Take Action Now!
Updated November 10, 2024
SNAP & HIP funding – The MA legislature did not fully fund the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) for the current fiscal year and on December 1st all SNAP recipients will begin receiving only $20 per month to make produce purchases at participating farmers markets and vendors versus the previous $40, $60 or $80 per month based upon household size.
Want to help SNAP recipients receive free locally grown produce throughout the year? HIP helps MA farmers grow and sell more produce and helps MA residents eat more nutritious foods – it’s a win-win and legislators need to know about it! Email MAND’s Director of Public Policy Sarah Conca at sconca@live.com to learn about contacting your state senator and representative and ask them to vote in favor of increased HIP funding.
2025-2026 legislative session – The results of the 2024 election are in and new and returning state legislators will begin their two-year terms in early January 2025.
MAND will be reaching out to newly-elected members of the Massachusetts legislature to wish them well in their positions and introduce them to MAND. We would also like to introduce them to MAND members living in their districts. Would you like to be considered? Please email Sarah Conca at sconca@live.com
Academy Action Alerts – Contact your members of Congress
The Academy has important new action alerts. Please take action now to:
- Help expand Medicare MNT coverage
- Help protect nutrition security in the Farm Bill
To take action on all current action alerts, log into your Academy account and visit the Action Center at https://www.eatrightpro.org/advocacy/take-action/action-alerts or visit the public action alert link at https://www.votervoice.net/EATRIGHT/1/home.
Want to learn more about a particular federal policy issue?
Join an Academy Affinity Group! Connect with fellow members on top policy priorities and learn how to get involved. Register for monthly meetings and join the COI for each affinity group: https://www.eatrightpro.org/advocacy/take-action/grassroots-resources/join-the-academy-affinity-groups
MNT Expansion - First Tuesday of every month from 3:30-4:30 pm ET
Nutrition Security - First Wednesday of every month from 4:00-5:00 pm ET
Licensure Initiatives – Second Tuesday of every month from 3:00-4:00 pm ET
Payment and Reimbursement - Fourth Tuesday of every month from 2:00-3:00 pm ET
Want to help MAND contact and connect with our state and federal legislators?
Sign up to be part of MAND’s Grassroots Network!
To help MAND’s Public Policy Panel communicate effectively and advocate successfully for food and nutrition issues important to our profession, we maintain a list of members who would like to be more actively involved with public policy activities.
This “Grassroots Network” of MAND members from across the state is critical to advancing public policies supported by MAND and the Academy. Helping out can be as simple as sending an email or a social media message, as this helps to create and grow relationships with elected officials.
Each registered voter is a constituent of two U.S. senators and one U.S. representative as well as one state senator and one state representative. Our elected officials appreciate hearing directly from their constituents, learning about issues important to them. It is when we educate them on nutrition-related issues and directly ask for their support of a bill or policy item that we can begin to see success in policy areas important to us and our fellow nutrition and dietetics practitioners.
What can you do to get involved and join the Grassroots Network?
Visit https://www.sec.state.ma.us/wheredoivotema/bal/myelectioninfo.aspx and enter your home address to see a complete listing of your members of Congress, members of the state legislature and other local offices. Then email Sarah Conca at sconca@live.com with the following information:
- Your full name, credentials, home address, ZIP code + 4
- Preferred email and telephone number
- Name of your U.S. representative, MA senator and MA representative.
