Join CISA to reflect on lessons from a pandemic year and what it means for the future. We’ll talk about the shortcomings that this crisis revealed in our food system, the ways that local farmers, advocates, and legislators stepped up to keep our communities fed, and new opportunities and challenges that face us as we head into 2021.

Philip Korman, CISA Executive Director

Margaret Christie, CISA Special Projects Director

Jo Comerford, MA State Senator, Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester District

Julia Coffey, Mycoterra Farm and Mass Food Delivery

We're grateful to the more than 130 donors who generously supported our recent Local Food for All campaign -- thank you! Thanks to your support, our Senior FarmShare program will serve 500 low-income seniors this summer, and we will be able to support our region's farmers' markets in accepting SNAP and HIP. We can't do this work without your support, so we thank you!

As we move through the spring, summer farmers' markets and seasonal farm stands will start to open up, and we'll be keeping track of them in our online guide. Find out who is open this week!

Don't forget about HIP! If you have SNAP, you can earn an instant rebate on fresh fruits and vegetables purchased from participating local farms through HIP, the Healthy Incentives Program. Find HIP retailers in the new HIP map.

This spring feels less frenetic and panicked than this time last year, certainly, but farmers are still juggling countless unknowns as we head toward the summer. Some big questions: how changing pandemic circumstances will continue to shift consumer demand for locally grown food? Can we ensure timely and equitable access to the vaccine for farm workers and other essential food workers? And will HIP be funded so that families and farmers can rely on it for the whole coming year?

The Town of Brimfield has limited access to fresh food, as there are no grocery stores within the town, so residents have to travel to get to a grocery store. But, says Cindy Skowyra, “six months out of the year, they can find some fresh, local produce” at the farmers’ market, within walking distance or a short drive away from their homes. The market opens April 17th!

CISA's weekly Valley Bounty column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette focuses on what's happening behind the scenes right now at local farms. Recent columns include: spring at Andrew's Greenhouse, self-sufficiency at Barberic Farm, and spring bee activity at New England Apiaries. Read Valley Bounty!

WRSI's Local Hero Spotlight interviews feature a local farm or business each week. Recent interviews include: Champney's Restaurant, Stone Soup Farm, and Hadley Garden Center. Listen to WRSI's Local Hero Spotlight!