Since the start of the fiscal year on July 1st, SNAP households have purchased more than $4.2 million of fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables through HIP. With only $6.5 million of funding available through June 30, another suspension is increasingly likely. Once an official decision has been made, notice will come from the Department of Transitional Assistance. The Collaborative is working with legislators to find opportunities to provide supplemental funding to avoid a suspension, and we will notify advocates when there are opportunities to provide input. We are also beginning to work on developing our FY2021 budget ask, including planning for a HIP Lobby Day in March. Stay tuned for lots of planning and activities in the new year!
Enabling legislation
The enabling legislation for the Healthy Incentives Program, now
S.2426
/
H.4232
, was heard by the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities in November. The bill will enach HIP into law, helping ensure long-term sustainability for the program. The Collaborative and allies from around the state, including The Food Project, NUBIA Inc., Lane Gardens, Mill City Grows, Bowdoin Street Health Center, Worcester Food Policy Council, Groundwork Lawrence, and several SNAP families provided powerful in person testimony. Many allies also provided written testimony and we are thankful for their time!
“I hear from my customers that this is the best program the state has implemented! They love it and they love being able to shop at local farms for produce,” testified Laura Smith, owner of Lane Gardens and Oakdale Farms. “Every time the funding runs out they are devastated. We have elderly shoppers, mothers with small children and disabled folks who come to our farm and utilize the program regularly. Some even bring their children for a pick your own outing and purchase what they pick through the program. They say they could never afford to bring their children to pick without the program.”
Many legislators, including bill sponsors Senator Anne Gobi and Representative Paul Mark, along with Senators Jo Comerford and Dean Tran, and Representatives Natalie Blais, Mindy Domb, Christina Minicucci also attended the hearing to show their support for the bill.
The enabling legislation was reported out of committee favorably, with some recommended changes proposed by the Collaborative included. It is now under consideration by the Joint Committee on Healthcare Financing and the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. We will be meeting with the chairs of these committees, and urge all HIP supporters to submit testimony in support of moving the bills forward. Contact Rebecca Miller (
rebecca@mafoodsystem.org
) for more information on how to submit testimony.
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From left to right: Martha Assefa (Worcester Food Policy Council), Grantley Payne (Bowdoin Street Health Center), Laura Smith (Lane Gardens/Oakdale Farms), Rebecca Miller (MFSC), Danielle Andrews (The Food Project Boston), Catherine Mokuolu (Boston), Tu Anh Phan (TFP Boston), Emmy Bender (TFP Boston), Rebecca Martin (Northampton), Jennifer Coverdale (TFP Lynn), Aparna Raghu (TFP Lynn), at the November 19 hearing for the HIP enabling legislation.
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Reducing Food Waste in Massachusetts: Local Successes Informing Statewide Solutions
The report begins with an overview of state agencies’ grants, technical assistance, and regulations that impact food waste reduction and diversion. Case studies highlight the innovative work of businesses and nonprofits to reduce the amount of waste they create through smarter ordering and production, upcycling food by-products into delicious food, and strengthening gleaning and food rescue. The report also profiles entities that are using food waste for animal feed, collecting food waste, processing compost, depackaging food, or putting food waste into anaerobic digestors. Schools that are doing food rescue and separating food waste are highlighted, as are municipalities that are supporting composting through curbside collection, food scrap drop off, and backyard composting support.
Massachusetts is a leader in reducing food waste and the report enumerates many steps that can be taken to build on that momentum. Statewide legislation to increase incentives for farmers and others who donate food, as well as increased liability protection, will help steer more nutritious food to those in need, and legislation to standardize date labels on food with help reduce consumer confusion. The state can make a significant impact by lowering the threshold for participation in the Commercial Food Waste Ban from one ton per week to half a ton per week, thus requiring smaller producers to divert their food waste, and by increasing funding for enforcement.
General support for food waste reduction infrastructure is also important, from funding food rescue organizations, to incentivizing businesses that are repurposing surplus food for human consumption, to creating a market for locally produced compost. A statewide education campaign, engaging many partners and building off of the successful existing national campaigns, would also bring needed attention to the issue and begin to change consumer habits. Municipalities and schools have a role to play in educating their residents and students about the negative impacts of food waste and providing systems that encourage them to separate and compost their food waste. Businesses should work to reduce and repurpose food waste through innovative technology, recipes, and partnerships. Individuals can make a difference through reducing their food waste at home, separating their food waste, and composting. Together, the people, businesses, organizations, and agencies of Massachusetts can set an example for reducing food waste.
Comments on Solid Waste Master Plan
The Collaborative also provided
comments
on the draft Massachusetts 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan regarding how the state can increase food waste reduction in Massachusetts. 25 organizations signed on to this letter which supports the lowering of the Commercial Food Waste Ban compliance threshold from one ton per week to half a ton per week, and also supports more detail on an outreach plan to reduce food waste. The letter also calls for more state support for the source reduction of food waste, businesses that are upcycling excess food, compost operations, and municipalities to provide food separation and composting programs.
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Review of the 3rd Annual MA Food System Forum
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More than 250 people attended the 3rd Annual MA Food System Forum on November 22 in Worcester. Participants networked over a locally-sourced breakfast before hearing about the Collaborative’s work over the past year. Lively breakout discussions focused on how to move forward with advocacy on topics including the Healthy Incentives Program, food system education in schools, food waste reduction, and race and equity at farmers markets. During lunch, Representative Hannah Kane spoke about the Food System Caucus, gave tips on engaging with lawmakers, and presented a citation to the Collaborative for our work advancing food policy in Massachusetts. Dr. Becca Jablonski gave a wide-ranging keynote on the financial, health, and other effects of various local food system programs, including farmers using direct marketing such as farmers markets and CSAs; local food hubs; urban agriculture; farm to school programs; and Boston’s Good Food Purchasing Program. (Her slides are
available here
.)
Afternoon workshops enabled attendees to learn more about incorporating racial equity into their food system work, leveraging the state budget process for change, telling stories to inform policy, and local food policy councils and community food assessments, among others. Participants also learned more about the funding, technical assistance, and other programs available from state agencies including MDAR, MassDEP, DPH, and DTA. The conference concluded with presentations from
Barstow’s Longview Farm
,
CommonWealth Kitchen
, the
Regional Environmental Council
,
Just Roots
, and
Eastie Farm
about their local work to strengthen the food system.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for making the day a success, and look for information in the new year about the 4th annual Forum!
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As the legislature approaches the deadline by which all bills must be heard in order to still be considered in this session, there has been a flurry of hearings. The Collaborative’s five priority bills have all been heard, and some have been moved out of their first committees.
As mentioned above, the HIP enabling legislation was heard in November and reported out favorably to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing.
- An Act relative to agricultural commission input on board of health regulations, which would give farmers an opportunity for more input when local regulators are taking steps that might impact them, was just heard in December. Many stakeholder groups have submitted testimony in favor of this bill.
- An Act encouraging the donation of food to persons in need had a hearing several months ago, but has not yet been reported out of committee.
- An Act regarding a farmland protection and viability action plan was heard and reported out to the Rules committee in July.
- An Act promoting urban agriculture and horticulture, which would give cities the authority to offer property tax relief to urban growers, was heard in July but has not been reported out yet.
Other bills we’ve been watching and weighing in on are at various stages in the process as well, most notably An Act regarding breakfast after the bell, which has passed the full House and is awaiting action in the Senate. To see our testimony, and to learn more about all of these and other bills and the legislative process, see our
website
.
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Farmers and fishermen rely on state and federal grant programs to help them adapt to climate change and other pressures, and to take advantage of new opportunities and concepts to remain viable. The Collaborative has investigated the spending of many of the grant programs administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) to help determine if resources are adequately targeting where need is greatest.
What we found was that almost every program is significantly oversubscribed, with far more applicants than funded projects.
Read more.
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Updates from around the MA Food System
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Exploring the CSA Model as a health intervention
A research project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts.
by Jessica O’Neill
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A small, western Massachusetts-based, nonprofit teamed up with a Boston-based doctor and a local Community Health Center to research the impacts of participation in a subsidized CSA farm share program. Their findings point to clear diet and health benefits, as well as broader societal and economic benefits.
Just Roots, located in Franklin County, the most rural and second poorest county in MA, is a food access and health equity centered nonprofit organization that founded and operates the Greenfield Community Farm. On this land leased from the city of Greenfield, Just Roots dedicates itself to growing healthy, local food for all people. Steeped in the belief that all people deserve access to the building blocks of health (the food we put in our bodies), and the understanding that socioeconomically vulnerable individuals often face poor access to nutritious food and bear a disproportionate burden of diet-related chronic illness, Just Roots leaned into reinventing the traditional CSA farm share model.
Read more.
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If your municipality collects yard trimmings, they may be able to accept food scraps and begin composting on site. The Center for EcoTechnology and BioCycle have created
a toolkit
to help municipalities effectively implement a food and yard waste composting program. For additional compost site technical assistance, see
RecyclingWorks in MA
.
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Food For Free has created a
toolkit
to help communities implement weekend backpack programs at their schools. Backpack programs ensure that food insecure students will not go hungry over the weekend by discreetly sending them home with food on Fridays. Currently there are over 30 Weekend Backpack Programs in Massachusetts. This Toolkit includes background on the program, initial steps to begin a program, sample forms and assessment documents, suggestions on connecting with your local food bank or pantry, and tips for fundraising.
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Food System Champion: FoodCorps Massachusetts
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FoodCorps helps connects schoolchilden to healthy food by placing AmeriCorps members doing a year of service in school districts where at least 50% of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch. This school year, twenty-two members are serving with
FoodCorps Massachusetts
in Springfield, Boston, Chelsea, Gloucester, Lawrence, Lowell, and Chicopee. The members lead hands-on learning projects, including cooking and gardening projects that connect nutrition and agriculture concepts to the core curriculum. They help create a positive cafeteria environment by leading taste tests and talking with students about the food being served, and celebrate the cafeteria staff through encouraging students to write thank you notes to staff members or featuring staff on school bulletin boards. Families are invited to join the conversation around healthy food -- families are welcomed to cafeteria open houses, grandparents are invited to the school to share recipes, and schools compile cookbooks of their families’ recipes.
Research has found that when FoodCorps members work with students for 10 or more hours on hands-on learning, students triple their consumption of fruits and vegetables at school. In Massachusetts, FoodCorps members have enabled students to express their food preferences, leading to changes to the recipes being used at the Culinary and Nutrition Center in Springfield and the implementation of spice bars in many Boston schools. Applications to join
FoodCorps
open on January 10, 2020 and final selections will be made in May.
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MA Food System News We're Reading
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- A great overview of how dairy farms, like Bar-Way Farm in Deerfield, are using anaerobic digestion to transform manure and food waste into energy.
- Be Well Berkshires and the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, recently completed a comprehensive community food assessment of Berkshire County. Here’s a synopsis of the recommendations from the report.
- A new wave of activist food banks are starting to try to put themselves out of business, by working on issues like minimum wage and rent control in an effort to fix the underlying problems that cause hunger.
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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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