Press Release: 3/26/2026

HIP lobby day March 26 room 428 the State House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Campaign for Healthy Incentives Program Funding requests $29.7 million for FY27 state budget 

Program supports healthy families and sustainable farms

 

What: Campaign for HIP Funding lobby day

When: Thursday March 26, 2026 10am

Where: Room 428, Massachusetts State House and virtually (ZOOM LINK HERE)

 

More than seventy-five farmers, SNAP recipients, and local food system advocates will visit the Massachusetts State House on Thursday March 26 to educate legislators about the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) and urge them to commit $29.7 million in the fiscal year 2027 budget, as proposed by Governor Healey in her House 2 budget. A briefing for legislators and staff will be held in room 428 at 10 a.m., in partnership with the Legislature's Food System Caucus. A meeting for advocates will follow at 11am. Campaign members will visit legislators’ offices throughout the day to talk with lawmakers about how the program has impacted their families, farms, and communities and the importance of full funding. 

 

After HIP was restored to full benefits ($40/60/80) in September 2025, full HIP benefits were available to SNAP recipients during the unprecedented SNAP delay in November. At a time when 1 in 3 households report facing food insecurity, and Massachusetts farmers are facing increased costs, HIP is a triple-win program that supports low-income families, Massachusetts farmers, and public health.

 

Launched in April 2017, HIP provides a one-to-one match for SNAP recipients who use a portion of their monthly benefits to purchase fresh, healthy, local produce from Massachusetts farmers, up to a monthly cap depending on household size. Participation in the program has resulted in more than $95 million in incentives earned to date. The Campaign for HIP Funding, led by the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, is asking for $29.7 million for the program in the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget to support the program operating year-round, supporting more SNAP households and increasing the number of participating farmers for the first time since 2022. 

 

The impact of the program has been significant. More than 232,000 of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable households have been able to feed their families healthy, local food thanks to HIP, assisting in reducing the Commonwealth’s $2.4 billion of avoidable healthcare costs. More than 300 farms have sold an additional $95 million of products thanks to HIP, helping them remain financially sustainable, contribute to the local economy by hiring workers and purchasing local goods and services, and better steward farmland and natural resources.

 

HIP is operated by the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, in partnership with the Department of Agricultural Resources, the Department of Public Health, and community-based organizations around the Commonwealth.

 

The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative supports collective action toward an equitable, sustainable, resilient, and connected local food system in Massachusetts. We envision a local food system where everyone has access to healthy food, land to grow food, good jobs, and the systems where policy decisions are made. We work to facilitate implementation of the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan, which included support for HIP as one of its recommendations.

 

For further details about HIP, see the attached fact sheet and www.hipma.org, or contact Massachusetts Food System Collaborative Policy Director Rebecca Miller rebecca@mafoodsystem.org.