Recipients of food assistance in Massachusetts will see their benefits that can be used to buy fresh produce cut beginning in December, but there are efforts to ask the Governor and Legislature to restore the funding the in the State Budget.
Stephanie Venizelos, the City of Watertown’s Community Wellness Program Manager, said that the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) will be reduced to $20 per household. The program is available to recipients of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
“Recently, DTA and MDAR announced the following changes to the HIP program beginning on December 1, 2024, due to insufficient funding in the MA state budget. The HIP benefit structure will be reduced to $20 each month, and the maximum HIP benefits a household can earn will be $20 a month for all households, regardless of size. DTA will be notifying SNAP clients soon about this change,” Venizelos wrote in a letter to social service providers.
In 2023, 9 percent of Watertown residents, more than 3,000 people, received SNAP benefits, Venizelos told Watertown News, and about the same number qualify but have not applied for the benefits.
The following chart shows the old and new benefit levels.
| Household Size | OLD HIP Monthly Cap | NEW HIP Monthly Cap |
| 1-2 persons | $40 | $20 |
| 3-5 persons | $60 | $20 |
| 6+ persons | $80 | $20 |
HIP can be used at places like the Watertown Farmers’ Market, which is closed for the season, and in the off-season it can also be used to receive free produce through Watertown’s SNAP CSA programs. It can also be used at winter farmers markets.
“During the market season, our HIP vendors provide over $50k in free produce to SNAP customers,” Venizelos said.
The cuts will impact both HIP recipients and farmers, according to the Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture.
“The immediate impacts of this reduction are obvious: the most vulnerable members of our communities will see an immediate loss in their grocery budgets, amounting to a 50 percent reduction in benefit for the vast majority of HIP households, and it will increase food insecurity. For this change to be implemented right before the winter holidays is an additional blow,” the announcement on the group’s website said. “For the farmers and markets that have shaped their business models on serving HIP customers — through investments in staff training, growing more food and more culturally relevant crops, and choosing sales outlets that are accessible to people who are using HIP — this will mean immediate financial losses. There are 25 farmers that run SNAP CSA programs, 38 farmers’ markets, 12 mobile markets with 109 stops, and 59 farmers with 66 farm stands that are open in December that will be affected by this change.”
An effort, called the Campaign for HIP Funding, has started to call for restoration of $10 million in funding for HIP in a Fiscal Year 2025 supplemental budget. The campaign encouraged supporters to contact the Governor’s office, the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), the Legislative leadership, and their local legislators
For more information, email svenizelos@watertown-ma.gov
It’s not just Watertown. I see similar articles in the Worcester, Lawrence, and Athol press—as well as the Boston Globe. A program that serves both needy families and local farmers would seem to be a no-brainer, especially after inflation has taken such a big bite out of people’s food budgets. As a nearly 35% increase in EBT cards over the past year also attests. If money is tight, and money is always tight, where does EBT fraud stand? Several articles over the past few months note millions being stolen in “phishing” or similar scams. This is not only a criminal or political problem, but with families about to lose access to fresh produce, a moral one as well.