The Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) has far outpaced expectations, with SNAP recipients purchasing more than $2.5 million of fresh produce from local farmers between April and November, and earning an equal amount of incentives in the process. In the first seven months of HIP, 58,000 SNAP clients benefited from the program, exceeding redemption expectations by more than 470%. Nearly 50% of the 33,000 households that have benefited include a senior, and more than 30% include a child.
The MA Food System Collaborative hosted the 2017 Massachusetts Food System Forum in Leominster on November 17. More than 200 people, from farmers to funders, elected officials to nonprofit leaders, looked back at how the food system has become stronger in the two years since the completion of the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan and generated ideas on how to work together to continue to move toward the goals of the Plan.
After more than two years of planning and development, the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) issued its first incentives in April, and has already far surpassed expected participation. In addition, the Massachusetts Legislature and governor, recognizing the importance of the program, made a significant investment in HIP in the State’s FY’18 budget. This statewide program offers a one-for-one match to SNAP recipients when they use their EBT cards to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables directly from participating farms at farmstands, farmers markets, mobile markets, and CSAs.
A new program is improving access to fresh, healthy foods for thousands of families around Massachusetts, and increasing sales for local farmers. The more than 440,000 families in Massachusetts who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are receiving mailings this month to inform them about the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) (www.mass.gov/hip), which seeks to increase food security for SNAP households, support the local agricultural economy, and improve health outcomes for participating families.
Pollinators and their habitats are in danger, and their critical role in our food system requires careful consideration and deliberate action. Honeybees alone are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat. Without healthy pollinator populations, our food system would struggle to provide enough food, experience decreased diversity of local foods, and face significant economic and employment loss. In Massachusetts, pollinators contribute to major agricultural crops that, if threatened, would negatively impact our local economy. For instance, cranberries are the state’s most valuable agricultural commodity, cultivated on about 13,500 acres and generating $1.43 billion in local economic activity, according to the Massachusetts Cranberry Revitalization Task Force. A threat to the health of pollinators jeopardizes this industry – the healthy food it produces, the income it earns, and the livelihoods of its 6,900 workers. And cranberries are not alone – the sustainability of much of the Commonwealth’s fruit and vegetable crops rely upon the health of our pollinators.
