Baker-Polito Administration Announces $15 Million in Support for the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program
Second Round of Funding Will Increase Access to Fresh
Local Food, Strengthen Local Food System
BOSTON — Building on investments to
address food insecurity among Massachusetts
residents, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced it has made
available $15 million in funding through a second round of its Food Security
Infrastructure Grant Program. The funding will enable the Administration to
continue to implement the recommendations of the Food Security Task Force,
which was convened last year by the Massachusetts COVID-19 Command Center in
response to increased demands for food assistance.
“Addressing food security
issues remains a high priority of our Administration to help ensure all
residents have fresh, healthy produce readily available to them,” said
Governor Charlie Baker. “By working with dedicated partners, we will
continue to strengthen the food distribution supply chain and address more
needs throughout the Commonwealth.”
“This round of grants
from the Food Security Grant program will further expand on our efforts to provide greater access
to locally harvested and produced food products,” said Lieutenant Governor
Karyn Polito. “With higher numbers of people experiencing food insecurity, we continue to take significant strides in ensuring
fresh, locally sourced food remains widely available to the residents of
Massachusetts.”
The Administration opened
the funding opportunity on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 and is currently
accepting applications for funding. In this round,
the program is focused on addressing access to fresh food by improving and
strengthening the resiliency of the Commonwealth’s food system and expanding
the distribution of locally grown and sourced products to vulnerable
communities. The Request for Responses for project proposals is available here,
and is open until October 31, 2021.
The Administration launched
the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program
last year as part of a $56 million investment to
combat food insecurity for Massachusetts families and individuals. In
addition to expanding access to healthy local food, the program seeks to ensure
farmers, fishermen and other local food producers are better connected to a
strong, resilient food system to help mitigate future food supply disruption.
Last year’s program dedicated over $35.5 million to hundreds of projects to
address food insecurity across the Commonwealth.
“The Baker-Polito
Administration continues to dedicate critical resources to address food
insecurity and ensure that residents across the Commonwealth are able to access
fresh, local food,” said Energy and
Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides. “Building on recent
investments with this additional funding will
further strengthen the Commonwealth’s food distribution network, invest
in local farms and fishermen and women to areas of food insecurity and build a
more resilient food system.”
“The
Baker-Polito Administration has been addressing increased food insecurity for families as a result of
the public health emergency, building on and strengthening the infrastructure
in place, and leveraging existing nutrition resources like SNAP and WIC,” said Secretary of Health and Human
Services Marylou Sudders. “The $15 million in additional
funds will further strengthen the food system in Massachusetts, increasing
access to local, healthy food, particularly among communities hardest-hit by
the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Eligible grantees include
entities that are part of the Massachusetts local food system, including
production, processing and distribution, the emergency food distribution
network, community and food organizations, school meal programming, urban farms
and community gardens, non-profits, and other organizations involved in
ensuring that everyone in the Commonwealth has access to fresh, healthy foods.
Applications for the second round of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant
Program are due Sunday, October 31, 2021.
Eligible
proposals include, but are not limited to, projects seeking to:
- Increase the resiliency of the
overall food system in the Commonwealth;
- Increase capacity for food
storage;
- Increase capacity of local food
distribution partners;
- Increase
capacity of the emergency food network;
- Increase capacity of food
production by purchasing food processing equipment; and,
- Offer innovative solutions for
urban farming.
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 first round of
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
