Homestead
BDN’s Homestead section is a celebration of rural life. Our writers cover small farms, animals, DIY solutions and fascinating Maine people who find unique ways to live simply. Read more Homestead stories here.
Maine farmers who had planned their growing seasons around federal funding were caught off guard in March when the Trump administration abruptly terminated a program that helped food pantries and other hunger relief organizations buy food from them.
Five months later, the majority have banded together in a new local initiative, Farm to Neighbor, that’s trying to make up the difference. It represents 75 farms and 125 farmers.
The effort is another example of how Mainers are responding to federal cuts that shook programs across the state earlier this year. This particular program cut also came at a time when food banks are seeing growing demand amid other reductions in food benefits, and added potential instability to wholesale networks that help local agriculture expand in the state.
While organizers of the new initiative are on their way to reaching a $750,000 fundraising goal by next April to bridge the gap, and they intend to become a permanent organization, state and federal funding will still be necessary if the work is going to continue, they said.
The Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program had provided a total of $2.6 million over three years for groups to buy and distribute 500,000 pounds of Maine-grown food to more than 200 hunger relief organizations. It was set to provide $1.25 million more in Maine through 2026. A second program cancelled at the same time, Local Foods for Schools, had funded food purchasing in Maine schools.
The program also focused on buying from farmers who are considered “historically underserved” because they are new farmers, have limited resources or are part of a socially disadvantaged group, according to the USDA.
The two programs were abruptly cut in March, after the growing season started and farmers had already invested in seeds.
Mi’kmaq Farms and Fish Hatchery in Aroostook County had already purchased $10,000 of seeds when the cuts came in March, manager Mike Smith told the BDN at the time.
The farm provided free local produce and fish, but has had to start charging full price to cover the seed costs and a salaried position it created based on the promised funding, according to the campaign’s website.
New Roots Cooperative Farm in Lewiston, founded by Somali Bantu refugees, had regularly delivered familiar foods to low-income immigrant and refugee families using the funds, which it has stopped while its farmers face new economic instability.
In Hancock and Washington counties, Healthy Acadia had used the funds to contract with small blueberry growers for frozen berries and harvested fresh from fields that would otherwise have gone to waste, a program that was discontinued when the funds ran out.
These and other farms in the program hope to rebound through the fundraising, and the network is also helping some diversify their income streams. Some farms had relied on the program for up to 70 percent of their budget.
When the cuts were announced, Colleen Hanlon-Smith knew she wanted to do something, she said. She co-owns Daybreak Grower’s Alliance, which purchases and distributes food from local farmers, and runs Peak Season Maine, a wholesale distributor that focuses on sales to schools.
Within two months, most of the former recipients had formalized a new network, with Hanlon-Smith as its campaign manager.
So far, Farm to Neighbor has reached about a third of the $750,000 it aims to raise by next year. Along with individual donations, philanthropic funding and grants, local businesses have contributed through partnership programs like register round-ups and special menu items.
At New Beat Farm in Knox, which mainly sells to Daybreak, some of the losses have been made up elsewhere, but sales of certain crops have dropped, according to farmer Adrienne Lee.
Though Daybreak has been trying to buy its planned crops for other purposes, Lee expects to feel the loss more significantly over the long term.
Since the flurry of federal cuts, Mainers have donated and created their own organizations to make up the difference for various programs, including school food purchasing.
Prentice Grassi, of Villageside Farm in Freedom, thinks it’s possible the local support will continue but doesn’t know if it’s sustainable. In his view, the government should have some role in supporting programs like these that make organic produce more accessible and try to address local food insecurity.
Selling wholesale, such as to food bank buyers, instead of directly to consumers at markets or stands can also benefit farmers by saving time and labor.
“By expanding those markets, it allows young farmers to get into the market like we did 20 years ago,” Grassi said.
His 6-acre farm sells vegetables exclusively to wholesalers, including Daybreak. Grassi said it’s important to support these channels because he’s seen continued interest from people who want to start farming.
For now, local support is the only thing Farm to Neighbor can count on, but it’s advocating for restored federal funds and additional funding from the state, according to Hanlon-Smith.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, recently introduced an act to provide funding for such programs nationwide. Hanlon-Smith also hopes funding will be included in the next Farm Bill. Those federal packages set funding for agriculture programs across the country every five years, but the U.S. is two years overdue for a new one due to partisan gridlock.
“The dream is that this becomes a statewide initiative that lives on in perpetuity,” Hanlon-Smith said. But, over the long term, it can’t continue with government support.
