BOSTON (WWLP) – The Baker-Polito Administration announced that $95,000 was awarded to 65 farmers and farmers’ markets in equipment grants to help expand local food access points for residents with low incomes all across the Commonwealth on Monday.
This third round of awards provides free equipment to direct-marketing farms and farmers’ markets to help facilitate the acceptance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at mobile markets, according to a news release sent to 22News from the Department of Transitional Assistance.
The grant program was from the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), which is in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), and with financial support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This grant provided SNAP-processing equipment and services totaling over $160,000 to 110 farms and farmers’ markets. The application was open from April 20 through September 30. Farms and farmers’ markets used this funding to receive new or updated SNAP processing equipment from Novo Dia Group free of charge to help the acceptance of SNAP at mobile locations across 57 communities.
| Farm & Farmers’ Market SNAP Equipment Grant Awardee | Location |
| Acton Boxborough Farmers Market | Acton |
| Agric Organics | Wilbraham |
| Barbosa Family Farm | New Bedford |
| Beverly Farmers’ Market | Beverly |
| Billerica Community Farmers Market | Billerica |
| Brox Farm | Dracut |
| Busa Farm | Arlington |
| Cervelli Farmstand | Rochester |
| Charles River Farm | Franklin |
| Chris’ Farmstand | Bradford |
| Church Green Farmers Market | East Taunton |
| Ciesluk’s Farm Stand | Deerfield |
| Clodhopper Farm | Medfield |
| Coastal Foodshed | New Bedford |
| Cook’s Valley Farm | Wrentham |
| Cournoyer Vegetable Farm | Paxton |
| Crabapple Farm | Chesterfield |
| Dancing Harvest Farm | Salem |
| Dick’s Garden Market | Lunenburg |
| Farmer Tim’s Vegetables | Belmont |
| Farmers World | Thorndike |
| Foppema’s Farm | Northbridge |
| Forthill Farm | Pittsfield |
| Friends of Holly Hill Farm | Cohasset |
| Greater Ashmont Main Street | Boston |
| Homestead Farm Market | Rehoboth |
| Humble Hands Farm | East Taunton |
| Hutchins Farm | Concord |
| Kelley Farm | Conway |
| Kingsbury Farms | South Deerfield |
| LA Arecibeña | Indian Orchard |
| Labatour Good’s | Dorchester |
| Marlborough Farmers Market | Marlborough |
| Mary’s Garden | Dudley |
| Meadowbrook Orchards | Sterling |
| Medway Community Farm | Medway |
| Milton Farmers Market | Milton |
| Morning Glory Farm | Edgartown |
| Mountain View Farms | Easthampton |
| Mycoterra Farm | South Deerfield |
| Needham Farmers Market | Needham |
| NUBIA Farms | Roxbury |
| Oasis on Ballou | Dorchester |
| Pleasant Valley Gardens | Methuen |
| Poor Boy Fisheries | Wellfleet |
| Powiset Farm | Dover |
| Rattle Root Farm | Princeton |
| Rockport Exchange | Rockport |
| Roots Rising | Pittsfield |
| Sauchuk Farm | Plympton |
| Silverwood Organic Farm | Sherborn |
| Stargazer Hollow Farm | Berkley |
| Sunset Farm | Amherst |
| T.Johnson Farms | Swansea |
| The Farm at Moose Hill | Sharon |
| The King Farm | South Dartmouth |
| The Neighborhood Farm | Westport |
| The Pumpkin Farm | Medway |
| Twin Oaks Farm and Oak Farm | Feeding Hills |
| Under the Sun | North Dighton |
| Under the Sun | Raynham |
| Upswing Farm | Pepperell |
| Whitemarz Farm | Lunenburg |
| Whitney’s Farm Market | Cheshire |
| Winters Farm | Rehoboth |
“This grant program reflects the Baker-Polito Administration’s commitment to connecting Massachusetts households with healthy and culturally accessible food in support of a strong local food system,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders. “We continue to promote food security across the Commonwealth, building on the success of the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program and the addition of over 100 new Healthy Incentives Program vendors.”
“DTA continues to work with our agricultural partners to expand equitable SNAP access points, enabling the over 600,000 households who receive SNAP to buy local food in the communities where they live. This grant program also brings critical economic support into our state’s food system, supporting Massachusetts farmers and their employees,” said Department of Transitional Assistance Acting Commissioner Mary Sheehan.
“We were pleased to work with DTA which enabled additional Massachusetts farms and farmers’ markets the ability to process SNAP benefits,” said John Lebeaux, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. “Local farms and farmers’ markets having the ability to accept SNAP payments brings new customers to our local farm businesses and increases access to fresh, local foods for Massachusetts residents.”
