The Marion Institute’s Southcoast Food Policy Council (SFPC) needs your voice. We are re-elevating the call to contact the State House leadership. We must move H.4854, An Act fostering agricultural resilience in Massachusetts, out of the House Ways and Means Committee and onto the House floor for a vote before the session ends.
The Senate already passed a similar bill (S.3040), which included making the Healthy Incentives Program and the Farm to School program permanent. We are at the finish line—but we need one final push to ensure this comprehensive farm bill becomes law. We also want to add language to the House version of the Farm Bill to make the Healthy Incentives Program and the Farm to School program permanent.
Why H.4854 Matters for Our Community
Our 2021 Southeastern Massachusetts Food System Assessment highlighted several vulnerabilities in our local food chain. This bill provides the direct solutions we need:
- Growing the Next Generation: Establishes a $3 million Next Generation Farmers Fund. With the average age of farmers at 59.8 years, we must provide equitable pathways for beginner, BIPOC, and women farmers to enter the workforce.
- Disaster Preparedness: We’ve seen how supply chain disruptions and panic-buying cripple our local food pantries; this ensures our food system is ready for the next crisis by requiring MEMA (MA Emergency Management Agency) to include food production in disaster planning.
- Protecting Farmland: Empowers the state to protect whole farms through the APR program. We’ve already lost 8.1% of our regional farms; we cannot afford more fragmentation and development of fertile land.
- Urban Agriculture: Authorizes the conversion of vacant lots in Environmental Justice communities into urban farms. This is a direct strike against food deserts, where low-income and lack of transportation prevent families from accessing fresh food.
- Healthy Incentives Program: Making HIP a permanent program in the Commonwealth would increase food nutrition for SNAP recipients, increase the number of HIP farm vendors, and provide local farmers with a viable market to make a living.
- Farm to School Program: Provides funding the infrastructure, staff training, and food sourcing that put healthy, locally grown food on students’ plates while opening new markets for Massachusetts farmers and fishermen.
Take Action: Your Email to House Leadership Can Make a Difference
Email the Speaker of the House, Representative Ronald Mariano, Ronald.Mariano@mahouse.gov, and House Ways and Means Chair, Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov, to prioritize moving H.4854, the (State) Farm Bill forward.
Use this email template to contact both House Leaders in the same email.
Thank you!
SFPC Advocacy Team
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