By JULIE CUNNINGHAM

(Northfield, MA) Just Roots Executive Director Jessica O’Neil was one of the guests who got to share with Joe Kennedy during his visit to Four Star Farms in Northfield. O’Neil said that a new prepared meal program has been launched to provide food to high risk individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just Roots is providing subsidized shares for low income families as well.  The majority of the food comes from the food grown by Just Roots, but a new partnership with Boston Children’s Hospital will allow Just Roots to distribute under the Flexible Services Pilot Program to Springfield, Holyoke, and Northampton, which will be 150 more low income customers with a medical diagnosis.

“We love to teach what we do because it’s been working pretty well,” said O’Neil.

O’Neil said that Just Roots has hired its first Spanish only speaking team member to help facilitate enrollment in the program. O’Neil said that Just Roots is trying to make the program more accessible to low income families, and they have been seeing improved health and decreased food insecurity with the program but there is a gap in research. An investigator out of Mass General helped to run a study that helped prove the Just Roots model improves health, decreases food insecurity, and saves tax dollars for the larger community.

“Together with Health Law and Policy Innovation out of Harvard we are working with the Food Is Medicine State Plan and working on really trying to change the system and build a space for food as an accessible way to build health,” said O’Neil.

Just Roots is pushing for a National HIP, or Healthy Incentives Program, model, said O’Neil, which would allow SNAP users to purchase food directly from US farmers. In Massachusetts, HIP recipients swipe their EBT cards at participating farmer vendors. The cost of the food that is purchased is immediately credited back to their cards, and that credit can be used to purchase food anywhere SNAP is accepted.

Joe Kennedy visited Four Star Farms in Northfield yesterday as part of his ongoing Jobs & Justice tour, which he launched as part of his 2020 campaign for US Senate.