In this issue
- State’s FY22 Budget: Some Hits, Some Misses
- White Paper on Food Waste Reduction
- Growing Need for Farmer Participation in Municipal Governance
- Local Agricultural Labor Legislation
- Building Food System Literacy
- MA Food System Forum - Looking for Feedback
- HIP Outreach and Advocacy Training
- Advocacy Trainings from the Collaborative
- Federal Funds Allow Municipalities to Invest in the Local Food System
- New Advocacy Resource from the Collaborative
- Urban Ag Grant Program
- Food Ventures Grant Program
- Call for Farm and Food System Researchers
- Apply for the Food for the Future Summer Course
- Food System Articles We've Been Reading
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State’s FY22 Budget: Some Hits, Some Misses |
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The Commonwealth’s fiscal year 2020 budget is taking shape, with both the House and the Senate having completed debate on their respective proposals. A conference committee will now work to develop a compromise between the two for both chambers to approve and Governor Baker to consider.
There was good news for the local food system in both versions, with $13 million for the Healthy Incentives Program, $750,000 for the Buy Locals, $30 million for MEFAP, and other key items supported by both chambers. This all but assures inclusion of these funds in the final budget. Also included in both proposals is important language related to HIP, indicating that the program shall operate year-round and providing instructions about how outreach shall be conducted and new vendors added.
Some other asks were not supported, including additional funding for Mass in Motion, new resources for UMass Extension, and $30 million to renew the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program (FSIG). Advocates succeeded in attracting many legislative cosponsors to each of these amendments, but even that support was not enough to convince leadership to support these items. For more details on the FY22 budget, click here.
Soon after the annual operating budget is complete, the legislature will begin discussing how to best spend the billions of dollars coming to the state from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, the most recent COVID relief funding coming from the federal government. We will continue to press for funding for the FSIG program and other food system needs from these resources.
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White Paper on Food Waste Reduction |
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Reducing food waste is one of the priorities of The Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan. According to the MA Department of Environmental Protection, food waste and other organic material make up approximately 21 percent of the total waste stream in the state, equaling 950 thousand tons a year in Massachusetts in 2019. At the same time, more than 650,000 Massachusetts residents are food insecure, making the disposal of edible food a missed opportunity to better synthesize and strengthen multiple sectors of the food system. Food waste poses an environmental hazard as well, as discarded organic materials in landfills create methane, a greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change. And landfilling or incinerating food waste is expensive for municipalities and has negative public health and environmental impacts.
The Collaborative is tracking several bills in the 2021-22 Legislative session related to food waste and drafted this White Paper on Food Waste Reduction which offers details about the bills that most closely align with goals and recommendations from the Plan. These bills would increase financial incentives for farms that donate surplus crops; increase liability protection for food donors; help boards of health to consistently support food donation; educate businesses and consumers about the importance of reducing food waste; and clarify the date labels on food to reduce consumer confusion and waste. We encourage legislative committees to consider these bills, and look forward to working with legislators to further shape these and other bills that will move the Commonwealth toward a more sustainable local food system.
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Growing Need for Farmer Participation in Municipal Governance |
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Municipal agricultural commissions have a new role to play, thanks to an amendment to the law that gives local boards of health their authority, which was enacted earlier this year. Local boards of health must now submit any new regulation that impacts agriculture to the agricultural commission, should it exist, for review before it can be enacted, except in emergency situations. This new law is the result of years of conversations and advocacy by farming organizations, public health organizations, and state agencies. The goal is to foster collaboration that helps keep our food supply safe and farmers in business.
This new law represents growing authority and responsibilities for agricultural commissions, which were also recently granted the power to hold land, receive funds, expend funds placed into an agricultural preservation fund, and research and prepare agricultural-related plans, including a comprehensive local agricultural land plan, when MGL ch 40, section 8L was enacted.
But only about 40% of Massachusetts cities and towns have taken advantage of the opportunity to establish agricultural commissions. Some that have established them in their bylaws don’t have active bodies, with no volunteers stepping up to participate. And where there are active agricultural commissions, participation by farmers is uneven, with non-farmers filling these increasingly important roles.
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Local Agricultural Labor Legislation |
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Three bills addressing agricultural labor issues have been filed in the Legislature this session. When the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 passed, an exemption to minimum wage and overtime laws was included for agricultural and domestic care workers, to ensure the passage of the bill with support from southern Democrats. These exemptions continue to enforce systemic racism in these occupations. Several states, including California, Washington, and New York, have passed bills in the last five years to eliminate the exemption.
In Massachusetts, the Chang Farm case narrowed what is defined as agricultural labor in 2019. That case clarified that the definition of agriculture under the Massachusetts overtime exemption does not include post-harvest activities, making workers’s time spent cleaning, packing, and otherwise processing produce eligible for overtime pay. Labor is one of the highest costs for agricultural businesses, and is affected by market forces and federal policies on agriculture and international trade that can make the difference between local farms being able to remain sustainable, and not.
The three bills under consideration are:
An Act establishing fairness for agricultural laborers (H.1979/S.1205) would require time and a half pay for seasonal workers (designated as 235 continuous days per year) after 55 hours of work per week, and would require time and a half pay after 40 hours of work for year-round employees. Other provisions in the bill include one requiring one day of rest per week, which most farms in the state usually follow. The Fairness for Farmworkers coalition is backing the bill, which includes farmworkers, the Central West Justice Center, ACLU of Massachusetts, Mass Law Reform Institute, the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, and the MA AFL-CIO. This coalition is open to hearing from farmers about potential provisions that could be added to an omnibus bill that would help this bill pass; please email Claudia Quintero, staff attorney at CWJC at cquintero@cwjustice.org. Senator Gomez and Representative Gonzalez have filed these bills.
An Act relative to overtime pay for agricultural and farm work (S.1184) would maintain the current agricultural exemptions to overtime and minimum wage laws. This may be in conflict with the Chang ruling in which Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court ruled that post-harvest work is not exempt from overtime laws. Senator DiZoglio has filed this bill.
An Act relative to farm training in Massachusetts (H.2934) would provide $500 in tax credits per month per intern to farmers who hire qualified students in agricultural programs for farm training. Similar bills have passed in other states, like Colorado, with the backing of their local Farm Bureau/Young Farmers and Ranchers chapter. This bill would likely create job opportunities for a few hundred students enrolled at UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture, and the Norfolk and Essex County agricultural schools. Representative Brad Hill has filed this bill.
Each of these bills would have a significant impact on farmers and farm workers. Legislators need to hear from their constituents about what these bills will mean for the local food system.
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Building Food System Literacy |
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The MA Food System Collaborative is working to determine how to best improve and expand food system education in K-12 schools in Massachusetts. Food system education encompasses nutrition education, agricultural education, food justice, school gardens, and culinary skills. Many students currently receive some instruction in these areas, thanks to administrators, teachers, non profit organizations and others, however the instruction is not consistently available to every student and not as robust as it could be to best support desired outcomes such as student long term health, understanding of the food system, and job readiness.
The Collaborative has begun this project by seeking input from experts in the field about effective classroom practices and barriers to broad implementation. Based on these initial conversations and additional research, we plan to explore how to encourage all K-12 schools in MA to offer food system education, and how to support them in doing so. This could range from a requirement that students partake in a certain experience at a certain grade level, to more comprehensive requirements that students learn about the food system every year. Persuading legislators of the value of these lessons in the face of so many competing demands will require extensive education and advocacy from a large coalition including school administrators, educators, parents, students, community members, dieticians, farmers, food businesses, and food system advocates. Please email Brittany Peats at brittany@mafoodsystem.org if you’d like to add your input or be involved in the discussions.
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MA Food System Forum - Looking for Feedback
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The Collaborative is planning to host our annual Massachusetts Food System Forum: Reconnecting and Rebuilding in person this fall. This will be a space for people to come together to reflect on what needs to be done to strengthen the local food system and create momentum for change. Attendees will participate in group discussions around pressing topics, learn critical skills, and create new partnerships. To help make this Forum useful for you and your work, we ask that you complete a survey about what you’d like to see at the Forum.
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HIP Outreach and Advocacy Training |
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The Collaborative will participate in a community-based outreach training session June 9th at 1:00 pm led by Project Bread and in partnership with the Regional Environmental Council, The Food Project, and Mattapan Food and Fitness. The training will go over the basics of the Healthy Incentives Program, creating an outreach plan for HIP, understanding the HIP shopping experience, and storytelling for advocacy. Please register here, and share widely with your networks who could benefit from this training! This session will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel.
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Advocacy Trainings from the Collaborative |
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Two sessions remain in the Collaborative's workshop series "Advocacy 102: Moving Local Food System Bills Forward." These are working sessions for those with experience in the fields the bills address, as well as for those who are interested in engaging in policy advocacy for the first time. Each session focuses on a single bill, walking through how to learn more about the bill, what it proposes, and how advocates might support it or make it better. The two remaining sessions are June 3 and 10 - details and registration links are here.
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Federal Funds Allow Municipalities to Invest in the Local Food System |
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Funds from the most recent federal coronavirus relief package, the American Rescue Plan (ARP), will soon be available to municipalities. The program’s preliminary guidance cites food insecurity as one of the reasons these resources are being distributed, and states that funds may be spent “To respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel, and hospitality,” giving cities and towns an opportunity to make investments in the food supply chain to help ensure food security and better access to healthy food.
Local food system advocates should urge local leaders to dedicate a portion of the resources to addressing local food supply chain needs. To help begin these conversations, the Collaborative has developed this tool to share with mayors, city council members, select boards, town administrators, and other municipal officials and candidates for office.
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New Advocacy Resource from the Collaborative |
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The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources seeks proposals for funding projects that will support commercial urban food production in the Commonwealth. Specifically, MDAR’s Urban Agriculture Program is seeking to award grants statewide to promote strategies addressing food insecurity, to expand and create new economic opportunities and to increase access to fresh, local produce in urban neighborhoods. Applicants should be aware of the state’s new environmental justice policy which is included in the RFP. Non-commercial community gardens are also eligible to apply for funding in this RFP, which is an opportunity for those who do not have three years of commercial growing experience.
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Food Ventures Grant Program |
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The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources seeks proposals for funding projects that will support commercial enterprises in the Commonwealth. The overall goal of the program is to increase access to healthy, affordable food options and improve economic opportunities for low to moderate income communities. Key areas for investment include: food processing infrastructure to meet the needs of the expanding local food system; improved distribution systems to support opportunities for equitable access to fresh local food; and retail outlet strategies that enhance access to healthy food. Applicants should be aware of the state’s new environmental justice policy which is included in the RFP
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Call for Farm and Food System Researchers |
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The New England State Food Systems Planners Partnership is looking for farm and food systems researchers who bring a strong equity lens to their research and who reflect the geographic, age, gender, racial, and ethnic diversity that make up the region. The Partnership’s mission is to expand and fortify the region’s food supply and distribution systems to ensure the availability of adequate, affordable, socially, and culturally appropriate products under a variety of rapidly changing climate, environmental, and public health conditions. The group is creating a roadmap to achieve a short-term goal that by 2030, 30% of the food consumed in New England is harvested, produced, raised, and caught within New England.
The Partnership will conduct applied research that will lead to state level investments for increased food production within the region. This work will be fast-paced - the goal is to have the majority of the research completed by July 2022. Individual researchers will be part of a multi-part research team exploring both the supply and demand of regionally produced food. The final research findings will also be informed by a regional stakeholder engagement process.
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Apply for the Food for the Future Summer Course |
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Food for the Future pre-college course for high school students or recent high school graduates is now accepting applications. The course is geared for students passionate about cooking, sustainable farming, the agricultural economy, and the whole ecosystem of food. They will gain an understanding of regional food systems to improve equitable access to healthy, locally grown food while promoting economic development, regenerative agriculture, and community well-being. Students will be exposed to a variety of career pathways in the food system. For the final project, groups of students will present their vision of a future regional food system that is sustainable and just.
The course is a collaboration between Tufts Friedman School, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, and Tufts University College and will be held virtually over two weeks, July 25 - August 6, 2021. The course fee is $3,800. Applications are being accepted online now – due June 1 or until the course is filled. Some financial aid is available; awards are made on a rolling basis so apply early! For more information and to apply, go to this link.
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Food System Articles We've Been Reading |
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Mass Farmers Markets can now operate normally, while following all relevant guidance, according to the Dept. of Public Health.
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A new book, Building Community Food Webs, covers the negative impacts of the industrial food system on rural communities and offers suggestions for the next generation of food systems leaders.
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The Healthy Food Policy Project released this guide: Zoning For Urban Agriculture: A Guide For Updating Your City’s Laws To Support Healthy Food Production And Access.
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Job Postings and Upcoming Food System 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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