News

See recordings from the Forum here! The MA Food System Forum will be held online December 3-9, 2021. We look forward to gathering virtually to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the food system in Massachusetts, and strategize about how to best address them together. Sessions will include panelist presentations and discussions. Please […]

Signed by the Governor and enacted in late March of 2021, overall the law gets more specific on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) limits and mechanisms and processes to get to the 2050 requirement of net zero GHG emissions. Some things of note: The law redefines direct and indirect GHG emissions and emission sources to be any use, distribution, […]

My name is Norris Guscott and I’m the new Equity Policy Network Manager at the MA Food System Collaborative! In this role, I am working to build, engage, and empower a network of BIPOC farmers, food equity leaders, and the organizations that represent and support them so we are able to effectively advocate together for […]

The Collaborative’s network of farmers and agricultural support organizations has consistently reflected that climate change is a critical issue for agriculture, impacting COVID recovery planning as well as long term disruption to our food system. From its impact on water management and soil erosion to invasive species, to frost damage, and worker health and safety, […]

We’re mid legislative-session and the August legislative recess is on deck, but hearings will resume in September. Testimony can be submitted at any time but should be sent before a hearing is concluded.

The Boston Public Market was founded in 2015 and has thirty vendors from across Massachusetts selling a variety of local products in a year-round, indoor space in downtown Boston. The pandemic closed the market to the public from March to September of 2020, a much longer closure than what they had originally anticipated. BPM also […]

In 2020, Massachusetts invested $36 million in grants to local food system enterprises, launching the Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG) program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of breakdowns in the food supply chain that resulted in food shortages at grocery stores, increased demand on the emergency food system, and heightened interest […]

Citizens for Citizens has been serving low income residents of southeastern Massachusetts since 1965. They run fuel assistance, SNAP application assistance, food pantry, and many other social service programs. Before COVID hit, they were serving 250-300 households per month at their food pantry, but during the spring of 2020 at the height of the pandemic […]

Jen Barbeau has been farming on five acres in North Adams since 2015, raising chickens, ducks, goats for milk, fudge and soap, vegetables, and producing baked goods, pickles, jams, and more in an on-site kitchen. She has been a SNAP/HIP authorized farmer since 2017, and attends the North Adams farmers market. When the pandemic hit, […]

The Boston Public Market was founded in 2015 and has thirty vendors from across Massachusetts selling a variety of local products in a year-round, indoor space in downtown Boston. The pandemic closed the market to the public from March to September of 2020, a much longer closure than what they had originally anticipated. BPM also […]