Photo: Dawn Distefano and Kris Allard with Senator Adam Gomez at Square One's new building opening ceremony.

Photo: Square One children enjoying healthy food.

Photo: Gardening the community Youth and Staff.

Photo: Ben Clarke (Clarkedale Farms) brings fresh apples to donate to GTC neighbors, Governor Healy, her team, and Liz O'Gilvie at Gardening the Community.

Springfield EATS Annual Report

October 2024- December 2025

The Springfield EATS partnership is grounded in shared governance, historical truth-telling, and years-long relationship-building. EATS evolved from an effort to increase resident access to fresh locally-grown food into a sustained, trust-based partnership committed to ensuring residents shape the vision, farmers influence food and economic policy, and institutions participate as accountable allies, operating through shared leadership tables where priorities, budgets, and strategies are co-developed.

Who, What & Why

Who

For nearly two decades, the Springfield Food Policy Council (SFPC) has worked to cultivate a equitable and resident-centered local food system in Springfield that expands access to fresh, locally grown culturally appropriate food, expands opportunities to center historically underserved urban and rural farmers in local agriculture, and works to dismantle structural barriers to health and economic opportunity.

Square One Early Learning Center (SQ1), deeply rooted in Springfield, provides high quality early learning and childcare to working families with wrap around family support primarily to Black, Latino, immigrant, and low-income families. Accountability is embedded through parent and caregiver engagement, community-informed program design, and staff reflective of those served.

What

Today, the SFPC and SQ1 serve as partners convening a coalition of community residents, farmers and food producers, nonprofit and civic stakeholders, educational institutions, municipal partners, and regional systems leaders dedicated to redefining how food nourishes our City and drives community wealth.

Initially convened by Trinity Health Systems and supported by the MassUP Investment Program, EATS is grounded in shared governance, historical truth-telling, and years-long relationship-building. EATS evolved from an effort to increase resident access to fresh locally-grown food into a sustained, trust-based partnership committed to ensuring residents shape the vision, farmers influence food and economic policy, and institutions participate as accountable allies, committed to racial equity and systemic change, operating through shared leadership tables where priorities, budgets, and strategies are co-developed.

Why are we together

Springfield EATS grew out of the trust-centered years long relationship between the organizational leaders where they have spent decades considering the health and wellbeing of our littlest and most vulnerable residents and their families. Together they worked to "set a table" where organizations, residents and other stakeholders come together—not to extract ideas, but to build shared responsibility for a more just local food system. The partnership has helped shift relationships between community and institutions, creating space for honest dialogue, accountability, and collaboration that moves beyond pilot projects toward lasting systems change.

Today, Springfield EATS represents what is possible when leadership is shared, when history is acknowledged, and when solutions are rooted in both care and courage. It is not about perfection. It is about commitment—to residents who have been excluded for too long, to public servants striving to do right by their city, and to funders seeking impact that is deep, durable, and community-led.

Springfield EATS is, at its core, an invitation: to build a food system worthy of the people of Springfield—together.

2025 Summary

In the face of shrinking federal support, a higher demand for private support and looming devastating cuts to SNAP, school meal programs and Medicaid, partners have mobilized quickly to advocate for mitigating State policies, to educate and equip residents and our partner organizations with tools to understand and navigate the impacts and to educate policymakers and funders on the intersectionality of the work. Through strong collaboration, shared leadership, and deep trust, Springfield EATS continues to adapt and respond to community needs while advancing long term food access policy, systems & environment solutions.

Springfield EATS Leaders Address Family Security through State Level Policy Advocacy

Liz O'Gilvie

In early 2025, Liz was appointed to the Massachusetts Anti-Hunger Task Force, established to advise the Governor on the development of long-term, sustainable solutions for addressing hunger, food insecurity, and associated economic hardships impacting people, families and communities in Massachusetts.

She also serves on the Advisory Councils of the Mass Food Systems Collaborative, Transformational Farm Bill Funding & Technical Assistance Council; MA Public Health Alliance Policy Council; MA Health Policy Commission Advisory Council; and the Springfield Public Schools Wellness Committee.

Dawn DiStefano

Dawn serves on the statewide advocacy group, No Small Feat, to build crisis response for children and families facing rising challenges to food and healthcare, abuse and neglect.

Dawn is a local advisor to the MA Department of Early Education and Care. She serves on the board of MA Association of Early Education & Care and the Children's Investment Fund.

In 2025, Dawn was awarded the Martin Luther King Family Services Twin Hills Social Justice Award.

"This work has proven for me that wanting as much for my partners as I do for my own organization advances my own work. I want Square One to be really strong. I love this partnership. Dawn knows that I deeply mean it when I say “our babies.” This work is head, heart and hands."

Liz O'Gilvie, SFPC

"I always led with an efficiency transaction standpoint in collaboration. This group has forced me to think more intentionally about the lives I’m impacting vs how can we get this work done faster, financially efficiently and number-based impact."

Dawn DiStefano, Square One

Advocacy for Children's Basic Needs - No Small Feat

Dawn Di Stefano joined No Small Feat Initiative, a people-powered campaign driven by a shared commitment: to protect the essential programs that support Massachusetts children and families and inform child advocates across the state about the critical needs of children and families in response to changing priorities of the federal administration.

Dawn, representing Square One, joins other leaders from community organizations in sharing about the importance of advocacy that centers on issues related to food access, employment, and healthcare for families.

Photo: Flyer for Governor's Anti-Hunger Task Force Listening Session in Springfield

Anti- Hunger Listening Session

In December 2025, SFPC Director, liz O'Gilvie successfully advocated for the Governor's Anti-Hunger Task Force to host a listening session at STCC to hear directly from Springfield residents about their challenges accessing healthy affordable food. The Task Force heard about food insecurity, the impacts of the long and short term cuts to SNAP & the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) on individuals, small grocery stores and farmers. More than 60 Springfield residents and County stakeholders including Sen. Gomez also talked about disparities in healthy food access in rural Hilltowns and the need for rapid responses and updates to the Sates' most marginalized communities. Ideas were brainstormed for short and long term solutions, such as enshrining the right to food in the state constitution.

Community Informed Food and Land Agriculture Policy

In early 2025, SFPC joined food sytem advocates across the State successfully working for the Healthy Incentives (HIP) SNAP program's restoration to the original funding levels of $40/$80 month for families. The SFPC and GTC remain proud of their roie in the original conception of HIP in 2011

SFPC worked with the Mass Food Ssytem Collaborative to craft and secure local sponsorship in the Senate and the House of the Urban Agriculture Lots to Land Bill - When passed state funds will be made available to municipalities, nonprofits and farmers to convert empty lots into growing spaces. Senator Adam Gomez. Spfld and Rep. Patricia Duffy, Holyoke are leading the efforts in their respective chambers..

Video: Adam Gomez speaking about the importance of the Lots to Land Bill

Photo: Liz O'Gilvie opens the Massachusetts Food Systems Collaborative 2025 convening.

SFPC Policy Priorities

The SFPC policy priorities are driven by our understanding of local need and our work statewide to improve the Massachusetts Food System in collaboration with the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative.

An Act Relative to Urban Farmland Bill SD.1093 & Bill HD.1872

These bills aim to support the conversion of vacant lots and underutilized land in environmental justice communities into urban farms, community gardens, and other agricultural enterprises. Urban agriculture supports increased economic development, food security, and climate and heat resilience.

An Act Promoting Equity in Agriculture Resolve SD.1015 & Bill HD.2703

According to the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture, BIPOC farmers are represented on only 3% of the Commonwealth’s farms, farms that steward just .3% of the land in farming and sell just .4% of the market value of agricultural goods in the Massachusetts, despite people of color making up 32% of the state’s population. These bills will establish a commission charged with developing recommendations for MDAR to equitably serve socially disadvantaged farmers to address these disparities.

An Act Relative to an Agricultural Healthy Incentives Program Bill SD.829 & Bill HD.2197

The Healthy Incentives Program leverages federal SNAP funds by increasing SNAP recipients’ ability to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables directly from farmers, improving health outcomes for vulnerable communities and increasing sales for local farms. These bills will establish the framework for the program’s long-term sustainability.

Click here to read more about current legislative activity

Partners Respond to Pause in SNAP and the 2025 Reconcilition Bill (BBB)

Click above to hear more about GTC's response to the government shutdown and SNAP cuts

Responding to Government Shutdown & SNAP Cuts

When the federal government took the unnecessary and horrifically harmful step of pausing its support for the public health nutritional assistance program, SNAP. Springfield EATS partners did what they do best Gardening the Community (GTC) and the SFPC pressed forward with our mission to build the policies, systems, and environments that ensure every Springfield resident can access the affordable, healthy, fresh food they want and deserve.

Through her role on the Governors Anti-Hunger Task Force, Liz advocated for statewide philanthropic response to the pause, while beginning November 1, 2025 GTC moved into emergency food response mode. The Gardening the Community Walnut Street Store began offering free produce, milk & eggs to anyone who needed it for the months of November & December 2025. Recognizing that the Springfield, Massachusetts story, while extreme (47% Springfield residents are SNAP dependent), it’s also the story of so many communities across the state and country. The Springfield Food Policy Council understood, when approached by the New York Times and Boston Globe, that they could tell this story and it would be relevant for other communities (See Media Tab)

Governor Healey Visits the Springfield Food Policy Council and Gardening the Community

Photo: Maura Healy at Gardening the Community talking with Springfield family

Click above to see more about Governor Healey's visit to GTC

Photo: Square One children

"Anecdotally, waiving the parents’ fees made a huge difference. It was a really good decision."

Dawn Distefano, Square One

Square One Responds to Government Shutdown & SNAP Pause

Square One made the brave decision to waive parent fees for November amidst the government shutdown and to provide diapers and other services to anyone walking into Square One sites.

SFPC Save SNAP National Post Card Campaign

When it became clear in the federal budget process that SNAP was slated for a massive cut, the SFPC with the help of Square One stepped up to engage families and farmers in a Post Card Advocacy Campaign.

Phase 1 (test). In June 2025 SFPC and Square One developed a post card for early care classrooms locally with the goal of capturing hearts and minds of Congress and Senators before the Reconciliation "Big Beautiful" Budget Bill vote. SFPC mobilized bipartisan national partners from early care centers, farmers, and nonprofits to advocate for SNAP funding retention and the continued funding of local food programs in 7 red states. 8000 child decorated post cards were sent out and delivered by early care centers and farmers to State Government prior to the so called "Big Beautiful Bill" budget vote.

Phase 2: Launched October 30, 2025 with the goal of mitigation, closing the gap and cost share, and education of the REAL impacts of the new federal budget. SFPC has mobilized partner organizations, after school and youth centers, and legislators to bring attention to the impacts of the major cuts to food access in the upcoming federal budget. The campaign links advocates with their own state data, and provides an easy advocacy vehicle.

How the Big Beautiful Bill Will Impact You Survey

In response to the promised cuts offered in the 2025 Reconciliation (BBB) Bill the SFPC designed and tested a survey begining fall 2025. This survey upgraded with resident input will be offered at community gatherings February-Aprll 2026 as a means to help residents to understand and prepare for current and potential impacts of the 2025 Federal Reconciliation Budget Bill.

Photo: Presentation of the Big Beautiful Bill Survey by SFPC with Springfield's Wayfinders Advocates

Photo: Liz O'Gilvie, a community health worker and UMASS medical students at food distribution.

Fresh food distribution suspended due to cuts to USDA programs.

For four years, Springfield Food Policy Council tested and operated new ways of creating points of access for culturally relevant fresh locally grown food by partnering with World Farmers immigrant and refugee farmers. Partner sites included Brightwood Community Health Center, Square One (2 locations), Gardening the Community Store, Springfield Technical Community College with produce provided by World Farmers. Over 350 free CSA shares were distributed annually, totaling 15,000 large boxes and $350K/year of produce including protein. This program has been disbanded as the funder, the Local Food Promotion Program was terminated at the USDA.

SFPC has dug in to state and national conversations on the response to cuts of these programs and is piloting new advocacy and neighborhood food distribution responses with Gardening the Community.

Our Ongoing Work to

Expand Healthy Food Access and to Increase Market Opportunities for Historically Underserved Farmers

Photo: Square One children at lunch

SNAP and HIP Training and Education

Did you know? In 2020, Square One began a strategy of training its intake specialists to offer support to families with SNAP sign up and explanations of how and where to use their HIP benefits. Square One serves 600 3-5 year-olds, and 1500 family members, first time parents, parents in recovery. Youth come to Square One to get GEDs and job training. Sq1 also manages family daycare programs for 0-1 year olds. Clinical services are embedded in all learning and care programs, and families are supported to navigate and sign up for wrap around services (SNAP, fuel assistance, WIC, etc). Square One operates with the philosophy of feeding small children well so that they can learn; helping little ones find words for their feelings; creating healing environments that allow small children to cultivate the courage and tools to speak about their needs.

Square One Develops a Procurement Plan

Square One recently hired Peter Morales, Vice President of Operations. In this role one of his tasks will be to support to the organization in developing an institutional procurement plan for Farm to Early Care programs at Square One. Square One is also exploring the hiring a staff member to oversee the procurement program.

Photo: Jemisa Douglas, Nutrition Outreach Coordinator & SNAP Specialist, preparing a meal at Square One.

Expanding nutrition staff

Square One provided an internship to a student at Holyoke Community College Culinary Program summer 2025 to support the kitchen to increase for capacity for fresh meals.

New Building - New Site

Square One opened its new center this fall, showcasing energy efficient and child centered design for classrooms, office space, and playground.

A sister building was donated to Square One which, which when renovated, will house the family resource center (diaper bank, pop up food market and a gathering space) to support the uptick in families needing services.

Square One applied for funding for a consultant to assemble a farm to preschool program, putting in place a process (internal policy, procurement and identifying farmer growers).

Photos: Square One ribbon cutting for new building (use arrow to scroll through carousel)

Photo: Square One children.

"The impact of food insecurity in the life of a child goes well beyond experiencing short-term hunger. Going to bed hungry - even once- often triggers a long-term traumatic response. Children should never have to worry about having enough food for themselves or their families."

Kristine Allard, Square One

Photos: GTC's fresh carrots

Photo: Plans for new SFPC mobile market

Pop up Market distributions:

In 2025, SFPC continued its market style free distributions at Martin Luther King Family Services developing 2 farmer/aggregator businesses, with farmers from Kenya and Liberia. Partner sites: Martin Luther King Jr Family Services. Funding for this program has been suspended.

SFPC purchased a mobile market in 2025 that will be up and running in 2026 at schools and other sites throughout the city

Rooted in Community SFPC - institutional local procurement cohort

The SFPC is partnering with Farm to Institution New England's (FINE) Rooted in Community Initiative, which invests in strengthening regional, equitable farm to institution relationships and value chains in New England communities, leading to greater regional and values-based food procurement across New England while shifting institutional power dynamics. The SFPC is convening over 25 institutional food providers and farmers to find collaborative opportunities to procure fresh, local produce in schools, early care centers, hospitals, health clinics, corner stores, food pantries, and carceral facilities.

Photo: Dawn Distifano with institutional food buyers

Agawam_Exhibit A.pdf

Photo: 40 Acres Land and aerial image

40 Acres Land: Lease of Former Carceral Land in Agawam

40 Acres and a Mule Farms is a newly formed organization based in Springfield, MA. 40 Acres supports historically underserved producers, notably BIPOC and immigrant communities such as Puerto Rican, Latinx, and East African populations as well as young adult populations. Many individuals within these communities encounter barriers to accessing land, but are seeking support and land to cultivate the crops of their culture, and build a business.

SFPC is leasing 16 acres of land newly acquired by Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources in Agawam, Massachusetts. This land will be used to establish a training and incubator program for beginning, socially disadvantaged growers with a specific target of formerly incarcerated non-violent offenders. Each grower will be trained in sustainable, regenerative, pesticide free, organic practices.

Backyard Gardens

In response to the pandemic, SFPC built 128 backyard gardens in 2020. That has become an ongoing project - we never stopped. To date we have put in 423 backyard gardens (including a church garden). We continue to support families in maintaining and expanding gardens. SFPC also built the original pilot school gardens in 5 elementary schools, and through our work on the School Wellness Policy, helped to institutionalize the Springfield Public Schools farm to school program which now has 35 school gardens, a STEM driven garden curriculum, a school garden coordinator, and teachers at each school stipend to lead the school gardens.

Photo: installing backyard gardens in 2020

Emerging Leaders Pathway Creation

Springfield Food Policy Council and Gardening the Community

Public Health 101

Hellen Muma, joined the SFPC as an undergraduate intern while studying Public Health. Now armed with an MPH in epidemiology Hellen integrates public health tenets into each of the SFPC programs and serves as a front line public health educator and resource for EATS Partners and other anchor institutions. Seeding the field, in summers 2024 and 2025, Hellen served as adjunct faculty for the UMass Young Scholars Summer Enrichment Program, teaching Public Health 101 for teenagers at the UMass Amherst Center at Springfield.

"It’s not just about treating illnesses, it’s about creating environments where health can thrive, one bite at a time."

- Hellen Muma, SFPC Public Health Policy Associate

SPFC - UMass Partnership PURCH Pathway and Public Health Internship Program

The SFPC established partnerships with the UMass Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH). The PURCH track follows the core curriculum of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine with an added focus on population health, health care disparities, and health issues specific to urban and rural communities. Click here to learn more. PURCH students joined the SFPC in pop-up farmers markets and on site-vists to World Farmers incubator farm serving immigrant and refugee farmers. During that visit a Hmong refugee farmer looked at one of the young Vietnamese medical students with awe asking "he is learning to be a doctor?" She said in wonder "he has my face?" World Farmers staff shared later that the farmer went home and put technology restrictions in place for her children telling them "you can be a doctor, read a book!"

University of Massachusetts' School of Public Policy and School of Public Health to create an internship program. As interns, UMass students work on SPFC's projects and initiatives while developing core competencies related to their academic programs. Hellen Muma was the first Springfield Food Policy Council intern before being hired as the Public Health Policy Associate. Now Hellen supervises the interns working with SFPC.

Click here to Learn More about the Interns

Photos: First: PURCH Students visiting World Farmers Second: Kosisonna Igbobi Third: Sydney Maxy (use arrow to scroll through carousel)

" Our interns and young staff make us smarter and better. Knowledge transfer is symbiotic. We consider ourselves an incubator of sorts for future public health professionals who share culture, language and a love for community "

Liz O'Gilvie, SFPC

Photo: Gardening the Community graphic scribing by Teyo Saree; Learning from the Grandmothers graphic scribing by Hellen Muma

Hood Corps Designed to Build Resident Power

Hood Corps is a community-based volunteer program that educates, trains and empowers individuals of all ages to become civic leaders through community service. Specifically, Hood Corps offers different tiers of short-term and long-term volunteer opportunities for Springfield residents to develop an understanding of systemic issues around access to affordable, locally grown, culturally relevant healthy fresh food as well as other barries to good health and the eradication of health disparities that disporportinately impact lower income black and brown residents. Hood Corps will begin accepting applications during Public Health Month April 2026.

Photo of Malahny Wedderburn, Kami Trushaw, and Liz O'Gilvie. Photo orginal from article published in STCC News by Jim Danko

GTC Seeds the Future

Malahny Wedderburn, Youth Leader, and Kami Trushaw, Farm Manger, graduated from Springfield Technical Community College and transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Both received mentorship, support, and guidance from Liz O' Gilvie. Malahny is pursuing a degree in Food Science Chemistry and Kami a degree in Sustainable Food and Farming at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. As an addition to the statewide free community college statute, GTC provided paid Fridays to staff in community college to study and to complete their applications to UMASS, to soften the challenges working people have with applying and going to school at the same time.

This summer, the program served 36 new youth participants, all of whom were paid between $15.50 and $17 per hour. Each participant successfully opened a bank account as part of the program’s financial empowerment efforts. In addition, four paid staff members are former program youth, demonstrating a strong pipeline for leadership and workforce development.

Leveraged Funds

Square One purchases local fresh produce to feed their 600 early care babies. They lost $110K in local food spend not covered by federal government and yet other dollars were leveraged to feed our children and famailies.

Springfield Food Policy Council lost $250K from the shuttered Local Food Purchasing Agreement and $175K from an Urban Agriculture Grant program that was terminated.

Photo: These glorious flowers were grown by farmer Muma who fed our children and families. liz purchased the flowers personally to thank and help to nourish our team members with a little bit of care.

In 2025, dramatic federal funding elimination of the Local Food Purchasing Partnership and other USDA programs required Springfield EATS partners to rework strategies and find new funding sources. Despite these challenges, partners continue to leverage funds for innovative initiatives advocating for and providing good food to families (see above for 2025). And along the way we remembered to take care of each other.

WHO WE ARE

Jemisa Douglas, Nutrition Consultant, Square One

Dawn Distefano, CEO, Square One

Terrell James, Evaluation Consulatant. SFPC & Fertile Ground

Hellen Muma, Public Health Policy Associate, SFPC & Fertile Ground

Catherine Sands, Executive Director Fertile Ground

Elizabeth Wills O'Gilvie, Executive Director, Springfield Food Policy Council

Report created by Fertile Ground LLC, with the Springfield Food Policy Council & Square One. Published February 2026.

Fertile Ground team: Catherine Sands, Terrell James, Hellen Muma; Square One: Dawn DiStefano, Jemisa Douglas. Springfield Food Policy Council: Elizabeth Wills O'Gilvie, Hellen Muma, Terrell James.

Graphic Scribing: Hellen Muma

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