WEST SPRINGFIELD On Saturday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m., the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation (MMSF), which distributed Patriot Farm Food Boxes at Eastern States Exposition’s Better Living Center, will hand out its 1 millionth pound of fresh food in Western Mass. since October, when the MMSF stepped up after the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program’s funding was cut. The USDA’s program has recently been approved for further funding, and the MMSF was selected as a distribution partner for the USDA’s Farmers to Families program.
Farmers to Families Food Boxes provide well-balanced, pre-packaged, perishable food to combat the massive food-insecurity problem posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The foods come from farms and producers severely affected by restaurant, school, and other closures that interrupted the supply chain. Instead, through federal grants and the efforts of volunteer groups such as the MMSF, the nutritious food is directed to those in need on a local and