Campaign for HIP Funding

Support healthy families and sustainable farms!

Full call to action language below.

Current action needed (7/26/18)

• The FY19 budget has been signed, with $4 million for HIP! Be sure to thank senators and representatives for their support.

Current program status

• As of October 1, $6.7 million in HIP incentives had been earned by 39,500 families since April 2017.
• HIP is currently operating.
• The company which operates most of the terminals that allow farmers to process HIP and SNAP has announced it is going out of business and that the terminals will no longer operate as of February 28. USDA, DTA, and advocates are working to find a solution to provide uninterrupted service for HIP transactions. This is a national issue, and you can read more about it here and here. The Farmers Market Coalition is providing regular updates on this page.

Current legislative status

Fiscal Year 2019 budget:
This is the funding needed to keep HIP running for the fiscal year 2019 (July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019).

• What has happened:
• The Governor included $1.35 million for HIP in his budget proposal.
• The House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means included $3.5 million in their budget proposal on April 11 (line 4400-1004).
• An amendment passed, increasing that amount to $4 million.
• The Senate Committee on Ways and Means included $3 million in their budget proposal on May 10 (line 4400-1001).
• An amendment passed, increasing that amount to $4 million.
• The conference committee included the full $4 million in the budget they have submitted to Governor Baker.
• The Governor signed the budget on 7/26 with the full $4 million.

For a more detailed explanation of the budget process, click here.

Full call to action

The Healthy Incentives Program provides a dollar-for-dollar match for SNAP money spent on fruits and vegetables purchased at participating farmers markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and community supported agriculture (CSA) programs statewide. To date, the program has provided more than $4.2 million in fresh, healthy, local foods for low-income families, with that money going to support local farms. This means better health outcomes for some of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable communities, and greater sustainability for local farms, allowing them to contribute to the local economy, steward farmland and protect our natural resources. For more information about HIP, see this fact sheet.

The program has far exceeded expectations and funds ran out on April 15, at which time it was suspended. Action is needed to urge the legislature and the administration to allocate funds to keep the program operating.

Please call or email your state legislators and the governor's office today and ask them to support HIP. If you’re not sure who your representative or senator is, you can find out here. To reach the governor's office, call 617-725-4005 or use this form. When you reach policymakers or their staff, ask them to:

1. Support any budget or amendment that includes $6.2 million for HIP in fiscal year 2019.

All legislators need to hear from their constituents, even if they are already supportive of HIP. The Commonwealth has long supported equitable access to food, healthy eating, sustainable farms, local economic development, and natural resources conservation, and an investment in HIP supports all of these issues.

To help us keep track of which legislators are supportive, please let us know who you reached out to and how they responded, by emailing Winton Pitcoff at the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative. If you have any questions, or would like more information about HIP or the campaign, contact Winton Pitcoff at the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, or click here.

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