Ten Massachusetts organizations will share roughly $750,000 in grants intended to connect residents with local farms and support sales of Massachusetts-grown food.
The Department of Agricultural Resources announced the Buy Local awards Oct. 23. Part of the funding will support winter farmers markets, while other work will help residents learn about and use the Healthy Incentives Program.
That program, often called HIP, matches spending dollar-for-dollar on fresh produce bought directly from Massachusetts growers by households using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The announcement describes the grants as support for regional organizations; they are separate from the benefits a household receives.
Awards cover regions across the state. Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership will receive $89,999.71, Berkshire Grown $89,998.58 and the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society $89,996.27. Buy Fresh Buy Local Cape Cod will receive $89,984.97.
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, based in South Deerfield, will receive $80,000. Sustainable Business Network in Cambridge will receive $79,970.40, Central Mass Grown $79,569.60 and Northeast Harvest $70,998.03.
The remaining awards are $43,292.45 for Sustainable Cape in Truro and $36,190 for Sustainable Nantucket.