Action Alert: Support HIP Because #ItsHIP2BeHealthy

Why We Need You to Support HIP Now

The Massachusetts legislature is currently setting its budget priorities for the 2019 FY budget. We’re asking the legislature to include $6.2 million in the budget to support HIP for FY2019. Your legislators need to hear from you about the importance of HIP. Legislators have until this Friday, January 19, to sign on to a letter to the House Committee on Ways and Means, so we need you to ACT NOW!

Action Alert: Support HIP – Healthy Incentives Program

It’s not often we get to report on incredibly awesome news, but the recent reports on HIP outcomes definitely qualifies! Introduced in April 2017, HIP – the Healthy Incentives Program – has exceeded all expectations and delivered outstanding results. The program provides a 100 percent incentive – a dollar-for-dollar match – for each SNAP dollar spent on targeted fruits and vegetables purchased at farmers markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs statewide. Here are just a few of the most impressive statistics about the utilization of HIP:

35,400 SNAP families participated in the program’s first season
They purchased almost $3 million in healthy, local produce
62,200 individuals added at least one serving of fruits or vegetables to their daily diet
200 local farms sold almost $3 million more in 2017 than in 2016
SNAP sales at local farm retailers increased by nearly 600%
The increase in sales helps produce 22-48 new jobs in the agricultural sector

In other words, HIP is a win-win-win for families, farms and the community.

What You Can Do to Support HIP

1. Call your legislators. You can find your representatives here.
  1. Ask them to sign on to a letter urging that the House Committee on Ways and Means include $6.2 million in their Fiscal Year 2019 budget request by contacting Carolyn Cismondi in Representative Donahue’s office at Carolyn.Cismondi@mahouse.gov.
  2. Ask them to include HIP as a priority in their top three priorities when they meet with the Committee to discuss the upcoming budget.
  3. Tell them WHY funding HIP is important to you. Personal stories help them understand the need on a personal level – and give them ammunition to use when fighting for HIP funding.

1. Help spread the word! Tell your friends and family and get them to call, too.
  1. Download our Hip to Be Healthy badge and share it on social media.
    1. Right-click on the badge above.
    2. Choose Save Image as… in the dropdown menu.
    3. Save the file where you can find it again.
    4. Share it on Twitter or make it your FB profile picture.
2. Take a selfie!
  1. Download and print our selfie sign
  2. Add your story.
  3. Take a selfie!
  4. Share with the hash tag #itsHIP2BeHealthy
  5. Bonus points: Tag or @mention your legislators! Progressive Massachusetts has an awesome social media contact list you can use to find Twitter handles and official FB pages for the Massachusetts delegation.