By TOM RELIHAN
Massachusetts Senate Districts
Recorder Staff
GREENFIELD — A few of the barriers to getting fresh, local food may soon fall for some local residents thanks to a new outreach effort by Just Roots, the Franklin Community Cooperative and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
Once a month, people passing by the Just Roots farm share program next to Green Fields Market will have the chance to learn about how to obtain food assistance from the federal government, sign up for an affordable co-op membership or join the farm share program at the organization’s Local Food Clinic.
Andy Grant, Just Roots’ community outreach director and a member of the Franklin Community Cooperative’s board, said the clinic happens once per month. The first happened in July and the second was Aug. 3. The program will run two more times before the season is over — on Sept. 7 and Oct. 5 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. — as part of a trial phase. The intention was to bring together community groups to remove obstacles to healthy local food. The clinic is designed to help people learn how to get involved with the farm share program through subsidized access, enroll in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and obtain an affordable or incrementally paid membership to the cooperative through the Food For All program, especially for low-income residents. “That’s a way to diversify the membership of the coop, and provide food for the whole community,” Grant said of that last purpose. He said the clinic also helps people enroll for “auto -SNAP ” enrollment in the farm share, which allows them to register to have their benefits automatically pay for farm share dues. That, he said, allows them to show up and receive their food like anyone else, without the stigma of having to show their card. Passersby can stop for a free individual consultation during the clinic’s hours. “It’s something we’re prototyping. We just started this, and we basically set it up to see how it worked, didn’t do much advertising,” he said.
This year, the organization offered a fall extension to its farm share program, adding an additional four weeks to its 20-week season.
You can reach Tom Relihan at: 413-772-0261, ext. 264,
or: trelihan@recorder.com.
On Twitter: @RecorderTom