A Bradford farm stand has been awarded a state grant to allow it to buy equipment to process food benefits for low-income families.
Chris’ Farm Stand, 436 Salem St., was given $1,158 to purchase software and equipment to be able to process benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—formerly food stamps. The money comes from $5.9 million in grants to address urgent hunger as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was included in the fourth round of a $36 million program that promotes efforts to ensure individuals and families have access to healthy, local food.
The farm stand was previously named as a Healthy Incentives Program provider, allowing SNAP households to receive matching benefits when purchasing locally grown produce.
“As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to build on our efforts to secure a resilient, diverse local food supply chain so Massachusetts residents maintain access to fresh, healthy food,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “With this fourth round of grants, we will have awarded a total of $17.7 million, making critical investments in our local food infrastructure and ensuring a secure supply of food as residents across the Commonwealth adjust to the impacts of this unprecedented public health challenge.”
Eligible grantees include entities that are part of the Massachusetts local food system including production, processing and distribution, the emergency food distribution network, Buy Local, community and food organizations, school meal programming, urban farms and community gardens, nonprofits, and organizations that provide business planning, technical assistance and information technology services.