Massachusetts awards nearly $7 million in food infrastructure grants to 72 farms, fisheries and food organizations
Gov. Maura Healey's administration named the recipients on Sept. 2. Nearly $3 million goes to food banks and other groups that feed people facing hunger, in a round less than a third the size of the $22 million the program awarded last October.
Boston. Massachusetts is giving nearly $7 million to 72 farms, fisheries, food banks and other organizations for equipment and buildings used to grow, store and deliver food, Gov. Maura Healey's administration announced on Sept. 2. The awards on the state's list add up to $6,947,247.
The grants come from the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program, which the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has run since 2020. Nearly $3 million of this round goes to food banks and other organizations that get food to residents experiencing hunger. Awards range from about $10,000 to $500,000 and pay for cold storage, commercial kitchens, food processing equipment, delivery vehicles and farm and fishing gear. Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle said 60 percent of the recipients had never received one of the program's grants before.
Who received the money
The largest award, $500,000, went to Next Barn Over Farm in Hadley for a storage, wash and pack facility. Among nonprofits, WeReach in East Boston received $440,000 to build a food access and distribution hub, Gregg Neighborhood House in Lynn $226,358 for a commercial kitchen and the Boys & Girls Club of Lynn $196,656 for kitchen equipment. The Salem Pantry received $138,162 for shelving, refrigerated display cases and a produce island, and The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts $76,436 for cold storage.
Stone Soup Café in Greenfield received $81,098 for a stove, refrigeration and heating units and a refrigerated van. The café, a member of The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, had been using personal vehicles to pick up food there, its executive director, Kirsten Levitt, told the Greenfield Recorder.
“Local food banks and community organizations are on the front lines of fighting hunger, and they are seeing more people asking for help.”
A smaller round
The previous round was more than three times as large. In October 2025 the administration announced more than $22 million for 113 recipients, with awards of up to $1 million. Before this year's awards, the program had funded more than 800 projects and invested $127 million since it began, according to the department.
The grants repay costs after they are incurred, and recipients must put up a 20 percent cash match; in-kind contributions and other state grants do not count toward it. Applicants had to be based in Massachusetts and operating for at least three years, and projects that directly benefit underserved communities were given priority. Funded projects must be finished by June 30, 2027.
Applications for this round closed on May 4. The department's program page invites farms and organizations to sign up for updates on the status of the program in fiscal 2028.
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