Good Shepherd Food Bank says federal cuts increase need for more state investment
One in eight Mainers face hunger, according to the Good Shepherd Food Bank. (Photo via Good Shepherd Food Bank)
Earlier this month, the leader of Maine's largest hunger relief organization told the Legislature her organization has had to provide 'more food for more people with fewer resources.'
That challenge could be even harder now that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is making cuts to food assistance programs including some used by Good Shepherd Food Bank to help the one in eight Mainers who face hunger.
Those numbers mark an increase from last year, said Good Shepherd Food Bank President Heather Paquette in her testimony before the Legislature's Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee on March 6. She was there supporting LD 415, a bill to provide an additional $1 million per year to the statewide hunger relief program administered by the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled the Local Food Purchasing Assistance program that would have provided $1.25 million to Maine over the next three years for food banks to source fresh food from local producers. That equates to 500,000 to 600,000 pounds of food Good Shepherd would have distributed to families, according to a news release from the food bank last week.
'Now that we are trying to understand the full scope of the impact of the federal food and funding freeze, it just makes state investment such as LD 415 that much more important,' said Amy Sassi, vice president of government affairs for Good Shepherd.
If passed, LD 415 would double the state's investment in Good Shepherd's Mainers Feeding Mainers program, which sources produce from local farms for food pantries across the state.
The agriculture committee is slated to discuss the bill Tuesday and decide whether this funding should be prioritized by the Legislature.
'Now, it's even more important that we help the Mainers and keep our farms alive,' said Rep. Anne Graham (D-Yarmouth), the bill's sponsor.
Pointing to the projected $450 million deficit for the next two-year budget cycle, Graham acknowledged it's hard to ask the state to spend more money. But as someone who regularly volunteers at her local food pantry, she said she anticipates an increasing number of people will need help putting food on their tables.
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