Dear Friends,

I am writing you with urgent news.

As of December 1st, HIP (Healthy Incentives Program) benefits for SNAP recipients to help purchase locally grown vegetables and fruits will be reduced from $40-$80/month (depending on household size) to $20/month for all households. This reduction follows a cut to HIP funding in the 2025 Mass. state budget. HIP significantly supports sales for farmers, who have reported that HIP can be 50% or more of their revenue on an average market day. Reducing needed HIP benefits will have an immediate negative effect on farmers and low-income community members this winter.

Beginning today, BAV is launching "Rooted in Resilience: Emergency Support for Winter Farmers Markets" with a goal of raising $20,000 by December 1st under our Match Match Fund. This emergency support will double customers' $20 monthly HIP benefit to $40 at winter farmers markets — helping to offset the impact of HIP cuts on our farmers and community.

We need your help! Thanks to a generous gift from The Gilson Family Foundation, the first $10,000 raised will be matched, helping us reach our campaign goal of $20,000. We will be reaching out again this month with updates and opportunities to give.

Year-round farmers markets are important local food access points and vital sales channels for local farmers. We also know that winter is a time of year when food access becomes especially imperative. And it just became even more critical … but hope is not lost. 

We have the ability to create the change we want to see in the world. Our seemingly small actions do add up, they do have an effect, and it’s the collective of many small actions that brings about impactful change. A $10 donation is activism, buying local food is activism, carpooling with a neighbor to the farmers market is activism. (Read the section below for more resources and ideas.)

Now, more than ever, we must commit to these "small" actions. Community resilience is rooted in small actions. And as every farmer knows, from small seeds … all things grow.

I urge you to give what you can during our two-week "Rooted in Resilience" emergency support campaign. And I sincerely thank you in advance for your generosity and action.

With care,

Ciana Barnaba

Market Match Fund Program Manager

HELP FOR HIP: IMPACT AND ACTION

Learn more about the impact of the HIP cuts and ways you can join local efforts to restore funding and support our farmers and community:

• Review the Massachusetts Food Systems Collaborative's Campaign for Healthy Incentives Program.
• Read local media coverage here and here. 
• Call the Office of Governor Maura Healey and LG Kim Driscoll at 617-725-4005 and ask them to file a supplemental budget with $10 million for HIP included as soon as possible. Share how this change will affect your farm or household.
• Call legislative leadership (find them here) to ask that once the supplemental budget is filed by the Governor, they pass it with $10 million for HIP included.
• SHOP! Those who can should shop with local farms. Buy local! 

THINKFOOD CONFERENCE ... THIS SATURDAY

BAV is proud to be a co-sponsor of ThinkFOOD, coming up this Saturday, November 16, at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA. There is still time to register for this exciting conference exploring food, farming, health, and community.

The conference features experts from the Berkshires and beyond, including BAV's own Outreach & Technical Assistance Manager Dan Carr, who will be speaking as part of the panel on "Healthy Production." Marion Nestle, award-winning author and professor emerita of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, will deliver the keynote address on "Food Politics 2024."

Learn more and register today!

BAV UPDATES: NEW STAFF!

BAV is happy to introduce our newest staff members, Kallie Robertson and Audrey Hackett. Read the announcement in the Berkshire Edge!

Kallie joins us as BAV's new Finance Manager, bringing a diverse background in farming, nonprofit financial management, and design. Kallie most recently worked as the Finance & Administrative Director of NOFA/Mass. She and her husband own and manage Sawkill Farm in the Hudson Valley, where they currently raise sheep and make yarn from the fiber. 

Audrey steps into the role of Communications & Development Associate after serving as a communications consultant for BAV since early 2024. A poet and communications professional, she brings more than two decades of experience in writing, editing, nonprofit communications, and community journalism. She and her husband recently relocated back to the Berkshires. 

BAV’s Executive Director Rebecca Busansky was a featured speaker at Slow Money's "A Call to Farms" conference in Providence, RI, earlier this week. She spoke about BAV's model for increasing farm viability and strengthening the local food system. The conference explored ways to heal our food systems and build healthy local economies.

BAV’s New Finance Manager and sheep farmer Kallie Robertson participated in last month’s Sheep & Wool Festival. Her Red Hook, NY-based farm, Sawkill Farm, sold yarn from its flock of Romney and Finn sheep to many fiber friends.

Local Meat Processing Support Program Manager Jake Levin also attended the festival and enjoyed great conversations with our region’s sheep farmers and fiber processors.

BAV Program Managers Ben Crockett and Jake Levin recently met with local farmer Sabrina Woodgett to discuss technical assistance for Sugar Shack Farm, her farm in Savoy, MA (pictured here). Other recent BAV farm visits included Letterbox Farm, a diversified CSA farm in Hudson, NY, and Cat’s View Farm, offering hand-milked and homemade goat milk soap in Germantown, NY.

FARMER EVENTS & RESOURCES

Upcoming Events

Saturday-Sunday, November 16-17, 1-5pm both days, online

Permaculture Climate Response: “Powerful tools to cope with the climate,” a special event with Eric Toensmeier and Bonita Eloise Ford, offered by the Permaculture Association of the Northeast.

November 20, 6-7:30pm, online

Selecting Heat Tolerant Crops and Seed Varieties: Join CISA, UMass Extension, and Johnny’s Seeds for new insights into heat-tolerant crop varieties and strategies for incorporating climate considerations into seed selection. For questions, contact climate@buylocalfood.org.

December 17-19, Manchester, NH

New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference: More than 25 educational sessions over three days covering major vegetable, berry, and tree fruit crops, as well as various special topics. 

Upcoming Grant Deadlines

Grants for Livestock Farmers: The Brighter Future Fund’s New England Regenerative Livestock Farming Grants provide up to $10,000 in funds to livestock farmers in select counties in CT, MA, NH, and VT for the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices that improve soil health, water quality, and pollinator habitat. Applications for the 2025 grant cycle will be accepted until November 29. Contact Kristen Irvin with questions: kirvin@farmland.org.

Building Resiliency on Northwest Connecticut Farmland: Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy (NCLC) is now accepting applications for the final round of grants to implement climate-smart solutions on farms in Northwest Connecticut. Application deadline is November 30. Contact Shelley Rose with questions: shelley@ctland.org.

Compost Tea Equipment Mobile Unit (scroll to bottom): CT RC&D is working with CT NOFA to offer an educational Compost Tea Equipment Mobile Unit to five farms interested in the practice for the 2025 growing season. Applications for this new mobile unit will be accepted until November 30.

Upcoming Courses from the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR)

Growing Your Farm Business Planning Course: A hands-on course to help established farmers develop a farm business plan with financial projections. Enrollment is open to farmers who have been operating a farm business in Massachusetts for at least the three prior years. Winter dates & location TBD based on interest; start date planned for January 2025. For questions, contact Melissa Adams at Melissa.L.Adams@mass.gov or 857-276-2377. 

Farm Transfer Planning Assistance Program (Farm-Pass): Get help with your farm transfer plan through MDAR’s new Farm-Pass Program. Farm-Pass is a no-cost opportunity for senior generation farmers, family members, and their identified successors to work one-on-one with an experienced planner over the course of a year to set retirement goals and create tangible next steps for the transfer of management and assets. Rolling applications accepted. Apply by January 15, 2025, to begin this spring. A Farm-Pass informational webinar will be held on Wednesday, December 11, at 12pm: register here. For questions about farm transfer planning assistance through MDAR, contact Laura Barley at Laura.Barley@mass.gov or 857-507-5548.

SUPPORT BAV

We all have a stake in local agriculture. Please consider supporting BAV's work with local farmers, food producers, and our community. Thank you!

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