SNAP on Cape Cod: Find Food Assistance, Learn How You Can Help
Find updates, resources, and ways to stay connected to food access programs across the Cape. This information was updated Thursday, November 13th, 2025.
Table of Contents
- What’s Going On With SNAP and HIP
- Find Food on Cape Cod
- Transportation Help for Food Access
- How You Can Help
- Easy, Budget-Friendly Recipes and Cooking Videos
- Need Help with SNAP or HIP?
- For Service Providers & Community Partners
- Stay Updated
What’s Going On
SNAP benefits have now been fully reinstated, and most households should see their funds deposited on their normal schedule. If you haven’t received your benefit by your regular issuance date, contact DTA directly or visit the Massachusetts DTA SNAP Updates page for the latest guidance.
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension is helping residents stay informed with current SNAP/HIP updates, local food resources, and tools to stretch grocery dollars.
For statewide updates, visit the Massachusetts DTA SNAP Updates page.
The Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) continues to operate normally.
Households can earn HIP rewards when using SNAP at participating farmers’ markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and CSAs—even if their SNAP balance is low.
How HIP Helps
HIP, the Healthy Incentives Program, continues to run as usual.
Even if SNAP benefits are delayed, any remaining balance on an EBT card can still be used at farms and farmers markets that accept HIP.
If you use SNAP and HIP to buy local fruits and vegetables on Cape Cod, you can now:
- Make a purchase at a HIP farm stand, CSA, or farmers market.
- Get your remaining HIP balance back in one transaction — no more swiping multiple times.
- Use those added HIP funds to shop at HIP vendors for fruits and veggies.
📄 Download the HIP Explainer Flyer (PDF): HIP-Explainer.pdf
💡 Example: If your monthly HIP cap is $40 and you’ve already used $10, your next HIP purchase will add back up to $30 — even if you only have a penny left on your EBT card.
🌾 Find HIP farms and markets near you: www.DTAFinder.com
For more updates on HIP, visit the Massachusetts DTA HIP updates page.
🎥 Watch: How to Use HIP at a Cape Cod Farm
This short video shows how the Healthy Incentives Program works in real life, helping shoppers earn HIP rebates when they buy local fruits and vegetables with their SNAP benefits.
▶️ Watch on YouTube
Find Food on Cape Cod
If you need food right now, there are many pantries and meal sites across the Cape that can help.
The Cape Cod Food Resource Guide lists local food pantries, community fridges, and meal programs open to everyone.
📘 Download: Food Resource Guide
📘 Klike la a pou telechaje Gid Resous Manje a.
You can also explore more food access information at capecod.gov/foodaccess.
Transportation Help for Food Access
Need help getting to or from a food pantry, meal site, or community fridge?
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and our Food Access Coordinator, Andrea Scarpellini, are helping connect residents with transportation options and, in some cases, direct food deliveries.
If you or someone you know needs help, please fill out the Transportation Request Form below.
Your information will go directly to Andrea, who is coordinating transportation and deliveries across Cape Cod.
Please note: We are receiving a high number of requests. Andrea or a member of our team will contact you as soon as possible.
📋 Click Here to Fill out the Form
🔸 You’ll be asked to provide your name, phone number, and (if available) an email address.
If you don’t have an email, that’s okay — a phone number is enough for us to reach you. Click here to email Andrea with any questions.
How You Can Help
If you’re looking for ways to help your neighbors, donating to local food pantries is one of the most effective ways to make a difference.
💵 The best way to help: Most food pantries prefer monetary donations rather than bags of food. This allows them to buy fresh produce, milk, eggs, and other essentials at a lower cost and meet the exact needs of families they serve.
🥫 If you do donate food:
- Check expiration dates.
- Choose easy-to-use items that don’t require extra ingredients, like canned soups, peanut butter, or ready-to-eat meals.
- Avoid items that need milk, butter, or other additions (like boxed macaroni and cheese) since those can be hard for pantries to distribute.
📍 Find your local pantry:
Use the Cape Cod Food Resource Guide to locate a nearby food pantry or meal site. Each listing includes contact details so you can call or visit their website to ask how to donate or volunteer.
Your support keeps Cape Cod’s local food network strong and ensures families across the region have access to healthy, reliable food.
Easy, Budget-Friendly Recipes
Looking for simple, healthy meals that make the most of what you have?
Our Nutrition team and partners have gathered a variety of easy recipes and cooking videos that use affordable, everyday ingredients and require minimal tools or time.
📘 Cook Well, Eat Well, Live Well Cookbook (PDF)
Developed by Cape Cod Cooperative Extension’s Nutrition team, this cookbook features practical, balanced recipes made with pantry staples and seasonal produce.
🌎 Materiais em Português (PDF)
Selected Portuguese-language recipes and nutrition materials from the Cook Well, Eat Well, Live Well cookbook.
🍎 UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program Recipes
Quick, balanced meal ideas from UMass Extension’s statewide nutrition team.
🥣 Mealtime.org Recipe Index
A collection of nutritious, family-friendly recipes designed to fit a variety of budgets.
Watch the Pantry to Plate Video Series
Our Pantry to Plate videos highlight how to prepare local produce and pantry staples in quick, easy ways using common kitchen tools.
🎥 Watch on YouTube:
- Pantry to Plate: Local Fall Vegetables, 3 Ways
- Pantry to Plate: Butternut Squash — Microwave, Roast, and Eat the Seeds
- Pantry to Plate: Sweet Potatoes, 3 Ways
- Pantry to Plate: Kale, 3 Ways
✅ Tip: Use what you have on hand — these recipes are flexible and work with fresh, frozen, or canned produce.
Need Help with SNAP or HIP?
If you have questions about your SNAP benefits or EBT card, contact the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA).
You can also contact your local food pantry directly for support or visit capecod.gov/foodaccess for updated regional resources.
For Service Providers & Community Partners
If you work with the public — in a library, town office, school, food pantry, or community organization — you play an essential role in helping residents access food assistance resources.
To make it easier to share accurate and up-to-date information, Barnstable County’s Cape Cod Cooperative Extension has created printable flyers that connect residents directly to the food access information featured on this site — including the Cape Cod Food Resource Guide and Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) information.
Each flyer includes a large QR code linking to food access tools, SNAP/HIP updates, meal sites, and donation opportunities. Flyers are available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese for printing and posting in your location.
📄 English Flyers
- Food Resource Guide Flyer (PDF)
Directs residents to the Cape Cod Food Resource Guide — a searchable list of food pantries, meal sites, and community fridges across the region. - Food Finder Website Flyer (PDF)
Highlights this Food Finder website, which includes SNAP and HIP updates, transportation information, donation opportunities, and recipes. - HIP Explainer Flyer (PDF)
Provides a simple overview of how to keep SNAP balances active and get the most from the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP).
📄 Spanish Flyers
📄 Portuguese Flyers
Stay Updated
We’ll continue to update this page as more information becomes available from the state.
Follow Cape Cod Cooperative Extension on Facebook and Instagram for new resources, food access updates, and cooking videos.
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Working for You
Learn more about all our programs at capecod.gov/extension.
