Funding for low income households to buy organic food is back up just in time for the autumn harvest — and customers flocked to local farmstands Tuesday with two, three, or even four times as much money to spend.
“Take a look at this I got tomatoes, I got carrots, I got watermelon, I got peaches, I got honey and all this stuff for $40,” said Thomas M. Kennedy, opening his bags up to show his inventory after shopping at the Grow Food Northampton’s weekly Tuesday farmer’s market.
That’s twice as much as Kennedy was able to buy over the last eight months. That’s because late last year, the state, citing funding constraints, scaled back the popular Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), which puts money back on EBT cards when people use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to buy healthy, local produce from HIP vendors.
The benefit was reduced to $20 per month per household, regardless of household size. The previous benefit model prior to the reduction saw households of one to two people receiving up to $40, households of three to five people getting up to $60 and houses of six or more people getting up to $80 per month.
State lawmakers on Aug. 29, however, approved a $7.5 million supplemental budget that restored the previous funding tier. This extra cash means more money in farmers’ pockets — and more healthy diet options for low income households.
While $40 a month for groceries may not sound too game-changing, Kennedy said that amount means a healthy lifestyle, weight loss, mental health, and some extra money he could use to take a trip to visit his son in Florida next week.
“I lost 60 pounds in a year just from eating right,” Kennedy said while shopping at the farmer’s market in Northampton on Tuesday, where eight of the almost two dozen vendors accept HIP payments.
Kennedy said he began frequenting farmer’s markets last year after a knee surgery, and he hasn’t been back in the doctor’s office since.
“What this does is chop down what you’re paying for your health care bills and what it costs in the hospitals. You’re eating healthy, I go on long walks now … my whole attitude has changed,” said Kennedy, who is on disability after 40 years manufacturing concrete.
Local farmers also benefit from the HIP program, including Crabapple Farm in Chesterfield.
In March, Rachel Robertson-Goldberg and her husband Tevis were bracing for “a financial crisis” since they said that HIP money represents between a quarter or even as much as half of their revenue. They are happy to see their revenue trending upward again.
“A lot of people were spending less, and weren’t coming as frequently,” she said, talking about the past months of market sales. But on Tuesday, “people are coming out, people are more comfortable,” Robertson-Goldberg said.
Molly Statt of Northampton appreciates she has twice as much to spend than what she did a couple months back, and just in time for fall.
“It’s so much more helpful once corn, and melons, and all that stuff came into season … like last week I spent all $40 at once,” she said.
Andrew Oks of Easthampton’s Park Hill Orchard said the program makes him proud to live in the Bay State. He praised the program for helping families and farmers.
“Its a win-win,” he said. “And it opens up a whole market — a market we care about a lot,” Oks said.
He added that at his farm HIP tokens can be used to pick apples at his orchard and allows people to partake of the perennial New England tradition.
Kelly Hickey, owner and general manager of the Atlas Farm Store in South Deerfield, said the reduced benefits were hard for a lot of families who depend on HIP and SNAP. The store had experienced a drop in customers using the programs, but she hopes that with the benefits restored, these customers will return.
“We had a lot of customers who weren’t able to come in when funding was cut. We did see a huge drop in SNAP sales,” Hickey said. “We’re starting to see that come up, but it takes time to rebuild trust in the system.”
Claire Morenon, communications manager for the South Deerfield-based Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), said HIP has been a “pride of Massachusetts” for years, and the benefit cuts earlier this year created hardship for lower-income households who rely on the program. She said farmstand customers have told CISA that without HIP funding to guarantee they can afford their produce, many skipped their usual trips to the farmers market altogether, even when they would rather shop local.
“For many, that reduction was essentially down to zero,” Morenon said. “It’s not effortless for low-income people who may be working multiple jobs or don’t have reliable transportation to get to these markets. … A program like HIP makes it possible for farmers to reach lower-income populations.”
“People want to buy local, and HIP really helps bridge the gap between what they want and what they can buy,” added Hickey.
In a statement, the Department of Transitional Assistance noted more than half of HIP users are more than 60 years old, one-third identify as having a disability and one-quarter of participating households include children.
“Investing in nutrition is one of the smartest public health strategies we have. Programs like HIP that increase access to fresh, healthy foods lead to better health outcomes and lower health care costs for Massachusetts families,” Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services Kiame Mahaniah said in a statement. “HIP provides nutritious local produce that can be a key factor in improving social determinants of health. When we invest in nutrition programs that connect families with locally grown fruits and vegetables, we’re not just addressing hunger, we’re preventing chronic disease and promoting long-term wellness.”
Hickey said the HIP funding “was never enough to cover all the need.” Still, state legislators restoring the benefits to what they once were will help, particularly in the face of federal cuts to SNAP benefits.
“We put a lot of work into letting our legislators know what this program means and I’m grateful they listened, and grateful for everyone who advocated for it,” Hickey said. “It’s a lot of work done by a lot of people.”
Morenon said CISA has more information about HIP on its website and maintains a Facebook page where people can find updates about the program.
