11/23/2025
On Friday Marina Vergara and attended the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative in Worcester alongside farmers, fishers, gleaners, food pantries, state employees, policy advocates, elected officials and members of Anti-Hunger Task Force. We gathered to learn, listen, collaborate and take action against food insecurity in Massachusetts, a collaborative initiative, which includes SNAP literacy, outreach, protecting farm land, increasing funding for farmers, municipalities and advocacy for the MA Farm Bill. We listened to and about the initiatives and impact they and their colleagues, including , are fighting for so that we have a Commonwealth where individuals have the right to food, culturally relevant food, and freedom from hunger. They reminded us that this work begins with us, our voices, the voices of those with lived experiences, and the ways we take action. They shared statistics on the loss of farmland in Massachusetts and the need to prioritize agricultural land preservation. *Between 1997 and 2022 Massachusetts lost 113,000 acres of farmland (3.7 times the size of the land area of Boston, 1.8 times the size of Martha’s Vineyard, at a rate of 12.4 acres per day). We were thankful to participate and we thank for this day of community and collaboration, MA Department of Agriculture and every individual and organization engaged in this work.
