Food insecurity is rising in Massachusetts while assistance programs are falling short, according to the latest annual report from the Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham.

The sixth annual Massachusetts Food Access Report finds that a record 40% of Massachusetts households experienced food insecurity during 2025. According to the authors, that equates to 1.1 million households across the Bay State.

Additionally, the report finds that 25% of households report regularly missing meals or going hungry.

Their conclusions are based on a survey of more than 3,000 adults across the state. The authors said the survey was conducted from October through December in three languages.

“Our results are sobering: more people are struggling, and while they report accessing food and nutrition assistance programs like food pantries, SNAP, and WIC, they also say these programs are not enough. Every population—from families with young children to seniors—is struggling to afford food,” Dr. Lauren Fiechtner, who advised the research, wrote in a statement.

Affordability remains a key challenge, with 88% of food-insecure households reporting difficulty paying for at least one basic expense and needing an average of $500 more per month to meet basic needs, according to the report.

The report found 75% of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants said they still need additional food support, while 78% receive less than $300 per month in benefits, according to the report. Meanwhile, the authors state that charities are playing an “increasingly essential role,” serving more than half of the state’s food-insecure households.

“The call to action is clear: we must continue to invest in our emergency food system to meet this urgent and growing demand. And we must work together on implementing long-term solutions to poverty to empower everyone to live better, healthier, and more productive lives,” the Greater Boston Food Bank’s outgoing CEO, Catherine D’Amato, wrote in a statement.

Among the recommendations included in the report are calls to increase state funding for nutrition programs, strengthen food insecurity screenings through the health care system, investments in local food systems and legislative changes to address societal issues that contribute to hunger, including income and housing inadequacy.

WCVB partners with the GBFB for an annual day of giving.

The increasing gas prices are having an impact on landscaping businesses in Massachusetts, and it may mean customers have to pay more.

Gas prices continue to climb across the country, and the average price of a gallon of regular in Massachusetts was $3.93 on Monday, according to AAA. That is up 13 cents from last week and 78 cents from one month ago.

It’s an extremely busy time for landscapers. Spring cleaning is underway, which means lawnmowers, blowers, weedwhackers and trimmers are in overdrive. Andrew Pecorella runs his own landscaping business serving areas like Natick, Framingham, Brookline and Newton. He says the increasing cost of gas prices is impacting the industry.

“Everybody wants their properties looking well so if it has to go up, then my prices are going to have to go up a little bit,” Pecorella said.

He uses diesel for his truck and premium fuel for his landscaping equipment. He goes to the pump every day to fill up. He’s noticed a big increase since last spring, which is why he has to charge his customers more.

“Mostly been saying to them that prices are going to have go up a little bit, mainly because of my cost of fuel and cost of materials,” Pecorella said. “Because the materials have to get to the yard and that costs more money for them to ship it to the yard and make the mulch and make all the products. It costs money. It costs fuel.”

He says fuel, materials and equipment costs are making it challenging, which is why he’s cutting it close to make sure he’s being fair to his customers and also being business savvy. He says if he has to drive further, it will cost more.

He’s been in the landscaping business since 2010 and started his own business in 2018. He says he loves his job even when it’s hard to predict how much things will cost each year.

“It’s just one step at a time, do the best that you can, and try to make sure all your customers are happy,” Pecorella said. 

WORCESTER, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A potentially rabid fox attacked a woman in Worcester, Massachusetts Friday in an incident that was captured on video.

It happened at about 7 a.m. on Esther Street. Video shows the fox running at the victim repeatedly while she tries to fight it off.

Witness Dahnyel Swenson said she saw the victim “running up the stairs, hitting it with the pocketbook, screaming” and she “got pinned against her home trying to fight this medium-sized fox.”

The fox then dragged the woman to the ground.

“It lunged at her so fast … she didn’t know which way to go,” said Swenson, who lives across the street and said she had just warned the victim about a recent fox sighting in the area.

Swenson said she noticed that the victim pinned the fox to the ground, so she and her daughter rushed to help. Swenson’s daughter managed to trap the fox with a green recycling bucket until the first responders arrived.

“There’s a hole in the bucket, so I had to get a rake because it’s viscous, it’s trying to come through the hole,” Swenson said.

Swenson grabbed a rake and a green recycling bucket, and her daughter managed to trap it under the bucket until first responders arrived.

The victim was hospitalized because the bites to her ankle and both hands drew blood, police said. Swenson said her daughter also went to the hospital because she had gotten blood on her during the incident.

“We’re taking all the precautions. Now she’s going through all the rabies shots series for the next week,” Swenson said.

The animal was euthanized, and its remains have been sent to a Webster Square Animal Clinic for rabies testing.

Worcester police said that hours earlier, someone reported that a fox tried to bite them near Gibbs Street. An animal control unit responded, but didn’t find the fox.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.