In Massachusetts, the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) helps eaters purchase fresh produce from local farmers markets. Following recent funding cuts to the program, advocates including farmers, consumers, and organizers are fighting for a supplemental budget to continue operations this year and to increase HIP funding for the next fiscal year.
Since 2017, the HIP program has provided additional money for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to purchase fresh, local produce from participating markets. In turn, the program also incentivizes farmers to sell their products in underserved areas. Similar programs exist in 26 other states.
Massachusetts Food System Collaborative (MAFSC) reports that since HIP was first created, almost 300,000 individuals have utilized HIP benefits. And U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) calls the program a “resounding success” throughout the state.
“This is one of the tools we have to really help folks address challenges with being able to afford the basic grocery staples that everybody wants to have access to,” Aliza Wasserman, Director of Boston’s Office of Food Justice, tells Food Tank. “As well as making sure that those dollars are supporting Massachusetts farmers and building that resilient food system while we do it.”
After recent budget cuts, what used to be a monthly budget of US$40-80 depending on family size, is now US$20. The number of members in a household no longer has any bearing on benefits. Since the budget cut went into effect, sales at HIP-eligible markets have dropped by 56 percent compared to the same time last year.
According to Wasserman, older adults who face food insecurity are among those most affected by the cuts. Additionally, larger households may not find it worthwhile to shop at farmers markets now that the benefits have been reduced. “When you think about how much food costs in a month for five people, it’s pretty devastating,” she says.
Fresh Truck mobile market volunteer Ted Gilbert echoed this sentiment: “I’ve heard a lot that the US$20 doesn’t do anything for the family,” he tells Food Tank. But, Gilbert argues, US$20 in benefits is better than nothing. “I actually argued with a couple of the customers that the $20 still helped because they didn’t want to shop.” Fresh Truck reports that about 98 percent of their sales utilize HIP benefits.
Farmers are also concerned about the cuts, as HIP provides revenue and incentive to sell in food-apartheid areas. “It’s not so much our profit margin—it’s our survival margin,” Chris Kurth, who owns Siena Farms in Sudbury, MA, tells Food Tank. “We’ve really built our business around the program, so we’re quite vulnerable as a business when the funding gets cut.” Siena Farms is one of a handful of HIP-eligible points of sale available year-round in the Boston Public Market.
Farmers are also worried about a loss of trust in customer relationships. “We spent the whole fall trying to build people’s trust,” Ava Spach, Food Access Service Member at New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, tells Food Tank. New Entry, located in Beverly, MA, is entering their second season selling food. “Now we have to go back and say, just kidding, it’s been cut, you only have US$20.”
When HIP was created, its pilot budget was just US$1.35 million, compared to nearly US$19 million in FY2024. Still, it comprises a small portion of the state’s nearly US$60 billion budget. Although MA Governor Maura Healey requested a US$5 million increase in HIP funding in an FY25 budget recommendation, which would bring the HIP budget to US$25 million, the state legislature cut the program to US$15 million.
“The power of the food dollar is so important,” Ludia Modi, Director of Learning and Programs at The Food Project, tells Food Tank. The food justice and youth development organization helped develop the initial HIP program in 2017 and has been advocating for it since. “So being able to have policies like HIP really puts money back into consumers’ pockets and therefore helps them build stronger economies and just stronger people in general.”
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