Issue #26 | January 2022







Supporting collective action
toward an equitable, sustainable, resilient, and connected local
food system in Massachusetts.


Advocate
Things you can do right now to
support systemic policy change.
Last chance for action on bills!

Legislative committees have until February 2 to report bills out for further consideration. Any bills that don’t move forward by that date will not be able to pass during this session. January is a good time to contact Committee Chairs about legislation that is important to you, and urge them to report the bills out favorably. The Collaborative’s priority bills, and more information about contacting legislators is available here.

Budget process beginning

The process of developing the state spending plan for fiscal year 2023 will begin this month, when Governor Baker issues his proposed budget draft. Watch the Collaborative’s website and social media for updates on the process and how you can advocate for funds to support the local food system.
Collaborate
Highlights of the
Collaborative's work.
Farmland Action Plan process begins

Massachusetts has begun developing a Farmland Action Plan, which will propose a “well laid-out vision and plan to address the farmland needs and goals of the Commonwealth including but not limited to increasing farmland conservation, addressing farmland access (including urban farmland), food security, and the long-term economic and environmental viability of farms across all regions of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” The Plan, being developed for the Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), will guide the state’s future investments and policy making related to farmland.

First proposed in the 2015 Food Plan, the Farmland Plan represents an opportunity to consider the land needs of the state’s farming sector, evaluate the existing tools, resources, and policies available to support farmland protection and access, and propose how to strengthen those assets to best support protecting Massachusetts farmland, and ensuring equitable access to that land.

Funding for the Farmland Plan was committed in Governor Baker’s FY2022 Capital Spending Plan after many years of advocates pressing for the investment. The team developing the Farmland Plan includes the UMass Donahue Institute, the Collaborative, and American Farmland Trust. Research has begun and stakeholder engagement will take place over the next several months. The Plan is expected to be completed this summer. More information is available here.

2021 MA Food System Forum recordings available online

Hundreds of local food system stakeholders attended sessions of the 2021 Massachusetts Food System Forum in December, record attendance for our second year of the virtual event. Presentations and discussions included topics such as climate change and agriculture, municipal food system advocacy, local supply chain issues, and balancing emergency and systemic responses to food access. Each conversation touched on how different parts of the food system intersect and support each other, how they sometimes put pressure on each other, and how stakeholder work can help the local food system be more sustainable, equitable, and resilient. Videos of the sessions are available here, and summaries of the sessions are here.

First MA food system network survey helps inform Collaborative's work

To help inform the Collaborative’s work and better understand how our projects support food system work, the Collaborative circulated a network survey in late 2021 to all of our network partners. Thank you to the many respondents who completed the survey and offered thoughtful feedback!

The majority of responses were from staff of statewide nonprofit organizations working on multiple issue areas within the food system, including food security/access, agriculture, public health/wellness/nutrition, and distribution. We learned about the breadth of the informal networks our allies participate in, among other food system organizations of course but also with groups that work on housing, transportation, climate/environment/sustainability, and public health, among others.

Respondents reflected strong alignment with priorities identified in the 2015 MA Food Plan, and have been involved with the Collaborative’s work by reading our newsletters/emails, visiting our website, and attending campaign and network meetings. The local food policy councils network and the Campaign for HIP Funding were the top two Collaborative projects that respondents indicated involvement with, and respondents indicated that learning, information exchange, and opportunities for project collaboration were important benefits to participating in Collaborative networks.

Respondents identified lack of time, timing of meetings or advocacy asks, knowledge about when meetings take place, and lack of resources from funders as barriers to participating in the Collaborative’s work. 

The results of the survey are extremely valuable and will help inform the Collaborative’s work as we continue to build a sustainable, equitable, and resilient food system in Massachusetts.
Celebrate
Inspiring work being done by some
of our friends in Massachusetts.
Land for Good

Based in Keene, NH, Land For Good (LFG) works throughout New England, helping preserve farmland by working with farmers and others to ensure that working lands stay in agricultural production. Sustainable farms are one of the best tools for protecting farmland, and ownership transitions can make farmland vulnerable to loss, particularly without thoughtful succession planning. LFG has developed a comprehensive approach to help families, farm businesses, and communities find diverse and innovative options around farmland tenure.

The organization’s Farm Seekers Program helps farm seekers acquire farms and farmland. Their Farm Legacy Program works with exiting farmers to transfer farms to the next generation or operator. And their Working Lands Program helps landowners make land available for farming.

Their website offers many resources, including case studies of projects they have led, tools for developing leases and transition plans, and an extensive posting site for properties for sale or lease to help farm seekers and farm property holders across New England find each other.
Discover
Thoughtful insights about
food system issues.
How Thousands of Black Farmers Were Forced Off Their Land

This article from The Nation follows the Atchisons, a Black farming family in Alabama, as they were repeatedly denied USDA loans from the local Farm Service Agency office throughout the 1980’s and their complaints about discrimination to the USDA were ignored. Investigations found that systematic discrimination blocked Black farmers from accessing federal funds. The ensuing debts forced Black farmers to sell millions of acres of land, which was then often bought by White farmers. Between 1910 and 1997, Black farmers lost 90% of their property while White farmers lost only 2% of their land. 

The Atchison family participated in Pigford v. Glickman, a class-action lawsuit brought by Black farmers against the USDA in 1997 which should have resulted in foreclosure relief and wrongful debt cancellation, however, more than 20 years later, fewer than 2% of those who applied have received aid. The Atchisons have yet to receive any relief. The March 2021 federal coronavirus relief package included $4 billion in debt relief for ‘socially disadvantaged farmers,’ however the help only applied to farmers who received USDA loans to begin with, which few Black farmers did, and it has been challenged by at least 13 lawsuits filed by White farmers. And the discrimination continues - a study found that in 2020, the USDA granted loans for one program to White farmers at about twice the rate it granted loans to Black farmers.
Participate

The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative envisions a local food system where everyone has access to healthy food, to land to grow food, to good jobs, and to the systems where policy decisions are made. Read more about our vision and our work.