June 1, 2023
The Massachusetts Senate completed its budget debate in May, making some significant investments in food system needs. These include $1,000,000 for food literacy, $250,000 to continue the grant program for local food policy councils, and $1,020,000 for healthy soils. The Senate budget also increases administrative budgets for the departments of Agricultural Resources and Public Health, […]
read more…May 30, 2023
Hello, allies and advocates. I hope everyone is having a good spring. Below is an update from me, followed by one from Vivien Morris, the Collaborative’s Steering Committee chair. After more than seven years of working with all of you in my role as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, I am moving […]
read more…May 15, 2023
More than 1,000 amendments have been filed to the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means draft budget. Senators now have a week to review and consider these amendments before debating and voting on a final budget the week of May 22. Senators may choose to cosponsor as many amendments as they wish, to show […]
read more…May 1, 2023
The House Committee on Ways and Means released its FY24 budget draft and the full House of Representatives debated and passed its proposed budget at the end of April. While the debate ultimately failed to yield any new support for food system priorities, the original draft included some significant investments thanks to years of work […]
read more…April 17, 2023
More than 1,500 amendments have been filed to the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means draft budget (H3900). Representatives now have a week to review and consider these amendments before debating and voting on a final budget the week of April 24. Representatives may choose to cosponsor as many amendments as they wish, to […]
read more…April 7, 2023
The state budget process begins in earnest in April, with the release of the House Committee on Ways and Means draft proposal on April 12. This will lay out the Committee’s priorities for every dollar the state will spend in fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024). Large, statewide items like HIP […]
read more…March 2, 2023
On March 1 Governor Healey released the first annual budget proposal of her new administration. With a throughline of support for climate change resilience and mitigation, the fiscal year 2024 budget for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs would increase significantly under this proposal. The proposed budget would support the Food Security Infrastructure […]
read more…November 1, 2022
More than 200 people attended the 2022 MA Food System Forum on Oct 12 in Sturbridge. Attendees met and reconnected with each other over breakfast and lunch and attended lively workshops. Please see below for summaries of the workshops. Sustaining agriculture: production management practices Healthy soils are essential to climate mitigation and adaptation, watershed health, […]
read more…August 5, 2022
The 2022 MA Food System Forum took place on Wednesday, October 12 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center, located at 366 Main St in Sturbridge, MA. Please reach out to Brittany Peats at [email protected] with any questions. Thank you to our 2022 MA Food System Forum Sponsors. Agenda 8:30am – Check in, Breakfast […]
read more…August 4, 2022
The legislature’s formal session for 2021-22 wrapped up on July 31, and while there still may be some movement on bills during the informal session things will be relatively quiet on Beacon Hill until the new legislature is seated in January, as attention turns to campaigns. The biggest news of the past few months was […]
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