Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday a new $36 million fund to strengthen the delivery network for local food producers to get products into low-income communities in the hopes of eliminating food deserts — neighborhoods that lack access to healthy food sources — and addressing supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the urgent needs and food supply chain issues for communities across Massachusetts,” Baker said. The new grant program, he said, will strengthen access to markets for local producers and also “provide individuals and families with access to fresh local food.”
Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides said the disruptions caused by the pandemic “highlighted the importance of reinforcing our local food supply chain and ensuring that the food grown and produced here in Massachusetts reaches all our residents, especially vulnerable populations and those struggling with food insecurity.”
The new programwill provide grants of up to $500,000 for projects that “will ensure that individauls and families throughout the commonwealth have access to nutrition with a special focus on food that is produced locally and advances equitable access to food,” Theoharides said.
The program is designed with racial equity issues in mind, emphasizing both getting fresh, healthy food options into low-income communities and communities of color and also focusing on helping minority-and women-owned businesses expand their markets, she said.
Baker also announced Thursday a $5 million fund to help municipalities reconstruct streets, sidewalks and other public spaces to make them more usable for restaurants and other commerce in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.
