As SNAP Funding Runs Out, Belmont Farmers Market Tries To Help The 1,100 Local Residents Who Could See Their Food Security Lapse

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Photo: The red tokens representing the what the Belmont Farmers’ Market matches in federal SNAP funding

The rain had already begun falling on the final day of this season’s Belmont Farmers’ Market on Thursday, Oct. 30. The dank, wet afternoon could have been the reason for the much smaller numbers of shoppers arriving at the market’s long-time home in the back of the Claflin Municipal Parking Lot in Belmont Center.

But the conditions didn’t deter a steady stream of patrons coming to the Market Manager’s tent where red, white, and blue tokens – which resemble poker chips – were being handed out. Soon those markers would be used at the more than a dozen vendors waiting in the rain.

The red plastic vouchers represent he federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – formally known as food stamps – provides a boost in the earning power of each household’s food purchases. Under the BFM’s food assistance program, every week SNAP recipients can have their benefits matched up to an extra $25 to purchase any food items under the program’s guidelines.

“We have an average of almost 60 SNAP transactions every week. And last year, we had almost 300 separate households, families, individuals that came in to get benefits,” said Hal Shubin, the Farmers’ Market manager.

In addition, under the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), SNAP recipients receive $40 of free produce every month. And the Belmont Food Collabrative created HIP Plus, its own program – those are the blue tokens – which gives anybody who wants it $20 a month to buy fresh food from any vendor.

The programs makes a difference for many patrons who come to the market from late spring to the end of October, said Shubin. “We have had people tell us that they can only eat well because of the match, because they’re getting that much extra money.”

A young man carrying his young daughter in his arms so her shoes wouldn’t get soaked said he hadn’t been to the market “lately” but want to come before the market closed for the season and due to the news he heard over the past few weeks.

“She really likes apples,” he said. “And I wanted to use the [program] before it’s gone,” he said.

The news he heard was as dreary as the weather. Due to a stalemate on funding a national budget, the federal government shut down that began Oct. 1 resulte in the funding for SNAP run out on Nov. 1. The program is used by more than 20 million households representing 412 million people across the country. A typical monthly SNAP payment is approximatley $188 per person, or about $332 per household.

And that number includes Belmontians, said Shubin. The Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance reported in September that, there are almost 700 households in Belmont that receive SNAP benefits, about seven percent of the town’s households.

“That’s about 1,000, 1,100 individuals in those households,” said Shubin, pointing out that while many are older residents, the number includes those who work full-time, new citizens, and children, which makes up nearly 40 percent of recipients nationwide.

“People think Belmont is very well-to-do town. It’s really more of a mix of people than that, and there are people who need help with putting food on the table. And again, not just food, but this is good food that we have here,” said Shubin.

And demand for food assistance is only growing. When the Farmers Market started the SNAP match program in 2011, it matched $1,000 for the five month season. In 2025 it will approach $28,000 “and we haven’t gone through this last day yet. So the need has been going up,” said Shubin.

The BFM’s SNAP match programs helps people in Belmont and surrounding communities. “We had one woman that used to come from Littleton, because we’ve got one of the very best SNAP matches of any Farmers Market around,” said Shubin.

SNAP recipients are not just buying food, “they’re supporting all of these vendors,” said Hal pointing to the tents pitched in the lower parking lot. “I don’t know if it brings the vendors [to the Farmers Market], but it helps to keep them here.”

“I was at [a SNAP] rally at the Massachusetts State House a couple days ago, and one of the farmers which used to in Belmont told how important it was for his business to receive SNAP dollars and supporting the farmers.” With the pressure of commercial and residential real estate development, “all the farms could turn into condo developments or shopping centers. Supporting the farms and the farmers keeps the open space as well, and they employ people. So [the SNAP program] goes really far,” said Shubin.

While a pair of federal judges on Oct. 31 ruled the federal government must use reserve funding to keep the SNAP program running, President Trump has frozen SNAP benefits for the Nov. 1 release date, impacting all who receive SNAP benefits.

A long-time member of the Belmont Food Cooperative, the Market’s parent organization, and market manager, Shubin said while he doesn’t have experience in the federal budget – he’s a software engineer by trade – he has a hard time getting his head around how the country has come to this point.

“We’re non-partisan here, so I’m not going to get into any details. But I can’t tell you why anybody thinks that it’s good to make people be hungry. It’s not even balancing the budget,” he said.

“Where do people go? If they had SNAP benefits and they’ll lose it for, maybe, I don’t know, how long? We don’t know when it’s going to come back. Where do they go? What do you tell people?” said Shubin.

The BFM is attempting to do its part. As the Nov. 1 deadline approached, the BFM created a four-page handout of food pantries, community fridges, meals programs, Meals on Wheels, even a food pantry for pets. It also lists local Winter Farmers Markets that have SNAP and HIP benefits (although the SNAP match doesn’t matter that much until there is a resolution). Brookline’s Allendale Farm will be conducting a free Farmers Market in Jamaica Plain for a couple of Thursdays in November, and looking for other people to join them, said Shubin.

“So folks are starting to help, but you can’t make up for this shortfall,” he said.

Managing Belmont’s Farmers’ Market [Video]

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Photo: Patrons can find Mirela at the Belmont Farmers’ Market from the first week of June to the last week in October

It’s a not-so-hot summer Thursday as Mirela strolls the Claflin Street parking lot in Belmont Center, where the Belmont Farmers Market is located and where she’s one of the Market’s two managers.

From a small town near Barcelona, Mirela has been giving her time to the Market – one part of the Belmont Food Collabrative – for nearly a decade with its mission to make healthy food part of everyone’s home, said Mirela.

“[The Belmont Farmers Market] is an important part of the community, and I feel wonderful working here,” she said.

Volunteers like Mirela and her staff provide the structure that allows the Market to offer local produce, meat and fish, baked goods, prepared meals, breads, and freshly made goods to more than 800 patrons each week.

Starting in the first week of June and ending the last week of October, Mirela sets up and takes down the stalls and tents used by the Market, makes sure the nearly two dozen vendors are happy and hydrated (with water provided by the Market), and answers a litany of questions from patrons. Mirela also works to find new vendors by visiting other farmers’ markets during the year. 

The Market also provides food assistance to shoppers, including doubling SNAP benefits up to $25 per week and participating in the state’s Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which offers coupons to WIC families and eligible seniors. In 2023, these programs added more than $59,000 to shoppers’ budgets.

Last year, the Market started its free POP Club, targeting the youngest patrons. Each week, nearly 70 kids between 5 and 12 years old are provided $3 in POP Bucks, which can be used to purchase fruit and vegetables—”No cookies!” said Mirela—to make their own healthy food choices and learn where their food comes from while making the Market a fun experience.

And this week the market is asking POP participants how the program is doing with a POP Club Survey

Farmers Market Opens For 18th Season On Thursday, June 6, With Food Assistance Fair

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Photo: Belmont Farmers Market opens for the season on Thursday, June 6.

The 18th edition of the Belmont Farmers Market will get underway at 1:45 p.m., Thursday, June 6 – rain or shine – at its traditional home in Belmont Center’s Claflin Parking Lot. A slew of new vendors selling produce, drinks, prepared meals, baked goods and a while lot more will be available.

The market is open on Thursdays in June to October from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in October)

The day will be highlighted with the third annual Food Assistance Information Fair and food drive.

This season sees the return of the popular children program: POP Club: The Power of Produce. Enroll your kids in the club, and they get $3 every week to spend at the Market on any fruits, vegetables, or food-producing plants that they want to buy. It’s free for all children between 5 and 12 years old.

Don’t forget bring non-perishable food donations for the Belmont Food Pantry. The pantry will thank you.

Belmont Farmers Market is a project of Belmont Food Collaborative, Inc

Final Farmers’ Market Of The Season This Thursday; Added Venders, Knife Sharpening, Kids In Costumes

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Photo: The final farmers’ market until June.

The final Belmont Farmers’ Market of the 2022 season will take place on Thursday, Oct. 27 in the Claflin Street Municipal Parking Lot (a block from Belmont Center) from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Children that come to the Market dressed in their Halloween costume should stop by the manager’s tent for a special gift bag!

This final market day will have four extra vendors in addition to the normal lineup, for a total of 22 vendors. So empty out those freezers so you have room to stock up on awesome local products. Remember, Thanksgiving is less than a month away.

Siraco Sharpening will also be in the parking lot just outside the market on Thursday. Siraco will be in the parking lot at 9 a.m. for early drop-offs. They’ll sharpen your knives, scissors, garden tools, and more.

BLM Sign Relocated At Belmont Farmers Market After Being Banished For Being Political Speech

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Photo: Black Lives Matter sign at Belmont Farmers Market

Since last summer, Black Lives Matter signs have become a familiar feature in Belmont placed on yards, fences, windows and cars showing ones commitment to the current drive for diversity and racial justice.

But last week one of the signs – located on the sawhorse barrier at the market’s entry – was removed by the Belmont Farmers Market at the request of town officials after a patron questioned the political nature of the sign. The reason for its removal is where the market is location; in the Claflin Street parking lot, a town-owned property and the message the sign conveyed was a political statement.

At Monday, July 19, Select Board meeting, representatives from the Farmers Market and its parent organization the Belmont Food Collaborative came to request some guidance on where, and if, it can include the sign that expressed its support for Black Lives Matters.

In its 15th year, Belmont Farmers Market is annually permitted by the Select Board to take about a third of the Claflin lot from the first week in June to the end of October fruit, vegetables, baked goods and other Farmer Market staples.

Hal Shubin said that since the murder of George Floyd and the resulting summer of protests the market to “explicated include our Black friend and neighbors” by placing this year a Black Lives Matter sign at the weekly market located on a barrier inside the market’s boundaries.

While the market voluntarily complied with the request, Shubin told the board when discussing another incident the Belmont Police told the market that while operating on town land, it can enforce its own market appropriate rules, which would include a message on its commitment to civil rights and inclusivity.

Shubin said while he understands that creating a sign placement policy for the entire town will be difficult, “we believe signs at the farmers market and one its equipment reflects our opinion and not the town’s.”

Saying it was surprising that this issue hasn’t come up in any great way in the past, Select Board Chair Adam Dash said a new Belmont sign policy will need to walk a fine line on what is acceptable “because this is going to continue to come up.” Board Member Roy Epstein said one of his main concerns is for the town not to be sued. “I’m all in favor of freedom of expression but I don’t want a scenario that we’ll be part of a law suit,” he said.

Town Counsel George Hall said first, a new sign policy must treat everyone equally on expressive activity on town property. At the market, each of the dozen weekly vendors have the opportunity to place a sign at their workspace, said Hall. But while not wanting to limit what a vendor can post, Hall said it would be in the best interest of the market and the town not to turn the space into “essentially a bill board where it could becomes a competition where lots of different people will want to put up a lot of signs.”

Suzanne Johannet, president of the Food Collaborative, suggested a compromise of placing the placard on the manager’s tent, where the market’s volunteer staff helps customers and vendors.

“That is a even more clear expression that it is our space,” said Shubin Hall said the tent placement is “maybe the best place to draw the line” while the town cobbles together a sign bylaw for public spaces in the next few months.

“That works for me,” said Shubin, a short term solution which the Select Board agreed.

Belmont Farmers Market Season Opener Thursday, June 4

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Photo: The Belmont Farmers Market opens this week

Summer is almost here and that means a Belmont institution, the Farmers Market, is opening for the 2020 season at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 4 in the Belmont Center municipal parking lot with the ringing of the market bell and the cutting of the tomato ribbon.

But this year, due to the ongoing pandemic, there will be changes to how patrons will be able to shop. This season, the market will operate more like an outdoor supermarket without the typical social events that residents have grown accustomed to and safety measures have been developed and will be implemented in consultation with the Belmont Health Department.

The shopping area will be limited to 40 shoppers, and there will be a one-way flow through the area, with a single entrance and a single exit. Vendor tents will be spaced six feet apart instead of being adjacent to each other, and there is a limit of three people standing at any tent. The entrance and vendor areas will have markings to ensure that shoppers stand six feet from each other.

Face masks and gloves will be required for vendors and Market staff. Shoppers must wear face masks, and are asked to shop alone. Shoppers may not touch products until they are paid for, and they will be encouraged to preorder or use credit/debit cards when they pay at the Market.

Vendors may not handle reusable bags, and must provide extra space or a screen between themselves and shoppers. Hand washing stations will be provided, and a portable toilet will be available for Market staff and volunteers. Extra volunteers will be on hand to manage the flow of shoppers. Vendors must check the health of themselves and their staff, and the Market managers will monitor the health of their staff.

Questions about the Belmont Farmers’ Market can be directed to: belmontfarmersmarket@gmail.com

Good News! Belmont Farmers Market To Open In June With Social Distancing

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Photo: Belmont Farmers Market is readying for the 2020 season.

With so many of Belmont’s annual events postponed and popular stores are closed, it will no doubt that residents will be happy to hear the Belmont Farmers Market is scheduled to open for the 2020 season on time in early June after a unanimous vote of the Select Board on Monday, April 27.

“The governor has farmers markets on the list of essential businesses and an important part of the local food system especially now,” said Hal Shubin, the chairman of the farmers market located in Belmont Center which is part of the Belmont Food Collaborative.

But there will be some significant changes to the way shoppers and vendors will be doing business as the COVID-19 pandemic will alter the relaxed meandering zeitgeist of past market days in Belmont.

“[Town officials] have developed a list of criteria that the farmers market will observe in their operations to make it safe, but the whole operation … will be subject to over oversight by the Board of Health,” said Shubin. “My goal is always to understand what the rules are so that we can make sure that they’re enforced.”

The first change is the market will be located on a larger footprint in the rear of the Claflin Street parking lot, allowing greater spacing between vendors, Shubin told the board.

“Right now the stores in the center are closed and that’s obviously really unfortunate, but while they’re closed, there’s a lot of room in the parking would like to expand … the market so we can allow proper social distancing,” said Shubin.

“When social distancing rules are relaxed, the stores will reopen and at that point, we should be able to return to our usual area,” he said.

In addition:

  • There will be markings on the pavement before each booth where customers will stand in line to allow for social distancing.
  • Shoppers will trek through the market in a “one-way” direction to minimize accidental contact with others.
  • The number of patrons within the market area will be capped at 40 to prevent any crowding that could make social distancing difficult.
  • There will also be hand washing facilities and sanitizers in the market’s confines.

What will be missing this year are the events and entertainment the market hosted each season; from children reading by Belmont Public Library librarians, a wide array of musicians, samples by local restaurants as well as visits by magicians and balloon artists.

“We are focusing on getting people in and out,” said Shubin. “We’re going to encourage people to come alone and to leave their children [at home].”

Belmont Farmers Market Ready To Park Itself In Belmont Center For 13th Season

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Photo: Hal Shubin (left) and Suzanne Johannet of the Belmont Food Collaborative before the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

What a difference two weeks can make.

The last time the leadership of the Belmont Food Collaborative – the group that runs the Belmont Farmers Market – was before the Board of Selectmen on Jan. 22, it was a slightly frosty reception as it comes to secure the board’s OK to bring the market back to Belmont Center for a 13th season.

Suzanne Johannet, collaborative’s president, and Hal Shubin, the chairman of the farmers market, were seated next to Kevin Foley, manager of Locatelli Properties and landlord of many businesses along Leonard Street in Belmont Center. For the second year, Foley came to the board to bring up a continuing sore point of the Farmers Market taking nearly 20 parking spaces in the rear of the Claflin Street Municipal Parking Lot on what he describes as “one of our busiest days of the week.” 

“Before we talk where and when the Farmers Market is located, that we look at this issue carefully each year and look at parking demand and adjust accordingly,” said Foley at the January meeting. In the past, Foley suggested either moving the market to another location away from the center or changing the markets’ operation times and the day it takes place such as Monday, noting that several new businesses have opened in the center with a new restaurant scheduled to arrive this summer.

For the Collaborative, Foley’s continued criticism of the markets’ use of the public lot was baffling. “What do you want, Kevin?” said Johannet, saying that Market customers bring business to his tenants, specifically during the summer when business drags.  

While open to the market returning for its second decade at the site, the Selectmen were “frustrated,” according to member Mark Paolillo, that long-standing agreement for the collaborative and Locatelli to sit down at a meeting “discuss” the parking issue had not taken place for well over a year. Due to the dispute, the Selectmen delayed acting on granting the Collaborative the right to set up shop in the parking lot “until you get together as was promised,” said Paolillo.

Fast forward to Monday, Feb. 5 and the much warmer encounter between the board and collaborative. 

Working with new Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, the Collaborative met with Foley and representatives from the Belmont Center Business Association and as Johannet told the board, it appears the Farmers Market was a lesser concern to Foley than the overriding worry of providing an adequate number of “core parking spaces” for patrons of the center’s retail operators. 

Johannet said Foley had been using the market “as a football” to express his frustrations with the town over the broader issue of parking supply and demand.

Garvin said Foley would like the town to create some “reprieve” for the employees to take pressure off of shoppers and those eating at the center’s restaurants. In an effort to help the business community, the town and market will continue to monitor parking levels and hold ongoing discussions with all sides, said Garvin. 

Despite Foley’s protestations, the Selectmen were solidly in the market’s corner. “The town owns the parking lot, not Kevin Foley,” said Selectmen Chair Jim Williams. In the end, the board voted unanimously to allow the Belmont Farmers Market to use the 19 spaces each Thursday, 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in September and October) from June 7 to Oct. 26 to bring fresh produce and locally made goods to residents, to the applause of supporters in the audience.

According to Shubin, the collaborative is reviewing options that would allow the market to avoid being caught between the parking needs of businesses and the town, which could include asking for a multi-year approval.

“We can now get excited about our 13th year,” said Johannet.

Belmont Farmers Market Opens for Season Thursday @ 2 PM

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Photo: Open for the season!

The Belmont Farmers Market will open for the 2017 season today, Thursday, May 8 at 2 p.m. its traditional fanfare, ringing of the market bell and a ribbon cutting at its home in the rear of the Claflin Street Municipal Parking Lot just off Belmont Center.
The market, run by the Belmont Food Collabrative, will hold a tasting by the recently opened Foodie’s Markets, there will be a Storytime event, and a musical performance featuring saxaphones.
 
The weekly vendors at the market include:
Bread Obsession (new), Brookford Farm (new), Del Sur Empanadas (new), Dick’s Market Garden Farm, Goodies Homemade, Foxboro Cheese Co., Hutchins Farm, Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery, Red’s Best Fish/Boston Smoked Fish Co. (new), and Stillman Quality Meats.

The occasional vendors this year include:
Bittersweet Herb Farm (new), Garbage to Garden (new), Indonesian Three Magnolias (new), Minuteman Kettle Corn (new), Recreo Coffee & Roasterie (new), Sustainable Belmont Rain Barrels, swissbäkers (new), and Valicenti Pasta Farm.
Learn about our vendors on the market’s website.
Schedule of Events today include:
  • 1:55 p.m.: Fanfare by Nathaniel Meyer & Ribbon Cutting by the Belmont Board of Selectmen
  • 2:15 p.m.: Tasting by Foodie’s Markets
  • 4 p.m.: Storytime with librarians from the Belmont Public Library
  • 4:30 p.m.: Music by Eight Thumbs Saxophone Quartet

Be Well Belmont Holding Health and Activity Dialogue Sunday

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Photo: Be Well Belmont logo.

Residents and families are invited on Sunday, Oct. 18, to attend a community-wide dialogue on healthy eating and staying active sponsored by Be Well Belmont.

The free event, which is open to everyone in town, will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Beech Street Center.

The event will provide the public an opportunity to share their thoughts on making Belmont a healthier community.

Be Well Belmont’s overriding goal – which is a project of the Belmont Food Collaborative – is to promote healthy eating and being active in Belmont through education, programming and improving access to opportunities for the whole community. The group collaborates with town government, schools and community groups.

Early successes include:

  • A screening of the documentary “Fed Up” in March.
  • Funding the crossing flag pilot program started by Safe Routes to Schools.
  • A successful series of cooking classes are focusing on healthy recipes with locally produced food.
  • Collaborating on a National Food Day initiative.

A community needs survey is underway:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/bewellbelmont

For more information about Be Well Belmont, visit its website.