A pilot program in Massachusetts connects small farmers and producers with the legal services they need to get their businesses off the ground.

“Clearly, there’s a robust movement afoot to sustain New England’s communities with locally grown food, [and] legal services are necessary for any small business,” says Elena Mihaly, legal fellow and attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation and coordinator of the Legal Services Food Hub. “What we were finding was that a lot of farmers or food entrepreneurs were not involving an attorney in the beginning of their business, which could hurt the way they set up their business and establish the wrong foundation.”

The Legal Hub, which is operating in Massachusetts its first year but will then expand to other New England states, is unusual in that it is completely free for eligible producers, Mihaly says. Eligible clients include farmers producing food for human consumption, food entrepreneurs like Oliveira, or organizations such as food-related nonprofits. To be eligible for legal services, businesses must be just starting out or still be very small, earning less than $75,000 a year in gross income.