Program Implementation

Healthy Hampshire supported Many Hands Farm Corps to pilot a mobile farmers market in four Amherst neighborhoods in 2020. Over 170 residents purchased  discounted farm shares that they picked up at the market, many using SNAP and getting reiumbursed through the Healthy Incentives Program. The Amherst Mobile Market is guided by community members through the Amherst Mobile Market Planning Committee, a circle of the Hampshire County Food Policy Council. In 2024, the Amherst Mobile Market launched as an independent nonprofit organization. Check out WCVB’s Chronicle story on the Amherst Mobile Market here, and a Daily Hampshire Gazette article here.

The Hilltown Mobile Market started as an innovative collaboration between Healthy Hampshire, Hilltown Community Development, and the Hilltown Community Health Center to increase the availability of fresh, local, and affordable produce to rural Hilltown residents. The market aggregates fresh Hilltown-grown produce each week from local partner farms and distributes farm shares and additional produce from its colorful “veggie van” from July through October. The program is now run by Hilltown Community Development and has grown into an online food hub and brick-and-mortar location selling produce from 20 local producers (and growing!).

The Fort River Garden was started by a group of community volunteers and staff from Healthy Hampshire and the Town of Amherst that formed the Fort River Community Garden Circle, which later became a circle of the Hampshire County Food Policy Council. The garden is located at the Fort River Farm Conservation Area, which is owned by the Town of Amherst and managed by the Town of Amherst Conservation Department.

Parsons Village is an Easthampton affordable housing community managed by Way Finders. In 2023, Healthy Hampshire worked with residents living at Parsons Village to plan and build a community garden that is now being managed collectively by Parsons Village residents and Way Finders property managers.

Healthy Hampshire worked with residents at the Northampton Housing Authority properties of Hampshire Heights and Florence Heights to plan and build community gardens for residents of the complexes. The gardens are now being supported by Grow Food Northampton‘s Food Access Advisory Committee.

Healthy Hampshire partners with the UMass Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, the Hilltown Community Health Center, and About Fresh to administer a Produce Prescription Program for clients of the Health Center. Clients who are low-income and who experience or are at risk of developing a chronic disease receive $40 per month for the purchase of fresh produce at participating retailers.

Healthy Hampshire and CISA partnered to put together a food business workshop series to help people who want to learn the fundamentals of food business management. To support those who often face barriers to starting or managing food businesses, the Essential Skills series is free to all and offers translation, interpretation, stipends for participation, and childcare to participants who identify as BIPOC, low-income, or who have limited English proficiency.