Boston Council Questions $204,000 Cut to Food Justice Office in FY27 Budget Hearing

BOSTON — April 22, 2026 — Boston City Council questions cuts to food justice and climate budgets in FY27 hearing. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Councilor Benjamin J. Weber, heard Wednesday from Chief Climate Officer Brian Sweat, Environment Commissioner Oliver Sellers-Garcia, Office of Climate Resilience Director Chris Osgood, and Office of Food Justice Director Eliza Wasserman. The Environment Department's proposed budget reflects a 2.1 percent reduction achieved largely by shifting Berto-related contract costs to the Pollution Abatement revolving fund for one year, while a utility account reclassification is projected to save $2.3 million in FY27. The sharpest exchanges concerned a $204,000 cut to Office of Food Justice contracted services — representing roughly 25 percent of that office's discretionary spending — at a time when SNAP enrollment is falling and a federal Double Up Food Bucks grant expires in June; public commenter Alex Taubman, program director for food security at ABCD, called the cut a threat to farmers market coupons that distributed nearly $420,000 in free food to low-income residents last year.