Maine restaurant owners, farmers and fishmongers said climate change is creating serious challenges for their businesses at a roundtable held with policymakers in Portland on Friday.
Chef Jordan Rubin owns three restaurants and employs 100 people. He said extreme weather and flooding has closed businesses on the waterfront, some species of fish are no longer available because of the warming Gulf of Maine, and the cost of goods is going up.
“Our profit margins are pretty small in the restaurant industry. We try really hard to keep prices down but when costs increase quickly and in large amounts, we have no choice but to raise prices on the menu,” Rubin said.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree attended the roundtable organized by The James Beard Foundation. She said disagreements over conservation programs in the farm bill, which is under negotiation in Washington, are holding up progress.
“Programs that we have set up, there’s $20 billion in funding that goes to rural communities that really supports climate friendly agriculture. I know chefs here are interested in this as well as food growers. That’s one of the things that’s a big sticking point between Democrats and Republicans,” Pingree said.
Pingree said chefs have been coming to Washington to lobby members of Congress to continue to support funding for the climate friendly agriculture programs.
Seth Kroeck owns Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick, where he grows organic carrots, Brussels sprouts and wild blueberries. He said more intense rain events with stronger winds are injuring plants, and late frosts in 2020 and 2023 killed his entire blueberry crop.
“I think the public is blissfully unaware about how serious this issue is for food production,” Kroeck said. “Every farmer I know is really worried about continuing to grow strong healthy crops and make a living doing it. And when you throw in another risk factor, which is huge swings in weather it really impacts us.”
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
