The Collaborative will be holding listening sessions around the state to understand the needs of farmers; please check back for more information.
The Agricultural Equity Network is made up of historically underserved Massachusetts farmers, in addition to the allies, legislators, and organizations that support them. The Network advocated for state public policy that supports fair land access, jobs, education, and other resources that are vital for all farmers to be sustainable in their businesses, and for the food system in Massachusetts to be more equitable and robust; including growing more food in the Commonwealth. BIPOC and immigrant farmers account for roughly 2% of farmers statewide, but smart public policy can help increase that number, which increases economic development and fosters inclusion.
Highlights of our work
S.53 / H.111 An Act Promoting Equity in Agriculture
The Network helped craft a bill to address core areas of equity in Massachusetts’s agricultural landscape. The bill will create a commission comprised of farmers and leaders that would look at:
- Policy recommendations that support racially equitable investments and practices;
- Resource and program accessibility of current programs; and
- Recommendations related to equity in existing laws and regulations.
Agricultural Equity Network Meetings
The goal behind Network Meetings is to provide a forum for the Network members to discuss important issues relevant to equity in agriculture and to build relationships among each other. Ultimately, the conversations guide the Network’s direction in regards to policy, programming, and advocacy, and ensure the network is grassroots based. The network included more than 45 farmers, organizations, and leaders from across the state.
Being an Ally: Collaborating with and Empowering BIPOC Partners
In well-intentioned efforts to provide assistance, ally organizations face issues around partnerships, stake-building, and communication with historically underserved communities, farmers, and the organizations that support and represent them. The Ag Equity Network draws on its vast network of successful historically underserved farmers, organizations, and leaders to provide impactful, relevant, and up to date strategies to support partnerships.
Ag Equity Network Engagement with Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
After engaging in direct advocacy with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), the Ag Equity Network was able to secure the Commissioner’s commitment to attend bi-annual meetings. This opened up direct channel of information flow to the upper echelons of the Department.
The Ag Equity Network is also one of the main collaborator of the MDAR’s equity strategy. In 2023, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) released its draft environmental justice strategy for comment, and the Network took the lead in organizing farmers of color to discuss the draft and develop feedback to submit. Through this submission, the Ag Equity Network encouraged MDAR to include equity in its mission statement. The Environmental Justice Strategy can be found here. The Ag Equity Network looks forward to regular future engagement with MDAR.
Resources
Food System Policy Considerations: 2025-2027 A briefing paper for candidates for Massachusetts General Court
According to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, food waste and other organic material make up approximately 21 percent of the total waste stream in the state, equaling 950,000 tons a year in Massachusetts in 2019.
Learn more about food waste in Massachusetts.
From the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, details about legal concepts surrounding local food systems
Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Community Food Strategies - Includes guidance for holding a series of meetings for (1) clarifying intentions, (2) drafting a charter, (3) transitioning to a council
Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council - Includes examples of documents to consider when establishing a FPC including bylaws and a member handbook.
Metropolitan Area Planning Council - Model policy for establishing a food policy council through a formal municipal process, with some content that might be helpful more broadly including sample language for purpose - mission and function, objectives, member responsibilities, and more.
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future - Briefly outlines 5 common structures and benefits and challenges of each
Mark Winne - Chapter 1 pages 5-8 cover "Why's and What's of Food Policy Councils"
This Culture of Inclusion Toolkit is a compilation of tips and suggestions designed to help market managers and vendors create more inclusive cultures and welcoming environments at their farmers markets for all members of the communities they serve.
“Stewarding our own land, growing our own food, educating our own youth, participating in our own healthcare and justice systems,” Penniman writes, “this is the source of real power and dignity.”
Get connected with programs that offer targeted support and opportunities to underrepresented groups in farming.
Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment at UMass Amherst
2022 Census of Agriculture State Data
Black producers up 5 percent since 2012; one-fifth serve or have served in the military
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.
Many cities, towns, and regions in Massachusetts have completed Community Food Assessments as a tool to help improve the food system in their area. Food Policy Councils often lead or contribute to these reports, or emerge as one of the primary recommendations from the assessments. An assessment includes gathering information on what food resources [...]
Campaign for HIP Funding members have developed many resources for their local HIP consumers over the years.
To help Massachusetts children grow and lead healthy, independent, thoughtful lives, all students in grades K - 12 should have access to food system education in school, learning about agriculture, nutrition, food justice, and culinary skills.
Many policy and programmatic changes will help to expand food system education across the state. In addition, there are many resources available to help districts, schools, and teachers that are interested in teaching food literacy. Using an existing food literacy curriculum may help to design a sequence of food lessons that build over time and [...]
A map which includes food councils and working groups who have been involved with the Local Food Policy Council Network.
The following organizations support the Collaborative's campaign to expand food system education in K - 12 schools in Massachusetts. Follow these links to learn more about the campaign and read the policy ask. To sign your organization on to the campaign, please click here. For more information, please reach out to Rebecca Miller at [...]
On behalf of the more than 300 Campaign for HIP Funding supporters: Organizations AARP Massachusetts, Statewide About Fresh, Boston Alchemy Initiative, Pittsfield All Farmers, Springfield Alliance of Massachusetts YMCAs, Boston Allston Brighton Health Collaborative, Boston American Academy of Pediatrics, MA Chapter, Waltham American Farmland Trust, Northampton American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, Waltham [...]
Find a complete list of organizations that are supporting the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP).
Lessons learned from the Campaign for Healthy Incentives Program funding.
(Updated as of May 2025) The Healthy Incentives Program means healthy families, sustainable farms, and a strong local economy.
This annotated bibliography offers a foundation for learning and communicating about structural racism in the U.S. food system.
Feel free to download, print, and share all files widely.
A report on the state of the local food system in Massachusetts as part of the New England Feeding New England project, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and next steps to build a sustainable, resilient, and equitable food system.
Bringing people together to create a just food system and to build healthy, sustainable and equitable communities in Worcester, AM and beyond.
The Anti-Racist Farmers Market Toolkit exists to help farmers market managers make progress toward becoming anti-racist managers of anti-racist markets.
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.
Interested in sending a story about the impact the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) has had on you, your customers or on your community? Download, fill out and send this postcard to legislators.
Do you know about the extra money you get for FRUITS AND VEGETABLES through SNAP?
Coastal Foodshed discusses the Healthy Incentives Program in Massachusetts.
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Encourages SNAP Recipients to Take Advantage of Benefits in this promotional video.
A report on the five years of the Campaign for HIP Financing, including what made this effort succeed and where opportunities exist for further work.
Looking for policies that support community food systems? This Local Government Food Policy Database, from Growing Food Connections, is a searchable database with examples of how local public policies have been adopted to address food system issues.
This report outlines examples of teachers and nonprofits teaching about agriculture, nutrition, culinary skills, and food justice, resources that exist to support this work, and what Massachusetts should do to expand food system education to all K – 12 students.
A searchable data set of many federal, state and private programs and information that support, or may support, farmers as they explore and implement solutions to climate change and enhanced food security.
Food hubs aggregate, distribute and market local and regional food. They act as an important connection between producers and consumers.
Find farms and markets near you that support the HIP campaign.
Throughout the process of developing the food plan, many discussions focused on the balance between protecting public safety through health regulations, and supporting the growth and sustainability of farms and food businesses at all scales. Because of the complexity of this topic, the Plan did not attempt to resolve it, but rather offered a [...]
Spring 2025: Follow the steps in this call to action to support HIP. If you are a HIP farmer vendor or serve SNAP clients: please print out the flyer in postcard size to share. You can also share this form directly with clients in your newsletter. Note, HIP customers are welcome to share their [...]
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, [...]
Decades of farmland conversion has resulted in a patchwork of noncontiguous farmland and former farmland parcels that are less than five acres in size. Over this time farming in Massachusetts has changed dramatically, underscoring significant shifts in farming technology and know-how, in opportunities for and interest in direct-to-consumer sales, and in our food system [...]
Link for resources and publications from Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Includes a Massachusetts Food System Map and information about community food system assessments and plans.
Mill City Grows is proud support the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) which gives families greater access to fresh food.
Learn more about purchasing fresh, local produce through the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) and other food assistance programs, as well as access HIP information pamphlets in English • Cape Verdean Creole • Khmer • Russian • Spanish.
Access the Commonwealth's Farmland Action Plan: a long-range strategic initiative intended to guide actions to ensure that farmland and farming are available and viable for current and future generations in Massachusetts. It focuses on three overlapping goals to address challenges – protection, access and viability.
A resource from the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. DTA has also developed youtube tutorials in several languages about how to use this resource!
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 Collaborative's analysis of the FSIG program. The FSIG program was mean to support food security enterprises during the COVID crisis. This 2021 analysis of the first round of the program leads to some suggestions for future opportunities.
Massachusetts has significantly more food production on parcels smaller than five acres than when agricultural land protection laws, regulations and policies were put in place. Changes to those policies are needed.
Climate change’s impact on the food system will be particularly acute in its effects on agriculture. Research, education, technical support, policy changes, and investments are needed to help farmers adapt.
Information about the program from the Department of Transitional Assistance
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.
This report outlines existing state supports—including regulations, technical assistance, and funding—to encourage food-waste reduction and diversion.
Three years since the state of Massachusetts released the MA Local Food Action Plan, this report finds that action by the legislature, the administration, and state agencies has resulted in progress toward some of the Plan’s goals, and that additional efforts are needed on others.
The policies municipal government create can impact the food system. This toolkit presents ideas for how to make change within your city or town.
A tool to help you make meaningful changes that affect your work and your community. Using these tools, you and your allies can contribute to creating policy that helps the food system thrive.
A visual map to help you find your way around the Massachusetts State House.
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.
This report tells some of the stories of programs, projects, and people working toward the goals of the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan.