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State Legislative update
The fiscal year 2027 House Ways and Means (HWM) budget proposal was released on April 15. House members introduced more than 1700 amendments to the HWM budget proposal requesting further funding of various programs and state agencies, and new policy proposals. Legislators proposed many amendments supporting the local food system, including; an amendment for another round of local Food Policy Council grants by Rep. Sabadosa, funding for FRESH grants and food literacy by Rep. Duffy, an increase to MDAR’s administrative budget by Rep. Saunders, funding for a state-funded LFPA program by Rep. Sabadosa, and funding for an increase to the Department of Transitional Assistance’s caseworker line item by Rep. LeBoeuf. Unfortunately, none of these amendments were adopted by the House. An amendment to establish a school meals nutrition standards advisory council, introduced by Rep. Vargas, was adopted. You can see the full table of food system amendments, and how they fared, here.
Please thank House leadership, and your own state representative, for voting for full funding for HIP! We especially appreciate HWM Chair Aaron Michlewitz for once again shouting out HIP on the House floor during his opening remarks.
The Senate Ways and Means fiscal year 2027 budget proposal is expected to be released on May 5, with debate starting potentially on May 18. We are working to ensure the above programs are funded in the Senate, and ask that partners reach out to their own state Senator to encourage them to support food system programs in the fiscal year 2027 budget.
| The Governor’s Anti-Hunger Task Force report was released on April 17. The report includes a number of recommendations related to the local food system under the Rural Resiliency section, such as a farmer tax credit, increased state purchasing of local food, codifying FSIG, and expanding MDAR’s land licensing program. We thank Co-Chairs Commissioner Ashley Randle, Allison Bovell-Ammon, and Alana Davidson for their hard work, as well as our partners who contributed to the public hearings and meetings that formed this report. The Task Force is working on implementation and we encourage our partners to stay involved to ensure that we work towards the recommendations listed in the report. |
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| Federal update
The federal Farm Bill passed the U.S. House on April 30 by a 224-200 vote, with 14 Democrats voting in favor and 3 Republicans voting against. MAFSC, along with more than 300 farm and food organizations, signed on to this letterto U.S. House leadership led by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, National Young Farmers Coalition, Rural Coalition and more. This proposal, if passed, will not increase support for Massachusetts farmers nor families who need Congress to reverse last year’s cuts to SNAP. You can read the full bill here. The Farm Bill will be taken up by the U.S. Senate next, where it has an unclear path to passage. |
| Network updates
The Campaign for HIP Funding will meet next on May 6 at 9am on zoom, to recap the House FY27 budget debate and prepare for the Senate debate. Please note the new time to accommodate DTA’s SNAP CSA pilot meeting at 10am that morning. Please reach out to Becca for the zoom information.
The Campaign for Food Literacy coalition met in April. We reviewed the current status of our budget and legislative priorities. We also explored opportunities for building awareness of the importance of food literacy with both state and local or district administrators. The next Campaign meeting is June 2 at 4pm.
The Urban Agriculture Network met last week for networking and connection and discussion about top urban agriculture priorities and the skills and resources network members have to offer or are seeking to strengthen through this community. We considered how network building can best serve to strengthen urban agriculture work in Massachusetts through connection, collaboration, and advocacy. |
| The Local Food Policy Councils Network met earlier in April. Councils shared updates about what they have been working on including a Food Access Summit (Metro West), Aquaculture Policy Coalition (Southcoast), Food Rescue Community Advisory Council (Cape Cod), a “Future of Food” exhibit (Salem), re-engaging a local food policy council (Malden), opening urban farming and community gardening sites (Springfield), organizing in support of SNAP and DTA (Boston, Worcester, Metro West, Springfield), and hosting a community fundraising dinner (Quaboag Valley). Councils also shared ideas with each other around identifying priorities, developing actionable workplans, engaging with funders and other local partners doing complementary work, and more. The network meets again on May 14.
The Food Waste Reduction Network will meet next on Tuesday, May 12. We will be discussing the Evolving Landscape of Food Waste Prevention, Reduction, and Management including a panel and open discussion exploring how the world of addressing food waste is shifting. This includes, but is not limited to, new and expanding apps for consumer food recovery to the evolving field of Anaerobic Digestion. How are organizations responding? What are the long-term impacts? And how do we best work together to eliminate both food waste and food insecurity?
To sign up for the listserv for any of these networks to receive further updates, please reach out to Emily Fidanza. |
| The Agricultural Advocacy Coalition will meet next on May 21 at 11am. We will prepare for the state FARM bill and environmental bond bill debate in the House. If you are, or know farmers that experienced damage to their farm due to the freezing temperatures in late April, please respond to this email. Please reach out to Becca for the zoom information. |
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