News Article –
BOSTON — Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced over $4.7 million in grants to address urgent food insecurity for residents across the Commonwealth as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is being awarded as part of the fifth round of the new $36 million Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program, created following recommendations from the Administration’s COVID-19 Command Center’s Food Security Task Force, which promotes ongoing efforts to ensure that individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth have access to healthy, local food.
“As Massachusetts residents celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we recognize that food insecurity remains a significant challenge for many families throughout the Commonwealth, making our efforts to secure a resilient, diverse local food supply chain even more critical,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Through a $56 million investment through our Food Security Task Force, our Administration is committed to investing in our local food infrastructure and ensuring a secure supply of food, which will enable us to ensure that families throughout Massachusetts can access local, nutritious food as they continue to meet the challenges created by the pandemic.”
“During this holiday season it is important that families across Massachusetts, especially those living in underserved communities, receive better access to healthy, local food,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “The investments made through this program will help Massachusetts’ farmers and food producers build on the progress our state has made since the onset of the pandemic to ensure a strong local food chain.”
The goal of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program is to ensure that individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth have equitable access to food, especially local food. The program also seeks to ensure that farmers, fishermen and other local food producers are better connected to a strong, resilient food system to help mitigate future food supply and distribution disruption.
The fifth round of the grant program includes 54 awards for a total of $4,742,293 to fund critical investments in technology, equipment, capacity, and other assistance to help local food producers, especially in the distribution of food insecure communities. When evaluating the applications, considerations included equity, economic impact and need, sustainability and scalability of efforts, and ability to support producer readiness to accept SNAP and HIP benefits. In the program’s first four rounds, the Administration awarded over $17.7 million to more than 137 recipients.
“The upcoming holiday season marks a new and challenging milestone in the Commonwealth’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensuring residents throughout Massachusetts maintain access to healthy, local food remains a critical focus,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. “These grants support Massachusetts’ agricultural and food businesses while building better access to healthy, nutritious food for our underserved neighborhoods and communities.”
“As Massachusetts weathers a second surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases, food pantries and meal providers across the Commonwealth have indicated a need for increasing food availability and efficiency of services. This additional funding from the Food Security Infrastructure Grant program will allow for the expedited support of our community partners as they see an increased need for food services,” said COVID-19 Response Command Center Director and Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders. “Local grassroots organizations are keeping our communities fed and are the boots on the ground that reach residents who participate in existing nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC to ensure they are well supported during this difficult time.”
Today, the Baker-Polito Administration also announced the COVID-19 Command Center’s new food program for isolating and quarantining individuals in collaboration with local boards of health and the Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC), which invests nearly $1.2 million to support residents in isolation. Communities across the Commonwealth have developed innovative, local solutions to support families who are dealing with the direct impacts of COVID-19, for which access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food is crucial. For a portion of low-income households, and in certain geographic areas, food security remains a top concern while isolating. This new program will be coordinated with local health departments, the CTC, food pantries, municipalities, and other local partners to assess needs and gaps in service at the individual and community level, and develop and deploy local solutions to ensure the foods security needs of those isolating and quarantining can be met.
As part of the announcement, Secretary Kathleen Theoharides and Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Jim Montgomery visited the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex, which has been used by the YMCA of Greater Boston as a distribution location for its food bank services beginning in October 2020. The site is used as a delivery point for pallets of food which are broken down and repackaged into donation bags which are distributed to neighborhood organizations and Massachusetts residents in need. The space in the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex supports the efforts of the YMCA while furthering DCR’s efforts to serve the community, an excellent example of public-private partnership.
The YMCA of Greater Boston is also receiving a $183,847 grant in this round of the Food Security Infrastructure Program, which will enable it to establish mobile food pantries to deliver food to underserved neighborhoods in Boston. The mobile food pantry will provide full-service food pantry operations, and will rotate on a weekly basis to deliver to as many neighborhoods as possible.
“The DCR Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex is a critical resource in the Roxbury neighborhood for indoor/outdoor recreation, community outreach, and education,” said DCR Commissioner Jim Montgomery. “What better way to continue the Complex’s legacy than to welcome the YMCA food security operations into the facility, illustrating an excellent example of public-private partnership.”
Eligible grantees include entities that are part of the Massachusetts local food system including production, processing and distribution, the emergency food distribution network, Buy Local, community and food organizations, school meal programming, urban farms and community gardens, non-profits, and organizations that provide business planning, technical assistance and information technology services. The Request for Responses for project proposals closed on September 15, 2020. Applications submitted before the proposal deadline will continue to be evaluated for future rounds of funding.
This grant program implements the recommendations of the Food Security Task Force, which was convened by the Massachusetts COVID-19 Command Center in response to increased demands for food assistance. The task force is composed of a broad group of public and private members charged with ensuring food insecurity and food supply needs are addressed during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The Food Insecurity Infrastructure Grant Program was announced in May 2020 as part of a $56 million investment by the Baker-Polito Administration to combat urgent food insecurity for some Massachusetts families and individuals as a result of COVID-19. The Administration also announced a $5 million increase for the Healthy Incentives Program to meet increased demand for local produce and to increase access points that process SNAP and HIP benefits, $12 million for the provision of 25,000 family food boxes per week through a regional food supply system, and $3 million in funding as an immediate relief valve to food banks.
Several new HIP vendors are receiving funding through this round of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program to purchase new equipment to process SNAP and HIP benefits. Everett Community Growers, a coalition of Everett residents who sell culturally significant produce for the area, including collards, squash, and radishes, and Mycoterra Farm, which runs Mass Food Delivery, an online ordering platform sourcing local farms. As HIP vendors, they will be able to home deliver local produce to low-income households, several senior centers, and housing facilities throughout multiple counties, using minimal/contactless delivery service.
In addition to expanding HIP, the Administration continues to leverage federal food and nutrition resources during COVID-19, including federal flexibilities for SNAP to ensure individuals and families have stable access to these critical benefits. Over $16.4 million has been spent by households using their SNAP benefits to buy food online from Amazon and Walmart since launching the SNAP Online Purchasing Program in May. Since March, SNAP households have received extra benefits to bring their monthly benefits up to the maximum amount for their household size, providing over $335 million in food support to over 280,000 households. The most recent federal appropriation extended Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) through the entire 2020-2021 school year. To date, Pandemic EBT has helped over 550,000 students buy food.
In August, the Baker-Polito Administration launched the MassGrown Exchange, an online platform designed to facilitate business-to-business connections within the local food system for products and services. Developed by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), in collaboration with the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), this platform was established to both address COVID-19 disruptions to the local food supply and to serve as a helpful tool and resource for Massachusetts growers and producers in accessing markets beyond the duration of the COVID-19 emergency.
“We understand that these uncertain times have unfortunately meant many families are without hot meals,” said James O’S. Morton President and CEO of The YMCA of Greater Boston. “We are honored to partner with amazing organizations allowing us to provide comfort to our community during the holiday season and continuing our dedication to helping those in need.”
“Hunger has been one of the most rampant and devastating side effects of this pandemic, and over the past several months food insecurity in Massachusetts has climbed dramatically,” said State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston). “These organizations, serving communities across the Commonwealth, have stepped up to fill a critical need throughout this prolonged crisis–and I particularly want to honor the great work being done at the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex, which has opened its space to help keep Boston residents nourished. By investing in their and others’ operations, we can expand access to local, healthy food and help care for our neighbors, ensuring they have enough to eat this holiday season.”
“Healthy and locally grown products have not always been easily accessible to low income individuals,” said State Senator Dean Tran (R-Fitchburg). “Thank you to the Baker-Polito administration for their continued support and investment in equipment for local organizations to help make their products available to the underserved population.”
“I’m grateful for the Baker-Polito Administration’s efforts to strategically fund initiatives that meet our neighbors’ basic needs since the global pandemic hit here,” said State Representative Liz Malia (D-Boston). “This fifth round of food security infrastructure grants is a significant boost to the awardees and the families they feed.”
“I’m so glad that Growing Places is being recognized for their vital work with a Food Insecurity Infrastructure Grant,” said State Representative Natalie Higgins (D-Leominster). “This funding will help Growing Places expand its ability to connect low income community members to fresh local produce throughout North Central Mass.” Representative Natalie Higgins
BOSTON — Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced over $4.7 million in grants to address urgent food insecurity for residents across the Commonwealth as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is being awarded as part of the fifth round of the new $36 million Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program, created following recommendations from the Administration’s COVID-19 Command Center’s Food Security Task Force, which promotes ongoing efforts to ensure that individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth have access to healthy, local food.
“As Massachusetts residents celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we recognize that food insecurity remains a significant challenge for many families throughout the Commonwealth, making our efforts to secure a resilient, diverse local food supply chain even more critical,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Through a $56 million investment through our Food Security Task Force, our Administration is committed to investing in our local food infrastructure and ensuring a secure supply of food, which will enable us to ensure that families throughout Massachusetts can access local, nutritious food as they continue to meet the challenges created by the pandemic.”
“During this holiday season it is important that families across Massachusetts, especially those living in underserved communities, receive better access to healthy, local food,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “The investments made through this program will help Massachusetts’ farmers and food producers build on the progress our state has made since the onset of the pandemic to ensure a strong local food chain.”
The goal of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program is to ensure that individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth have equitable access to food, especially local food. The program also seeks to ensure that farmers, fishermen and other local food producers are better connected to a strong, resilient food system to help mitigate future food supply and distribution disruption.
The fifth round of the grant program includes 54 awards for a total of $4,742,293 to fund critical investments in technology, equipment, capacity, and other assistance to help local food producers, especially in the distribution of food insecure communities. When evaluating the applications, considerations included equity, economic impact and need, sustainability and scalability of efforts, and ability to support producer readiness to accept SNAP and HIP benefits. In the program’s first four rounds, the Administration awarded over $17.7 million to more than 137 recipients.
“The upcoming holiday season marks a new and challenging milestone in the Commonwealth’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensuring residents throughout Massachusetts maintain access to healthy, local food remains a critical focus,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. “These grants support Massachusetts’ agricultural and food businesses while building better access to healthy, nutritious food for our underserved neighborhoods and communities.”
“As Massachusetts weathers a second surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases, food pantries and meal providers across the Commonwealth have indicated a need for increasing food availability and efficiency of services. This additional funding from the Food Security Infrastructure Grant program will allow for the expedited support of our community partners as they see an increased need for food services,” said COVID-19 Response Command Center Director and Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders. “Local grassroots organizations are keeping our communities fed and are the boots on the ground that reach residents who participate in existing nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC to ensure they are well supported during this difficult time.”
Today, the Baker-Polito Administration also announced the COVID-19 Command Center’s new food program for isolating and quarantining individuals in collaboration with local boards of health and the Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC), which invests nearly $1.2 million to support residents in isolation. Communities across the Commonwealth have developed innovative, local solutions to support families who are dealing with the direct impacts of COVID-19, for which access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food is crucial. For a portion of low-income households, and in certain geographic areas, food security remains a top concern while isolating. This new program will be coordinated with local health departments, the CTC, food pantries, municipalities, and other local partners to assess needs and gaps in service at the individual and community level, and develop and deploy local solutions to ensure the foods security needs of those isolating and quarantining can be met.
As part of the announcement, Secretary Kathleen Theoharides and Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Jim Montgomery visited the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex, which has been used by the YMCA of Greater Boston as a distribution location for its food bank services beginning in October 2020. The site is used as a delivery point for pallets of food which are broken down and repackaged into donation bags which are distributed to neighborhood organizations and Massachusetts residents in need. The space in the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex supports the efforts of the YMCA while furthering DCR’s efforts to serve the community, an excellent example of public-private partnership.
The YMCA of Greater Boston is also receiving a $183,847 grant in this round of the Food Security Infrastructure Program, which will enable it to establish mobile food pantries to deliver food to underserved neighborhoods in Boston. The mobile food pantry will provide full-service food pantry operations, and will rotate on a weekly basis to deliver to as many neighborhoods as possible.
“The DCR Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex is a critical resource in the Roxbury neighborhood for indoor/outdoor recreation, community outreach, and education,” said DCR Commissioner Jim Montgomery. “What better way to continue the Complex’s legacy than to welcome the YMCA food security operations into the facility, illustrating an excellent example of public-private partnership.”
Eligible grantees include entities that are part of the Massachusetts local food system including production, processing and distribution, the emergency food distribution network, Buy Local, community and food organizations, school meal programming, urban farms and community gardens, non-profits, and organizations that provide business planning, technical assistance and information technology services. The Request for Responses for project proposals closed on September 15, 2020. Applications submitted before the proposal deadline will continue to be evaluated for future rounds of funding.
This grant program implements the recommendations of the Food Security Task Force, which was convened by the Massachusetts COVID-19 Command Center in response to increased demands for food assistance. The task force is composed of a broad group of public and private members charged with ensuring food insecurity and food supply needs are addressed during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The Food Insecurity Infrastructure Grant Program was announced in May 2020 as part of a $56 million investment by the Baker-Polito Administration to combat urgent food insecurity for some Massachusetts families and individuals as a result of COVID-19. The Administration also announced a $5 million increase for the Healthy Incentives Program to meet increased demand for local produce and to increase access points that process SNAP and HIP benefits, $12 million for the provision of 25,000 family food boxes per week through a regional food supply system, and $3 million in funding as an immediate relief valve to food banks.
Several new HIP vendors are receiving funding through this round of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program to purchase new equipment to process SNAP and HIP benefits. Everett Community Growers, a coalition of Everett residents who sell culturally significant produce for the area, including collards, squash, and radishes, and Mycoterra Farm, which runs Mass Food Delivery, an online ordering platform sourcing local farms. As HIP vendors, they will be able to home deliver local produce to low-income households, several senior centers, and housing facilities throughout multiple counties, using minimal/contactless delivery service.
In addition to expanding HIP, the Administration continues to leverage federal food and nutrition resources during COVID-19, including federal flexibilities for SNAP to ensure individuals and families have stable access to these critical benefits. Over $16.4 million has been spent by households using their SNAP benefits to buy food online from Amazon and Walmart since launching the SNAP Online Purchasing Program in May. Since March, SNAP households have received extra benefits to bring their monthly benefits up to the maximum amount for their household size, providing over $335 million in food support to over 280,000 households. The most recent federal appropriation extended Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) through the entire 2020-2021 school year. To date, Pandemic EBT has helped over 550,000 students buy food.
In August, the Baker-Polito Administration launched the MassGrown Exchange, an online platform designed to facilitate business-to-business connections within the local food system for products and services. Developed by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), in collaboration with the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), this platform was established to both address COVID-19 disruptions to the local food supply and to serve as a helpful tool and resource for Massachusetts growers and producers in accessing markets beyond the duration of the COVID-19 emergency.
“We understand that these uncertain times have unfortunately meant many families are without hot meals,” said James O’S. Morton President and CEO of The YMCA of Greater Boston. “We are honored to partner with amazing organizations allowing us to provide comfort to our community during the holiday season and continuing our dedication to helping those in need.”
“Hunger has been one of the most rampant and devastating side effects of this pandemic, and over the past several months food insecurity in Massachusetts has climbed dramatically,” said State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston). “These organizations, serving communities across the Commonwealth, have stepped up to fill a critical need throughout this prolonged crisis–and I particularly want to honor the great work being done at the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex, which has opened its space to help keep Boston residents nourished. By investing in their and others’ operations, we can expand access to local, healthy food and help care for our neighbors, ensuring they have enough to eat this holiday season.”
“Healthy and locally grown products have not always been easily accessible to low income individuals,” said State Senator Dean Tran (R-Fitchburg). “Thank you to the Baker-Polito administration for their continued support and investment in equipment for local organizations to help make their products available to the underserved population.”
“I’m grateful for the Baker-Polito Administration’s efforts to strategically fund initiatives that meet our neighbors’ basic needs since the global pandemic hit here,” said State Representative Liz Malia (D-Boston). “This fifth round of food security infrastructure grants is a significant boost to the awardees and the families they feed.”
“I’m so glad that Growing Places is being recognized for their vital work with a Food Insecurity Infrastructure Grant,” said State Representative Natalie Higgins (D-Leominster). “This funding will help Growing Places expand its ability to connect low income community members to fresh local produce throughout North Central Mass.” Representative Natalie Higgins
