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Food Systems Collaborative Forum The Massachusetts Food Trust Program (MFTP) was a sponsor of the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative’s Food System Forum in Worcester on December 17, 2024. MFTP program staff from Franklin County CDC and LEAF represented the program at the event. Hannah Sobel from FCCDC and Jose Luis Rojas from LEAF attended a session titled Farmland access: Obtaining land for new and historically underserved farmers.This panel presented a “shared understanding of the difficulty of land access for young, beginning, and BIPOC farmers, what the current landscape looks like for financial assistance, and how policy change could help.” Sobel began asking, which technical assistance is most helpful for new farmers to prepare for financing? How can those who are financing reach the low-income farmers, farmers of color, and those who don’t have access to capital? Affordable housing for farmers is one factor in farmland access that’s often overlooked. Another panel, Furthering implementation of Massachusetts’ food system plans focused on the Farmland Action Plan and the Healthy Soils Action Plan. The panel flagged the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan. The Franklin County CDC worked with the Farmland Action Plan coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Finally, the plenary session included a conversation about local food and farming between the new Massachusetts Chair of the House Joint Committee on Agriculture, Natalie Blais, and Massachusetts Vice Chair of the Senate Joint Committee on Agriculture, Jo Comerford. MFTP is proud to support the work of the Mass Food System Collaborative and policy leaders leading on the big questions related to local food, farm land, and health across the Commonwealth.
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