July has been filled with meaningful progress. Together with our volunteers, partners, donors, and supporters, we’ve been growing food, expanding access, fostering learning, and strengthening connections throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. This month, we’re celebrating a generous $25,000 matching challenge to help power the future of Frogfoot Farm while also seeking passionate individuals to join our team in two new positions. Below, you’ll find updates from each of our programs, opportunities to get involved, and the collective impact we’re creating together.
We’re Hiring – And We Need Your Help!
The Marion Institute is growing, and we’re looking for two passionate professionals to join our team! We’re currently hiring for a Marketing & Communications Manager and a Southcoast Food Policy Council Program Director. If you—or someone you know—is passionate about strengthening communities, advancing local food systems, and making a meaningful impact, we’d love to hear from you.
Please share these opportunities with your networks and help us find the next members of our team.
Farming, harvesting, & gleaning fresh produce to feed our neighbors in need
Frogfoot Farm continues to grow fresh produce exclusively for local food pantries while bringing the community together through volunteerism, education, and ecological stewardship. This month, we welcomed volunteers from The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, who helped harvest crops and maintain the native hedgerows planted on Earth Day. We also hosted a BioBlitz, where 10 participants recorded 85 observations of 37 species, while our entomology volunteers (Hannah Nadel and Juli Gould) continued studying insect biodiversity across the farm.
We’re also excited to begin construction of a solar-powered pole barn, supported by a $135,000 state grant. The solar array will be installed on the pole barn—not on agricultural land or cranberry bogs—to help power the farm. Read the full press release.
So far this season, we’ve harvested 2,177 pounds of fresh produce providing 12,821 total servings valued at $9,465 for local food relief organizations!
Interested in making an impact? We’re always looking for volunteers and corporate service groups to help grow fresh food for neighbors in need.
A $25,000 Match to Power Frogfoot Farm
Exciting news! Frogfoot Farm’s Lead Infrastructure Donors and longtime friends, Cindy & Doug Crocker, have made a generous $25,000 matching pledge to help complete critical farm infrastructure. While our recent solar grant funds the solar installation, it doesn’t cover the electrical infrastructure or the walk-in cooler needed to support farm operations. Their generous matching gift will help bridge those gaps—and every donation will bring us one step closer. Thank you, Cindy and Doug, for your incredible leadership, generosity, and belief in our mission.
Help us meet the match and double your impact. Every gift will be matched dollar for dollar, bringing us one step closer to powering the farm and expanding our ability to grow fresh food for neighbors in need.
A coalition advancing regional food security through equity and sustainable systems
TAKE ACTION
We’re in the final stretch—but we need your help. The Marion Institute’s Southcoast Food Policy Council is urging supporters to contact House leadership and ask them to move the State Farm Bill, H.4854, An Act Fostering Agricultural Resilience in Massachusetts, forward for a vote before the legislative session ends.
This landmark bill would strengthen our local food system by supporting the next generation of farmers, protecting farmland, improving disaster preparedness, expanding urban agriculture, and making the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) and Farm to School Program permanent.
Your voice can make a difference. Use our email template to 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.
FarmCoast Documentary Behind the Scenes
We are plugging away with our FarmCoast Documentary! Here is a behind the scenes action shot while filming with our friend Chuck Currie at Freedom Food Farm in Raynham.
Harvesting surplus crops, feeding neighbors, and building community across Southeastern Massachusetts
Fields to Families continues to rescue fresh, locally grown food and connect it with neighbors experiencing food insecurity across Southeastern Massachusetts. This month, we’re excited to welcome Silverbrook Farm as our newest farm partner and the UMass Dartmouth Food Pantry as our 28th pantry partner. This new collaboration is already strengthening regional connections, with UMass Dartmouth graduate student Emma joining the Southcoast Food Policy Council’s Emergency Food Resource Meeting and helping expand opportunities for future student volunteerism.
One of this month’s highlights was recovering more than 370 pounds of cucumbers from Under the Sun Farm in Dighton. The surplus harvest was quickly delivered to Angels Anonymous in Fall River, where fresh produce was urgently needed for their monthly drive-thru food pantry. Read the full story on our blog.
To date this season, Fields to Families has recovered 6,103 pounds of fresh food—providing 29,975 servings valued at more than $25,498 for 28 food pantry partners, while preventing 373 pounds of CO₂ emissions and engaging volunteers who have contributed 79 hours of service. By rescuing fruits, vegetables, herbs, and protein that might otherwise go unused, Fields to Families helps ensure healthy, nutritious food reaches the people who need it most.
Farm-to-school program promoting health, sustainability, equity, and ecological literacy
While school is out for the summer, our Grow Education team is hard at work maintaining school gardens across 27 schools in 7 districts to ensure they’re healthy and thriving for the fall. This month, Marion Institute teammate Abby’s children, Alex and Lydia pitched in to help harvest fresh produce from the Rochester Memorial School garden. Over the summer when schools have summer programming harvests are shared with students and their families or it’s donated to local food relief organizations so nothing goes to waste and fresh, locally grown food continues to nourish our community.
These gardens provide hands-on learning experiences for students while helping them build lifelong connections to healthy food, agriculture, and the environment.
Craft a meaningful legacy through the Marion Institute’s Legacy Society with planned gifts, impacting our mission in perpetuity.
If you’ve designated a planned gift, or have questions about our Legacy Society, please reach out at legacy@marioninstitute.org or 508-748-0816, ext. 118.
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