuing the cycle of functional exclusion.
Therefore, in order to support small and urban farmers, and help address equity, Chapter 61A should be expanded to reduce property taxes on all farmland, regardless of size, as called for in the Plan.
Read more here
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Call to Action: Tax Exemptions for Ag Land Structures
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Two bills that modify chapter 61A that would provide short term tax relief to farmers when repairing or constructing a broad array of structures and buildings on farmland are being considered by the Joint Committee on Revenue. Chapter 61A involves a yearly application process to reduce property taxes of active farmland in exchange for giving a town the right of first refusal to buy the farmland if it is sold for nonagricultural purposes.
Read more here.
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Farming Legislation Under Consideration
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There are at least 120 bills in the current state legislative session that address farm and fishing issues raised in the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan. The Collaborative has been working with our Agricultural network seeking stakeholder groups’ perspectives on these bills and engaging them in advocacy on bills supported by the Plan. We have submitted, and have worked with other organizations to submit, written testimony on a number of bills and will continue to reach out to the network and provide testimony, as appropriate, as bills move through the legislative process. You can see our full testimony on the bills that have been heard thus far
at the bottom of this page
.
We encourage stakeholder organizations to contact us with questions, thoughts, and opinions on ag related legislation and to submit testimony on bills you feel are critical to your communities and your membership. Please reach out to Jeff Cole at
jeff@mafoodsystem.org
.
Click here to read a brief summary
of
some of the agriculture-related bills we’ve addressed to date.
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Climate Change, Farming, and the GreenWorks Bill
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The Collaborative continues to work with our Ag Network and other groups and organizations on climate change and its impact on farmers and fishermen. We were fortunate to be able to participate in the recent workgroup on climate change and resiliency organized to provide input and recommendations to the
Rural Policy Advisory Commission
’s
draft Rural Policy Plan
.
One core message we have heard in all our work around climate change is that farmers, foresters, and fishermen have land assets and other resources critical to effectively addressing climate change, both in terms of adaptation as well as mitigation. Adaptation is changing the way we do things due to changes in systems brought about by climate change, while mitigation is doing things that lessen or make up for the causes of climate change. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive and often an action or activity may address both.
Read more here
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Update on Food Waste Work
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The Collaborative is continuing its work to reduce food waste. Our work is focused on
five bills
that address the issue, as well as an effort to lower the threshold of the Commercial Food Material Disposal Ban from the current threshold of businesses that produce one ton of organic waste material per week, to include those that produce more than a half-ton per week, in order to divert more food waste from landfills.
Currently we are working on a report about food waste in Massachusetts. This will include an overview of statewide policies, programs, and funding opportunities to reduce food waste. It will feature case studies including: municipalities that are supporting composting; schools with food rescue and compost programs; nonprofits doing food rescue and gleaning; technology that is preventing food waste; and businesses that are collecting or processing food waste. The report will conclude with recommendations for how the state can support and promote food waste reduction. If you have suggestions for case studies or recommendations to include, please contact Brittany Peats at
brittany@mafoodsystem.org
.
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FY20 State Budget Invests in Food System Priorities
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Governor Baker signed the FY20 budget on July 31, with significant investments for food system priorities including:
- Healthy Incentives Program (HIP): $6.5 million (FY19 = $4 million). The language also included reporting requirements, and the program was given a dedicated line item for the first time.
- SNAP Gap: $1 million (new funding) and language directing the development of a pilot project to develop a common application process.
- Buy Locals: $500,000 (level-funded from FY19) to support the nine Buy Local organizations.
- MA Food Trust: $100,000 for operating costs (level-funded from FY19) to continue administering the program.
- MEFAP: $20 million (FY19 = $18 million) for emergency food to be distributed through the food banks.
- Mass in Motion program: Level funding from FY19 for this Department of Public Health program that supports communities in promoting healthy eating.
- Summer Meals/School Breakfast programs operated by Project Bread: $350,000 (level-funded from FY19).
- Chefs in Schools program operated by Project Bread: $250,000 (level-funded from FY19).
- A coalition of farmers markets throughout the counties of Barnstable and Dukes County for a local food access and affordability program: $50,000 (new funding)
- Pesticide research: $100,000 in new funding for a study of the impact of neonicotinoid insecticides, to be conducted by MDAR
- Coastal Foodshed initiative: $50,000 (level-funded from FY19) for this effort in the Greater New Bedford region to promote and grow the local food access economy.
- Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) program: $3 million (FY19 = $2 million) for this program which has funded many start-up food businesses.
- Restaurant Promotion Commission: $2 million in new funding to support this effort to increase business for Massachusetts restaurants, including examining potential partnerships with the agriculture industry.
There were also many earmarks providing funding for local food access organizations. The departments of Agricultural Resources, Transitional Assistance, and Public Health all saw increases in their administrative budgets as well. Policy language mandating school participation in Breakfast after the Bell was also included.
The annual budget cycle doesn’t leave much breathing room between when one budget is signed and the process for the next one begins. State agencies are already preparing their recommendations for Governor Baker, who will deliver a proposed budget in January. The Collaborative will continue to work on budget priorities as expressed in the Plan, and we are always interested in hearing from food system stakeholders about state funding issues you are working on. Contact Winton Pitcoff at
winton@mafoodsystem.org
.
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Updates from around the MA Food System
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More Awards Announced for Massachusetts Food Trust Program
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The Massachusetts Food Trust Program is giving low-interest loans, grants, and/or technical assistance to four more communities to “increase access to healthy, affordable food options, with a preference for fresh locally sourced Massachusetts grown, caught or harvested healthy food and to improve economic opportunities for nutritionally underserved communities in urban, rural and suburban localities.” This is in addition to the seven projects that received funding earlier this year.
Coastal Foodshed
, a nonprofit based in New Bedford will receive business assistance to start a regional food hub with the support of the Southeastern MA Agricultural Partnership (SEMAP).
Stop and Compare Market
, a family-owned ethnic food retailer, will expand its produce section and make other upgrades to its Lynn store. Oasis Community Partners, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., will bring a
Good Food Markets
grocery store (right) to Roxbury. The
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
will utilize funds to continue support for its local farmers’ market.
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Local Food Systems Planning Assistance
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Local Foods, Local Places helps communities revitalize neighborhoods through development of local food systems, supporting projects that do all of the following:
- Create livable, walkable, economically vibrant main streets and mixed-use neighborhoods.
- Boost economic opportunities for local farmers and main street businesses.
- Improve access to healthy, local food, especially among disadvantaged populations.
The EPA-funded program provides selected communities with planning assistance that centers around a two-day community workshop. At the workshop, a team of experts will help community members develop an implementable action plan that promotes local food and neighborhood revitalization. Eligible applicants include local governments, Indian tribes, and nonprofit institutions and organizations proposing to work in a neighborhood, town, or city of any size anywhere in the United States.
More information is available here
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Food System Champion:
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
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The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
works to ensure East Boston residents have access to healthy, affordable food. The Health Center hosts
Let’s Get Movin’
, a program for children and teens who are identified as overweight or obese that promotes physical activity, teaches proper nutrition, and helps young people make healthier lifestyle choices. The program offers medical monitoring, physical activity, and nutrition education through after-school and summer programs, field trips, community events, and cooking classes in the mobile kitchen.
The Health Center organizes the
East Boston Farmers Market
every Wednesday afternoon during the summer at Central Square Park and all vendors accept HIP, WIC coupons, Senior coupons, and coupons distributed by the Health Center. Vendors have tailored their offerings to East Boston’s largely immigrant neighborhood; one farmer sells Hierba mora, a green from El Salvador, and has seen long lines for the vegetable. The market hosts many community events, including the
Back to School Day on Aug 28
.
A
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share
of local produce from Farmer Dave is available through the Health Center. To lower the price of the share, there is a grant-funded subsidy and customers can use SNAP and HIP to pay weekly - rather than the whole amount at the beginning of the season. In addition, the
Wellness Garden
has 30 raised beds, allowing families participating in the Let’s Get Movin’ program to grow produce at low cost and build community, and low cost bags of mixed produce are distributed through the
Fair Foods program
every other week.
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Food System Changing Tool:
The State Farm to School Policy Handbook: 2002-2018
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The State Farm to School Policy Handbook: 2002-2018
summarizes and analyzes state bills and resolutions introduced between 2002 and 2018 that relate to local food procurement, school gardens, and food and agriculture education. Farm to school advocates, policy makers, and state agencies can use this guide to find potential models and compare various approaches with the goal to advance new farm to school laws, policies, and programs.
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Food System Changing Tool:
Toolkit for Mapping a Food System
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Cornell Cooperative Extension and other stakeholders in New York State’s Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and St. Lawrence counties that were working to start a regional food hub, created a mappable database to inform their project. They collected information and used GIS to create a map that helped broaden and strengthen the local food system. They have shared their data collection tools as well as instructions for collecting and analyzing the data to create a useful map
as a toolkit here
.
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MA Food System News We're Reading
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- The Compost Cooperative in Greenfield offers food waste collection to businesses - and now residents - while offering job training to people who were formerly incarcerated.
- Students at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University will now learn about beekeeping to better support commercial and backyard farmers.
- Read a wonderful profile of Maria Moreira, co-founder and executive director of World Farmers, and MFSC Steering Committee member.
- The Malden YMCA has been using its new Rover Food Truck to serve free meals to kids and teens through the Summer Meals Program.
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Upcoming Food System
Job Postings and
Events
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Job Posting Sites:
Job Listservs:
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Upcoming Food System Events:
Know of another great source of events or jobs?
Let us know
!
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Massachusetts Food System Collaborative |
www.mafoodsystem.org
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