Massachusetts

Hunger in Massachusetts is about to get worse – The Boston Globe

Published

2 months ago

December 25, 2025

Hunger in Massachusetts is about to get worse – The Boston Globe

Catherine D’Amato is president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank.

US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently threatened to withhold funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to states — including Massachusetts — that are not providing the federal government with data about the food program’s recipients. Meanwhile, new SNAP eligibility and work requirements, passed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, have gone into effect. These wide-ranging new rules require even more Americans who were previously exempt, like veterans, teens, and older Americans, to work or volunteer 20 hours per week to qualify for food assistance as well as jump through bureaucratic hoops to keep their benefits.

For The Greater Boston Food Bank and our anti-hunger partners across the state, this one-two punch presents serious new challenges in our mission to end hunger. Federal food assistance programs are under unrelenting attack. And hunger is about to get worse.

For years, food insecurity has been on the rise in Massachusetts. Even before the federal government shut down and new requirements took effect, 1 in 3 Massachusetts residents struggled to afford enough food.

These are not abstract numbers. These are our neighbors, parents, caregivers, veterans, seniors, children, and full-time workers. Too many are forced to choose between buying food and paying rent, heating bills, or medical expenses.

Those experiencing food insecurity are often hiding in plain sight. Among food insecure individuals that do not report being disabled or retired, 82 percent are working households — meaning that one or more people in the house are working, according to the food bank’s most recent Food Access Study.

SNAP is the nation’s strongest defense against hunger, providing assistance in fiscal 2024 for nearly 42 million people on average per month. For every meal provided by the emergency food system in America, SNAP provides nine more meals. It is simply impossible — for both financial and logistical reasons — for the emergency food network to absorb major cuts to this program. Yet that is exactly what we are facing.

In Massachusetts, the new federal eligibility and work requirements will cause up to 160,000 veterans, caregivers, former foster youth, older adults, and legal immigrants to lose SNAP benefits or see them significantly reduced over the next year. That represents an additional 15 percent of our neighbors across the Commonwealth losing their benefits.

These changes will roll out gradually as recipients complete their annual recertification, meaning the impact will build month after month — driving more and more people to local food pantries for help. And the new SNAP restrictions won’t happen in isolation; people will also feel pinched as Affordable Care Act health care subsidies expire and new Medicaid cuts take effect.

Addressing this urgent societal issue and the immense gaps that will be left in the wake of the SNAP cuts requires action — both collective and individual.

The Healey administration has continued the state’s strong commitment to addressing food insecurity. Its anti-hunger task force will soon offer recommendations on how to mitigate the impacts of SNAP cuts. It is critical that the Commonwealth increases its investment in the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, which allows the state’s food banks to purchase and supply healthy food to local pantries.

Individually, every one of us can help by volunteering, advocating for policies that strengthen the state’s social security network, or donating to hunger-relief organizations. Join the mission to end hunger.

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Massachusetts

How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?

Published

10 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?

With a widening conflict in the Middle East after the American and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday, global markets are bracing for a shakeup in the energy supply chain.

So, here at home, what can consumers expect at the gas pump?

An increase in oil prices is almost always followed by an increase in gas prices. And the oil market has already reacted to the war. NBC News reported on Sunday that U.S. crude oil initially spiked more than 10%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as much as 13%.

Early Monday morning, reports were coming in of black smoke rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.

While Iran’s oil reserves supply less than an estimated 5% of global production, the main concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This maritime passageway borders Iran at the bottleneck of the Persian Gulf, and more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. If Iran closes or restricts Hormuz, the oil market could face severe disruptions.

Gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every dollar increase in crude oil prices. As of Sunday, U.S. crude oil prices had already increased by nearly $5 a barrel.

“I fully expect that by Monday night, you could credibly say that gas prices are being impacted by oil prices having gone up,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told NBC News.

GasBuddy characterizes their expectations for price increases as “incremental” rather than “explosive”. The group said to anticipate a potential 10-15 cent increase over the next couple of weeks.

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Massachusetts

Body camera video shows Massachusetts police officer save 78-year-old man from burning truck – East Idaho News

Published

22 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Body camera video shows Massachusetts police officer save 78-year-old man from burning truck – East Idaho News

EASTON, Mass. (WBZ) — Police body camera video shows an Easton, Massachusetts, officer rescuing a 78-year-old Raynham man from a burning car on Friday morning.

A Mack dump truck was experiencing problems on the side of Turnpike Street just after 2 a.m. when a Ford pickup truck struck the back of it, according to police.

The pickup truck then became stuck under the dump truck, trapping the driver, Francis Leverone, inside. A Toyota Camry then hit the back of the pickup truck and caught fire, police said.

Easton police officer Dean Soucie arrived at the crash and saw that the two vehicles were on fire. Video shows Soucie rushing over before breaking the driver’s side window and then, with the help of the two witnesses, freeing Leverone from the pickup truck. Soucie said he was confused but conscious.

“As I reached inside the vehicle, one of the passersby — he actually jumped into the cab of the truck, and he helped me free the individual,” Soucie said.

They then carried the driver to safety.

Leverone was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a Boston hospital. He received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

No one else was injured in the crash.

Dee Leverone told WBZ her husband is doing OK. “I’m just thankful for the people that got him out,” she said. “Very thankful.”

After watching the police body-cam video on the news she said, “I was shocked, I was like ‘Oh my God!’ I just couldn’t believe it. His truck is like melted.”

She says she realized that something was wrong last night when her husband never made it home from work.

“I kept trying to call him and call him, and I finally got a hold of him at like 4:30 a.m., and he was at (Good Samaritan Hospital) and he told me he’s gotten in an accident,” Dee said.

She says he’s recovering at the Boston Medical Center and being treated for a dislocated hip.

“He’s a trooper,” Dee said. “He’s a strong man — and you know he’s 78, but you know he’s a toughie. He definitely is a toughie.”

Soucie commended the help of the two witnesses and said that before he arrived at the crash, they had attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and removed a gasoline tank from the pickup truck before it could ignite.

“They jumped into action like it was nothing,” Soucie said. “Those two individuals were absolutely awesome.”

Easton Police Chief Keith Boone said that he is “extremely proud” of Soucie and the witnesses.

“He saved a life last night,” Chief Boone said. “He is an exemplary police officer and this is just one example. I think he’s a hero.”

Turnpike Street was closed for several hours following the crash. Easton Police are investigating.