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Maine committee hears bill to double state funding for hunger-relief initiative
Summary
Rep. Annie Graham presented LD415 to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, seeking an additional $1 million annually for the statewide Mainers Feeding Mainers program administered by Good Shepherd Food Bank; committee members praised the proposal but raised procurement and 'local sourcing' concerns.
Representative Annie Graham told the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry that LD415 would add $1,000,000 per year to the Statewide Hunger Relief Program administered by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
"This bill provides an additional $1,000,000 per year to the statewide hunger relief program administered by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry," Representative Annie Graham said. She said the increase would bring the State's contribution to $2,000,000 annually and that Good Shepherd Food Bank currently spends an additional $2,000,000 in donor dollars on the Mainers Feeding Mainers initiative.
Graham told the committee that Mainers Feeding Mainers connects community food pantries with local producers, including "100 farms across Maine, including fruit and vegetable growers, dairy farmers, and fishermen," and that the program moves most product directly from farms to pantries. She said the initiative aims to support local agricultural and fishing communities, provide fresh produce and seafood to pantries statewide, and increase local resilience to supply-chain disruptions.
Committee members expressed support for the program while pressing for procurement safeguards to ensure the new state dollars reach Maine producers rather than being concentrated among a few large suppliers. "My only concern is that we make sure that we spend the money on local farmers and that there's a fair ... way to solicit that food, you know, that 2 or 3 large farms don't get it all," Senator Russ Black said. He also asked that the committee consider mechanisms that prevent out-of-state product from being rehandled and presented as local.
Representative Graham said the bill is intended to aid both Mainers facing food insecurity and the farmers who supply the program. At the close of her testimony she asked the committee to prioritize LD415 and to vote "ought to pass." The committee did not take a final vote on LD415 during the public hearing portion recorded in the transcript.
Further procedural scheduling and any committee amendments or procurement language to address sourcing concerns were not specified during the testimony recorded in the transcript.
