June 2026 Newsletter

Please save November 19, 2026 for the 10th Annual Forum! This year’s Forum will once again be held at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.

We have a lot of sponsorship opportunities. Sponsors help to keep our ticket prices low. Interested in exploring opportunities? Email Kristina.

State Legislative update

On May 5, 2026, the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee released its fiscal year 2027 budget proposal. Senate Ways and Means proposed $29.7M in new funding for the Healthy Incentives Program, level to the Governor’s proposal of $29.7M in H.2, and $250,000 for another round of the local food policy council grant program. The Collaborative thanks the Senate for their leadership, especially SWM Chair Rodrigues and Vice-Chair Comerford for mentioning HIP once again in their remarks to open debate. During debate, an amendment for $1 million for FRESH grants and food literacy funding was adopted. For a full recap of the budget process, read this article on our website. . 

In May, MDAR celebrated the 1000th farm property joining the APR program! The APR program was the first in the nation dedicated to protecting farmland forever, and more than 75,000 acres of farmland have been preserved through the program.

In addition to the annual budget process, the fiscal year 2026 supplemental budget, that includes a $5,000 refundable tax credit for farmers who donate edible food to hunger relief nonprofits policy, has been passed by the Legislature as H.5470 and is now on the Governor’s desk. We will be keeping an eye on this policy after the Governor signs it into law and as it is implemented by MDAR and DOR, so that it is accessible to farmers.

SNAP-Ed is the education arm of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and provides direct education on nutrition and fitness to SNAP-eligible adults, children, and families, via demonstrations, classroom lessons, and PSE activities (policy, systems, and environmental change). In Massachusetts, the SNAP-Ed implementing partners include UMass Extension NEP, Ascentria Care Alliance, The Food Bank of Western Mass, and the Greater Boston YMCA. NEP (the Nutrition Education Program) is the largest implementing agency for SNAP-Ed in Massachusetts. Housed in UMass Amherst Extension, NEP partners with community agencies and organizations throughout the Commonwealth. In FY25, NEP collaborated with 259 partner organizations, delivering programming to over 40,000 children and adults in public K-12 schools, community centers, preschools, food banks, and more.

Congress cut the SNAP-Education program in 2025, and although the state stepped up to fund one additional year of the program, that year is now coming to an end. Due to this cut, staff will be laid off in the coming months at the implementing partner agencies, and the availability of nutrition education will be reduced. The funding gap is several million dollars for statewide programming.

The Campaign for HIP Funding will meet next on July 7. The Campaign is encouraging HIP vendors and partners to celebrate the program reaching $100M of incentives this summer! This is a huge milestone for the program and HIP is the first nutrition incentive program to reach this amount of support.See this toolkit for more information.

The Campaign for Food Literacy met on June 2 at 4pm. We shared the latest legislative and budget updates. We are currently asking food literacy supporters to contact the Conference Committee to urge them to include $1M for farm to school and food literacy in the FY27 budget. This funding supports continuation of the School Wellness Coaching Program, another round of FRESH grants, and the development of food literacy curricula, tools and resources.

The Urban Agriculture Network met in May sharing updates from a variety of urban agriculture work including community farms and gardens, freight farms, youth development, and more. The network will not meet virtually in June & July, but many sites are planning to host events and visits during MDAR’s Urban Agriculture Week (August 9-15) and throughout the Summer season.

The Food Waste Reduction Network met in May and explored the evolving landscape of food waste prevention, reduction, and management with guest speakers Nate Clark (Senior Communications Manager at ReFED) and Heather Billings (Senior Waste Reduction Consultant at CET/RecyclingWorks). Find a recording of this great conversation here.

To sign up for the listserv for any of these networks to receive further updates, please reach out to Emily Fidanza.

The Franklin County Community Development Corporation (FCCDC) is home to multiple programs that positively impact farmers and the food system. The Western MA Food Processing Center (WMFPC) is a food business incubator and small batch co-packer serving farm and food business across New England. Through its co-packing and Preserve the Valley programs, the Center works with all kinds of food business to make products like sauces, condiments, pickles, and beverages. WMFPC just celebrated their 25th anniversary with a block party last week.