Overview:
The Montague Food Security and Sustainability Coalition, a 15-member group established in March, is increasing its efforts to combat food insecurity in Montague, Massachusetts, amid the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts. The coalition, which is funded by the United Way of the Franklin Hampshire Region Community Investment grant, has been working to provide access to fresh food and produce. The loss of SNAP has led to a significant increase in need at food pantries in Montague, with the number of people coming in for food doubling since last year at the Brick House Community Resource Center food pantry. The coalition is seeking donations from the community to help sustain its efforts for food distribution.
MONTAGUE — Already tackling food insecurity across the five villages since March, the Montague Food Security and Sustainability Coalition is increasing efforts to access fresh food and produce amid the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts.
The 15-member coalition is supported with funding from the United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region’s Community Investment grant, according to the nonprofit Brick House Community Resource Center.
“These organizations have been meeting weekly to share resources, purchase fresh vegetables, grow pantry capacity, raise funding for each other’s efforts, and plan forward to reduce hunger in a sustainable, structural way,” the resource center stated this week.
The coalition members include the Brick House, Heartwing Center (formerly Montague Catholic Social Ministries), Montague Public Libraries, Franklin County Community Meals/Our Lady of Peace, Franklin County Survival Center, Finders Collective, Franklin County Technical School, Bag Carriers/Fourth Street Community Kitchen, Town of Montague Planning Department, Gill-Montague Council on Aging, Great Falls Farmers Market, Dynamics Ecological Design, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Red Fire Farm and Drawdown Montague.
With this collaborative effort to address food insecurity already underway, Executive Director of the Brick House Thomas Taaffe said the emerging news of the loss of SNAP amid the federal government shutdown has led to significantly higher need at food pantries in Montague.
“Then, in the middle of all this preparing to solve the problem long-term, the SNAP crisis hit, and all of us who run pantries and soup kitchens are just seeing the need explode,” Taaffe said.
Before the SNAP crisis began, food insecurity in Franklin County had been mounting. As previously reported by the Greenfield Recorder, half of all households in Franklin and Hampshire counties and roughly two million adults across the state experienced food insecurity in 2024, according to a June statewide report published by The Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham.
The Greater Boston Food Bank explains that low food insecurity occurs when a person in a household has to reduce the quality or variety of their meals, while very low food insecurity occurs when a person is forced to skip meals or not eat for an entire day because they don’t have enough money for food.
The United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region Executive Director Geoff Naunheim said the grant provides $40,000 per year for three years, and is available for use by the coalition for food purchases, staffing and other necessary expenses.
When asked about the coalition working during this SNAP crisis, Naunheim reiterated that food insecurity is not a new issue.
“This has been on our radar for a while,” he said, noting that the SNAP issues will still persist for people after the shutdown when new eligibility requirements take effect. “So this is really adding fuel to the fire that was already burning.”
As Naunheim noted, SNAP eligibility requirement changes are still in place regardless of the government shutdown. As a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law in July, changes to the Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) work rules, non-citizen eligibility, and the Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) went into effect on Nov. 1, creating limitations for new applicants or people looking to recertify.
In Montague, 1,669 people used SNAP benefits in September, according to recent data from the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). A Rhode Island federal judge has ordered that President Donald Trump and his administration fund SNAP in full after a previous order to partially fund SNAP, as the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history continues. The state’s November 2025 SNAP Updates website says residents could receive partial funding in their SNAP accounts the week of Nov. 10, and expect full payments sometime within the month.
‘The crisis is here’
Taaffe shared that at the Brick House food pantry, the number of people coming in for food has doubled since last year, while the food pantry at the Millers Falls branch of the Montague Public Libraries has seen a 45% increase in need, with the expectation that this will only grow, Director Caitlin Kelley said in a news release.
Before the SNAP crisis, the coalition had used $24,000 to purchase local produce from Red Fire Farm for weekly distribution to members for 15 weeks, Taaffe explained.
Then, as the funding ran out for this round of weekly distribution on Oct. 29, Taaffe said the Brick House used $2,500 of its own money for more Red Fire Farm produce for continued distribution — a large cost for an organization of its size, he said. Now, they are seeking other funding avenues for other necessities like dairy products, eggs, meat and bread.
Ryan Voiland, co-owner of Red Fire Farm, said that the farm has provided a variety of fresh produce for coalition members since the summer, with recent options like squash, potatoes, cabbage, spinach, carrots, leeks and kale.
Voiland said that the loss of SNAP creates a “delicate time” for many people, and with a good crop coming out of this harvest season, Red Fire Farm can help provide food for those who may not have had access to local produce before.
“It’s part of our whole mission to make food available to folks, but we didn’t have a real good connection that was actually getting [food] directly to people in the Town of Montague, where we grow, where many of our fields are located,” Voiland said. “So I was really happy to hear that this effort was happening, and enthusiastic about jumping on board and helping make it happen.”
With the extra amount from the Brick House available, the distribution of this produce will be able to keep up throughout November and December, with hopes for continued availability, Taaffe said.
With this partnership still underway, but facing a crunch with the SNAP crisis, Taaffe said the Brick House is seeking donations from the community to help sustain their efforts for this distribution as food insecurity continues.
“The crisis is here,” Taaffe said. “The people need food, and so we just have to go to work, move the deck chairs around, spend less on something else and keep the food coming.”
Donations can be made to the Brick House to support the Food Coalition online at https://tinyurl.com/vdmy9x4z.