Why do we advocate for MEFAP?

On Thursday, The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) hosted our annual legislative breakfast at Carrie Nation on Beacon Hill in support of the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program (MEFAP).

Some of you may know about this unique and essential piece of legislation that sustains the state’s emergency food system. For those of you who do not, MA is extremely fortunate to receive MEFAP funding through our state budget and to have the support of a legislature that is dedicated to ensure no MA resident should go hungry. Not every state has this kind of safety net.

For the past few years, the Food Bank Coalition of Massachusetts (which includes GBFB, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the Worcester County Food Bank) has been advocating for an increase in funding to $20M. We are requesting $20M in the FY17 budget, which will be a $3M increase compared to last year. With this additional funding, the Food Bank Coalition of MA will be able to provide an additional 3 million healthy meals, for a total of more than 23 million meals, to over 565,000 food insecure residents of the state.

With ever-present disparities in our economy, rising housing costs and under-employment, the need remains and food is a critical need to stabilize thousands of residents struggling across Massachusetts to make ends meet. People have to make tough choices between food and transportation, food and medical treatments, and food and paying their mortgage or rent.

MEFAP provides funding to purchase high-nutrient food staples such as protein, eggs, dairy products, peanut butter and fresh produce. It also supports the economy by purchasing healthy and nutritious food from local vendors and farmers. Last year, MEFAP funds were used to purchase approximately 60 different types of products from over 50 vendors.

MEFAP funds were also used to purchase produce from as many as 30 farms in Massachusetts through the Mass Grown Initiative program. State Legislators and member agencies from all over Massachusetts came out to support the increase and learn more about MEFAP. This year at the breakfast, we honored two Advocates of the Year.

Senator Benjamin Downing from Western MA and Representative Marjorie Decker were acknowledged for their unwavering support of MEFAP and our work to end hunger here. We also had member agencies from each of their districts attend and speak to the need in their communities, including Northern Hilltown Food Pantry in Goshen, MA, and Food for Free in Cambridge. Contact your local legislator today and tell them why #MEFAPMatters.

To learn more about why MEFAP is so important or to sign up for our advocacy alerts, please visit our Advocacy page.