For decades, a regional food bank in Massachusetts has been working to fight hunger, providing millions of pounds of food annually throughout western Mass. With demand not letting up and federal cuts already being stomached, leaders at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts say cuts elsewhere have them bracing for impact.
For at least an hour Thursday, Aug. 21, a line of cars in Easthampton seemed endless as the vehicles lined Knipfer Avenue. The drivers’ hope – collect bags of fresh produce at a mobile food bank run, in-part by the Easthampton Community Center & Our Lady of the Valley.
Bagging cauliflower, kale and other veggies, volunteers assemble a small hill of packaged food before the first cars pull up.
Rick Connell says his fellow volunteers have developed a system for making sure potatoes, peppers and onions go where they need to go – one in which a volunteer checking families in shouts a number down the food assembly line.
“They tell you how many people are in their household … so, if they call ‘three’ - that's three family members - I'll put in three [servings of] potatoes …” Connell explains as he grabs from a table loaded with potato bags and makes his way to a waiting van.
The backdrop of the drive-through – a sizable box truck sporting the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts logo and colors. ECC Executive Director Robin Bialecki says her organization is a proud partner of the food bank – the source of much of Thursday’s produce going to as many as 250 families in one sitting.
While stuffing plastic bags with kale, Bialecki tells WAMC the ECC supports 5,000 families across the region through its pantry and other services. Food assistance demand is as high as ever, she adds, with locals anxious over federal assistance.
“[Demand’s] definitely increasing. With today's economy, it's a little questionable, so people are really getting nervous,” she explains. “A lot of our seniors are afraid that their social security is going to be hurt or their Medicare, so they're really panicking and this is the time of year when everybody wants fresh vegetables.”
She adds her center would not be able to help anywhere near as many families with food if it were not for the Food Bank of Western Mass. and its massive facility in Chicopee – one routinely gathering and distributing food to food bank members like the ECC – one of an estimated 199 organizations it partners with.
According to FY24 data, the Food Bank of Western Mass. served more than 120,000 individuals-per-month on average – a quarter of them children and nearly 20% older adults.
However, over the past few months, food bank Director of Programs Christina Maxwell says the organization has been dealing with hurdles thanks to various federal funding cuts and changes.
“We had about $440,000 worth of federal funds that come to us in the form of food canceled - those loads were just canceled,” she said of the cuts from earlier in the spring. “That was a relatively small cut for us and we were able to do some fundraising - our community has been really responsive and has been very supportive. We were managing that, but then these larger cuts came along and it's … not something that a food bank is capable of making up the difference for.”
Major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid came with the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed into law by President Trump in July – effectively billions of dollars in cuts to be rolled out over the next decade.
The White House says changes to the programs, such as new work requirements, will ultimately strengthen them while reducing wasteful spending.
But for the food bank that provides 1.2 million meals a month, those cuts mean less support for those in need, and therefore even greater reliance on area food pantries, which are still seeing elevated demand post-pandemic.
“People who rely on SNAP benefits usually don't need to go to a food pantry as often as people who don't receive SNAP benefits - the fact of the matter is that SNAP benefits do not last for the whole month for the majority of people who get them,” Maxwell tells WAMC. “Usually people need to do both, but SNAP is a huge support for people who receive it…”
Maxwell adds SNAP also injects an estimated $35 million every month into western Massachusetts via its benefits – money for households that ends up going to grocers, farmers and food providers.
There’s also the matter of Medicaid cuts.
“We don’t deal with Medicaid benefits directly, but when people lose money out of their budgets because now they’re having to spend more for their healthcare, that just takes money away from the grocery budget,” she explains. “We’re certainly anticipating to be increasing the need, as well.”
For now, Maxwell says, the food bank is continuing its operations while keeping tabs on federal decisions. That includes seeing how recent cuts might affect a partly Medicaid-funded team the food bank operates – one that works with healthcare providers to refer food insecure patients to the food bank.
They also operate a four-person SNAP outreach team that assists residents across the region with applying for SNAP, often updating their information with the Department of Transitional Assistance or answering questions about the program.
The Food Bank is also now taking part in an “Anti-Hunger Taskforce” put together by Governor Maura Healey’s administration. The efforts aims to navigate issues created by federal cuts as well as hunger in Massachusetts.
Released earlier this year, a report assembled by the Greater Boston Food Bank found that in 2024, as many as one in three households experienced some form of food insecurity.
It’s a higher number in the Pioneer Valley – 1 in 2 households in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties, up 6 to 13 percent in some areas compared to 2023 levels.
There’s no quick solution, but for now, advocates like Bialecki say they will work with what they’ve got – one bag at a time.
“If you've got four or five kids, you want to make sure you can feed them, so, we are trying to meet all of those needs as best we can … we're just trying to stretch as much as we can for getting as much food as we can to every family,” she adds.
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This piece originally aired Friday, Aug. 22, 2025
