State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing has been named the 2016 Public Advocate of the Year by the Food Bank Coalition of Massachusetts for his successful efforts to increase state funding for the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program.
“In the Legislature, we deal with many complex and arcane issues. This is not one of them,” said Downing, a Democrat from Pittsfield whose Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin Hampden district includes Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsurg and Worthington. “We know this program returns dividends in the form of nearly 20 million healthy meals for needy families. As proud as I am to advocate for this program each year, I look forward to the day when we can celebrate that it is no longer necessary.”
The state program provides meals to needy families through the four regional food banks and their network of 842 local providers. The funding provided through this line item helps these local and regional agencies leverage additional federal, private, and nonprofit money to feed hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the state.
An amendment filed by Downing to the current state budget increased food aid funding from $15 million to $17 million last year. This year, the Food Bank Coalition is advocating for an increase to $20 million — enough to provide 23 million free, nutritious meals to families in need.
According to the Food Bank Coalition, statewide, more than 12 percent of Massachusetts residents are “food insecure,” meaning they regularly face uncertainty as to where their next meal will come from. In western Massachusetts, that number is as high as one in five. More than one third of those characterized as food insecure are children, the advocates said.
The state food aid program partners with local farms and manufacturers, and stretches every dollar to provide millions of healthy, locally sourced meals each year. Last year, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts alone distributed 2.8 million Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program meals, and leveraged 6 million meals from other sources. An increase in the program to $20 million would allow it to distribute an additional 425,000 next year, according to the Food Bank.