Mayor Wu, Mass General Brigham, and the YMCA of Greater Boston Announce New Cold-Storage Infrastructure and Food Hub

Today, Mayor Michelle Wu, Mass General Brigham, and the YMCA of Greater Boston announced a partnership to develop a collaborative food storage and distribution hub. This space will be shared by organizations that distribute food throughout Boston with the YMCA of Greater Boston as the lead organization. This is a unique collaboration among a major healthcare institution, a community-focused nonprofit, and City government, working together to tackle food insecurity and coordinating with a host of other collaborators to benefit from existing expertise and infrastructure. The collaborative hub will allow more fresh, refrigerated food to reach food pantries, soup kitchens, and other food distribution sites throughout Boston, particularly in neighborhoods with the highest rates of food insecurity. 

The City of Boston redirected $2 million in ARPA funds towards supporting a collaborative food storage and distribution hub. Mass General Brigham has committed $3 million to the project through its Community Health Impact Funds, guided by the 2022 Boston Community Health Needs Assessment. Access to refrigeration and storage will allow food that has been recovered from grocers, farms, and other establishments to remain fresh and healthy for residents. As food prices continue to soar, the need for storage, particularly cold storage, is critical to increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Refrigeration is a key roadblock to increasing access to rescued food for Boston residents in a way that extends shelf life and supports the livelihoods of Massachusetts farmers. Additionally $500,000 was awarded to 12 groups to expand refrigeration and freezer space to ensure food is fresh, safe, and available to Boston residents.

“This partnership represents a powerful step forward in our fight against food insecurity,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “By investing in cold-storage infrastructure and collaborative solutions, we’re building a stronger food system so every Boston resident has access to fresh, healthy, and culturally relevant food. With the support of Mass General Brigham, the YMCA of Greater Boston, and more incredible community partners, we are creating a sustainable model that connects surplus food to those who need it most while supporting local farmers and reducing waste. This is a victory for Boston families, our environment, and our shared future.”

"Mass General Brigham’s investment reflects our commitment to improving equitable access to nutritious foods and promoting nutrition security, leading to better health outcomes,” said Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, Chief Community Health and Health Equity Officer for Mass General Brigham. "With hunger identified as a key health priority in the latest Boston-area Community Health Needs Assessments, our Community Advisory Board acted quickly, voting unanimously to seize this impactful opportunity. We are proud to partner with the Y and the City of Boston to support nutrition security, drive systemic change in food storage and delivery, and support local farmers and businesses."

“This new collaborative food storage and distribution hub represents a significant step forward in addressing food insecurity across Boston and we are so grateful to the City and MGB for their visionary lead funding,” said YMCA of Greater Boston President and CEO David Shapiro. “This hub will serve as the new home for our distribution efforts as the largest partner of the Greater Boston Food Bank, resulting in more than 3.5 million meals annually, supported also by our mobile food van and robust nutrition education programming. Building off these efforts, this new location will also serve as a hub for key organizations who lead the way on food waste reduction, recovery, and fresh food distribution. Through expansive collaboration to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and possibility, we seek to greatly increase access to fresh, healthy, culturally relevant foods for all."

The collaborative hub includes the YMCA of Greater Boston as the backbone organization and seven other partner food access organizations. It is located in Roxbury in a 27,000-square-foot warehouse, formerly an Amazon fulfillment center, with 5,500 square feet of state-of-the-art refrigeration and freezer space. The Office of Food Justice (OFJ) recently completed a food recovery assessment, with recommendations for citywide action to ensure fresh food does not go to waste. Input from various stakeholder shaped recommendations for interventions the City can pursue to boost food recovery and improve the redistribution of surplus foods. This storage and distribution site acts on key recommendations that are included in the report. 

OFJ has also awarded 12 grants to support the storage and distribution of perishable food, including recovered and donated food to emergency food, food access, and food recovery organizations. The grants, totaling $500,000, support strategies that expand refrigeration and freezer space to ensure food is fresh, safe, and available to residents. The investment will help the broader ecosystem connect nutritious foods to the 43% of Boston households experiencing food insecurity. 

“This collaborative hub is a game-changer for addressing food insecurity in our city,” said Boston City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata. “I’m grateful to have been able to support this project by approving the reallocation of ARPA funding to make this vision a reality. By investing in cold storage and bringing together partners committed to food justice, we are ensuring that fresh, healthy food is accessible to families across Boston, especially in neighborhoods most impacted by food insecurity. This initiative not only strengthens our emergency food network but also reflects our shared values of equity, sustainability, and community collaboration.”

The emergency food system in Boston has faced unprecedented demand during the pandemic and remains strained today. The City of Boston, the YMCA of Greater Boston, the Greater Boston Food Bank, other public and private entities, and dozens of other nonprofits, restaurants and community partners played a key role in meeting the emergent food security needs of marginalized residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. This patchwork of emergency food distribution channels that distribute food to hundreds of sites across the City expanded over the last several years and are now having difficulty meeting their needs, particularly securing ample storage space and refrigeration/freezer space.

“This initiative exemplifies the intersection of environmental sustainability and social equity,” said Brian Swett, Chief Climate Officer and Chief of the Environment, Energy and Open Space Cabinet. “By expanding cold storage infrastructure and supporting food recovery efforts, we are reducing food waste, lowering emissions, and ensuring that fresh, nutritious food reaches every corner of our city. The collaborative hub is a model for how Boston can tackle food insecurity and climate challenges simultaneously, creating a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable food system for all.”

Since March 2023, OFJ worked with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) through the Food Matters Initiative, to develop strategies to reduce food waste, with a focus on recovering food that is safe, fresh and healthy for residents to eat. Estimates calculated by NRDC in 2023 found that Boston has 130,000 tons of food waste and over 1,100 tons of food per year that could be additionally recovered with interventions pursued by the City and other sectors. Spurred on by a peer learning opportunity through NRDC, Bloomberg, and C40, a new food hub model in Milan, Italy serves as a guide for the new collaborative food distribution hub.

About Mass General Brigham

Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. 

ABOUT THE YMCA OF GREATER BOSTON 

The YMCA of Greater Boston, one of Massachusetts leading nonprofits and America’s first Y, is dedicated to enhancing the mind, body, and spirit of individuals and families in our communities. For more than 170 years, the Y has been developing skills and emotional well-being through education and training, welcoming and connecting diverse populations, preventing chronic disease and building healthier communities. We provide welcoming, belonging, and opportunity for all. For more information visit Home - YMCA of Greater Boston (ymcaboston.org), or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.