Baker-Polito Administration Announces Final Massachusetts Food System Plan

The Baker-Polito Administration announced the completion of the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan, the Commonwealth’s first food system plan since 1974.

The final Food Action Plan, unveiled last week, was unanimously accepted by the Massachusetts Food Policy Council (MFPC).

“It is vital that we find new ways to support our growing agricultural industry in a changing world and address issues of food insecurity and poor nutrition,” said Governor Charlie Baker, in a press release. “Through the recommendations in this plan, we will continue our efforts to support Massachusetts agriculture and increase access to healthy food for all of our state’s residents.”

“The Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan will help the state create policies to help farms and businesses thrive and improve citizens’ access to fresh, local food,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton, in a news statement. “The Baker-Polito Administration is committed to supporting the Massachusetts food system and looks forward to the implementation of recommendations within the Plan.”

The Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan is designed to increase production, sales and consumption of Massachusetts-grown food; create jobs and improve wages in food and farming; protect the land and water needed to produce food; ensure food safety; and reduce waste, hunger and food insecurity, while making fresh, healthy food available to all Massachusetts residents.

The plan offers recommendations for the public and private sectors to see these goals through to fruition. Now that the MFPC has accepted the plan, the group will work with the legislature, state agencies and industry stakeholders to implement the recommendations.

The Council was established by the legislature in November 2010 to address the opportunities and challenges of the state’s local food system. It is composed of 17 state agency, legislative, and industry representatives. In 2013, the FPC launched a statewide planning process to draft a food system plan with support from MDAR and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and in collaboration with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Franklin Regional Council of Government, and the Massachusetts Workforce Alliance. Over the past two years, more than 1,500 people have provided input, including growers, food processors, consumers, food and agricultural organizations and advocates.

The full plan can be viewed at www.mafoodplan.org.

The Massachusetts food system employs 426,000 people, or 1 of every 10 jobs in the state, and accounts for 4.5 percent of all economic activity.

In 2012, there were over 41,000 farms and food businesses in Massachusetts, and the Commonwealth ranks sixth in the U.S. for the total number of “community supported agriculture,” or CSA, farms.