Massachusetts Food System Collaborative

The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative’s 2025-26 Legislation Priorities include H.3154 / S.1043 An Act encouraging the donation of food to persons in need. Thousands of tons of edible food are sent to landfills each year because of donors’ concerns about liability, and because diverting it to those who need it can be costly. These bills will provide civil liability protection for individuals and food establishments who donate food directly to consumers, and a tax credit to Massachusetts farmers in the amount of the fair market value of the donated food, with a $25,000 annual cap per farmer. The bill has been scheduled for a hearing by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday April 8, 2025, starting at 1pm. This is a hybrid hearing. On behalf of the MA Food Waste Reduction Network, the Collaborative will submit testimony.

Next week, April 7-13, is National Food Waste Prevention Week. The week-long event which will build awareness about many ways to reduce food waste. It will feature education on social media, webinars, art & poetry contests, a cooking contest, and more. Food waste reduction is a priority for the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative. The Collaborative is signed on as a partner, joining forces with more than 600 public and private organizations to support the mission of reducing food waste and amplify the message that reducing food waste supports a stronger economy, a healthier environment, and greater food security for all. Network Manager Emily (Breen) Fidanza, who facilitates our Food Waste Reduction Network, is looking forward to attending several exciting webinars next week, including: A Case Study on Food Waste Management at a Municipality Creating a Glide Path for Municipal Action: An Overview of Model Ordinances and Executive Orders on Food Waste Reduction Challenges with surplus food recovery at the public school level Check out the full list of webinars happening here! https://lnkd.in/eVFMnMjA

Join us tomorrow at Boston City Hall’s Civic Pavilion and help us to write postcards about why we love the healthy incentives program and supporting Massachusetts farmers! #hipworks #localfood

Massachusetts farmers successfully leveraged federal funding to provide local, healthy food to children and food banks across Massachusetts. This cut will hurt Massachusetts families, students, and farmers. https://lnkd.in/eBAMQDfm

Join us on Saturday, April 5 for a delicious afternoon of action at Boston City Hall's Civic Pavilion! We will be joining Company One for the Nourishing Our Future event at the Civic Pavilion at City Hall Plaza in Boston. Enjoy some hands-on activities and cooking demos from our community partners, and learn how you can support the movement to give our neighborhoods more control over how food is produced, distributed, and consumed, all while enjoying some fresh and local food! All are welcome — drop in at any point during the event or come for the full afternoon! https://lnkd.in/eB5HTmVy

We appreciate the opportunity to talk about the importance of supporting SNAP. https://lnkd.in/eU4Ti-GR

Massachusetts continues to lose farmland. One way to help continue to safeguard Massachusetts farms is to expand the reduced tax rate for smaller parcels of land. In 1972, voters enacted Article XCIX of the Massachusetts Constitution, giving the legislature the authority to reduce the tax burden on agricultural land. This amendment contributed greatly to the preservation of the Commonwealth’s farms. Article XCIX limited the reduced tax rate only to parcels of land five acres and larger; while this limitation may have been appropriate at the time, the nature and economics of farming have changed. The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative is supporting S.11/H.71; these bills remove the five acre or larger requirement and allows smaller parcels to qualify for a reduced tax rate. https://lnkd.in/eRkgAdtz

Senator Ed Markey is hosting Office Hours on Wednesday, March 26 at 5PM on the importance of protecting SNAP and food security benefits for people in Massachusetts. This event will be co-hosted by the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, The Greater Boston Food Bank, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Merrimack Valley Food Bank, Inc., Project Bread, Worcester County Food Bank, and the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative. The event will feature experts and individuals who can talk about the impact of cuts to food security programs. Please register to attend here.

Thank you to the MetroWest Food Collaborative for hosting a food access panel and asking MAFSC Policy Director, Rebecca Miller, to speak about the importance of the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) for Massachusetts farmers and consumers.

The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative supports the Massachusetts local food system through advocacy and network/relationship building. Why local food? Local food helps Massachusetts. According to the Buy Local, CISA (CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture)), if every household in Massachusetts "shifted just $5 a week towards local food, [this shift] would result in: $266.7 million per year in benefit to the local economy, Over 1.14 billion servings of fresh local food, improving public health, and 6,467 new jobs." Do you spend more? Less? Want to know what your dollars do for Massachusetts? Use this local food impact calculator to find out!