On May 1, the Newton Community Farm hosted a panel discussion about local efforts to address food justice, reducing waste, and distributing food. The four panelists spoke to the overlapping missions, challenges, and necessities of their different organizations:
- Usha Thakrar, executive director of the Boston Area Gleaners,
- Glynn Lloyd, executive director of Nectar and founder of City Fresh Foods and the Urban Farming Institute,
- Jeff Lemberg, executive director of the Newton Food Pantry, and
- Greg Maslowe, farm manager of Newton Community Farm.
The discussion – moderated by Kristina Pechulis, executive director of the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative – was held at Campus Center Auditorium at the UMass Amherst Mt. Ida Campus in Newton
Maslowe has managed the Newton Community Farm since 2006. While addressing the wealth disparity in attaining healthy food, he said, “Farmers that I’ve known in my life are some of the lowest-wage workers around […] Agricultural workers are on SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]. They’re on social health care …They are the working poor. And yet, almost every farm I know donates produce to food pantries.”
Maslowe said there is a lack of federal and state programs designed to help farmers provide for themselves, their businesses, and their communities. “The whole SNAP system isn’t actually really set up for farms. It’s set up for grocery stores,” said Maslowe. He added that the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), previously worked at incentivizing consumers to benefit farms, but in December 2024, HIP limited household purchases to a monthly cap of $20, greatly decreasing the use and effectiveness of the program.
Additionally, Maslowe said that the many non-English speakers who use SNAP “don’t necessarily understand their own benefits or how their methods work, and there’s not a lot of support for them […] and they come to farmers, who are being asked to provide that support, which is really challenging,” he said.
Volunteers help and learn
In an effort to raise awareness of food insecurity, the panelists encouraged the audience and the broader public to volunteer at community farms, at grassroots organizations, and with mutual aid groups that take action on the front lines of food production, rescue, and delivery.
Challenging food insecurity, especially for school children, requires volunteers, said Lloyd, whose work uplifts Black communities in and around Boston, “Things are getting pretty intense here for our communities, and I think that we need to really be thinking about more mutual aid, you know, and what’s our infrastructure to be able to do that?” he said.
According to the Greater Boston Food Bank in 2023, “One in three Massachusetts adults reported household food insecurity,” and “one in three households with children in Massachusetts report[ed] child-level food insecurity – meaning a child went hungry, skipped a meal, or didn’t eat for an entire day because there wasn’t enough money for food.”
Spoonfuls receives grant
Recently, Spoonfuls, a Newton-based, nonprofit food recovery and delivery service, received a $20,000 donation from the Sincere Foundation, a philanthropic organization of the Framingham-based tech company, Sincere Corporation. The grant, which Spoonfuls received in December 2024, will assist the nonprofit in its mission to collect food being thrown out by Massachusetts grocery retailers, preventing food waste and delivering it to community resources such as food banks and pantries.
“More than ever, our partners are relying on Spoonfuls to fill in critical gaps that a year ago we might not have had to think twice about,” said Martha Buckley, director of corporate and foundation relations at Spoonfuls since January 2025. According to Spoonfuls’ 2023 annual report, the nonprofit recovered 4.7 million pounds of food that year to share with its partners.
Federal cuts to food programs
“We’re seeing huge federal cuts coming down to our food bank network and ecosystem,” said Buckley.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) canceled the allocation of $3.4 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to Massachusetts, according to a March 28 press release from Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll.
TEFAP connects students and low-income households to healthy food and produce while supporting local farmers and businesses. According to Healey’s announcement, no reason was cited by the USDA for the cancellation of the funds.
Federal cuts will have a great impact on local organizations, which are now calling for support to provide for people in need of food.
According to the Greater Boston Food Bank, approximately three of every 20 meals rescued in its Massachusetts programing came directly from local partnerships with Spoonfuls and FoodLink in 2023.
Nonprofits such as the Newton Food Pantry – and their clients – rely on deliveries from Spoonfuls.
The Newton Food Pantry, which currently runs out of Newton City Hall, is planning to open Newton’s first standalone food pantry within the next year. The organization depends on its over 130 weekly volunteers, “As we grow, we’re certainly going to need the help,” said Lemberg on the panel. “We’re going to need more people to give their time and talent, and it’s a good time to do it.”
