A network of organizations practicing, advocating for, and interested in urban agriculture.
Goal
This network builds relationships to facilitate better collaboration across the field, shares skills and information to enhance our work, and advocates for policies and measures that support urban agriculture efforts.
Get Involved
2026 Network Meetings
February 26, 1pm
March 24, 12:30
April 23, 1pm
May 28, 1pm
To join the network, or for more information please contact Emily Fidanza at emily@mafoodsystem.org
Policy Advocacy
The Collaborative is advocating for the following bill in partnership with network members in the 2025-26 Legislative session.
An Act relative to Urban Farmland
Sen. Adam Gomez S.61 / Rep. Pat Duffy H. 121
This bill aim to support the conversion of vacant lots and underutilized land in environmental justice communities into urban farms, community gardens, and other agricultural enterprises. Urban agriculture supports increased economic development, food security, and climate and heat resilience, and reduces the drain on municipal resources that vacant lots can create. This idea was inspired by work of Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative and Nuestras Raices, as mentioned in the state’s 2023 Resilient Lands Initiative. GrowBoston has also been working hard at transforming vacant lots into urban farms and gardens. The Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries held a hearing on this bill on September 16, 2025. The language from this bill was added to the FARM omnibus (see below) bill and reported out favorably to House and Senate Ways and Means.
Watch the recording from our August 2025 briefing on this bill here!
Additional Resources
Deciding to grow some of your own nutritious food is a statement to yourself that, “Yes, I matter and I am worth it.” Congratulations on reclaiming your ancestral right to belong to the land and to have agency over your own health.
Urban agriculture is a broad topic with a range of issues. Here, the focus is on how farmers get and hold land for commercial farming in urban areas.
A Guide for Updating Your Community’s Laws to Support Healthy Food Production and Access.
If you are an individual or other non-federal entity interested in applying, applications for specialty crop projects must be submitted to the appropriate state department of agriculture to be considered for funding.
Find out information and how to apply for the Urban Agriculture Program.
A strategic guide for effective state budget advocacy—detailing how to influence line‑item appropriations, coordinate with legislative champions, and shape the fiscal narrative to secure local food system investments.
Food hubs aggregate, distribute and market local and regional food. They act as an important connection between producers and consumers.
Access to farmland was one of the key issues brought forward in the Plan. In 2020 farmers, land organizations, municipal agencies, and farm support organizations identified access to and protection of farmland as the most important issue facing both established and beginning farmers. Some 45.5% or 409,000 acres of farmland in MA has been [...]
In 2018 agricultural networks identified climate change as one of the most critical factors impacting the long term viability of farmers and fishermen as well as the security of the Commonwealth’s food supply. We came to understand that efforts to respond to climate change operated mostly in isolation and as a result, no systemic, [...]
Practical guidance for engaging legislators—such as building relationships, submitting impactful testimony, and navigating the legislative process—to effectively advocate for local food system policy change.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many challenges within the food supply chain, and illuminated the importance of a strong local food system to meet the needs of food producers and consumers not just during crises, but at all times.
The impression that fruits and vegetables sold at farmers markets are more expensive than produce that has been grown elsewhere and shipped to grocery stores is often a myth.