The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed a wide-ranging farm bill Wednesday. The legislation comes at a time when many farmers are struggling to make a profit. One aspect of the bill codifies the Health Incentives Program for the first time. Northampton State Sen. Jo Comerford helped to push for the farm bill.
“[This] is a big win for people who need nutritious food. But it's also a very big win for farmers because it says to SNAP recipients, you can also have some state dollars to purchase local food,” said Comerford, who chaired the special legislative commission that brought the bill forward.
The bill will also ease local zoning restrictions on farms that have "agritourism" activities, which Comerford says is something farmers are doing to help make ends meet.
“Every farmer I know has a microbusiness,” she said. “You can have a corn maze, you can pick apples and have an apple wine tasting, you know, all on the same property because that's how farmers are making it work.”
The legislation also provides funding to help train the next generation of farmers through the state's higher education institutions and vocational schools.
“There are grim realities about who has access to capital to buy land and start a farm,” Comerford said. “It's not young people, it's not people of color, it's not immigrants. In fact, these are the folks who want to take up the mantle, and we need them to take up the mantle. And we [also] need to celebrate them and love them and support them. And that is how we're going to in part sustain farming.”
Comerford said some generational farms will stay in the family, but if there isn't a next generation able or interested in coming forward, then, she said, she wants that land in production by giving new people an opportunity to farm them.
The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.
