Maine’s Congresswoman Chellie Pingree Celebrates Food Day & Unveils Local Food Bill

The Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act would expand opportunities for farmers and make it easier to access healthy, locally grown food, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D- ME) told a crowd of about 100 people Monday afternoon/morning. The group had gathered on a hillside at the Jordan’s Farm overlooking 47 acres of rolling fields in Cape Elizabeth, Maine to celebrate the inaugural Food Day

“These are simple, common-sense solutions,” she said. “It’s a way to turn around our food policy.”

The goal of the bill is to bolster local and regional food systems from farm to table. It will address the needs of farmers who produce for local markets – aggregation, process and distribution. It addresses the consumer – direct, retail and institutional markets.

Ohio’s Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is introducing a companion bill in the Senate. Both Pingree and Brown serve on their respective Agricultural Committees.

Pingree has been a good friend of Wholesome Wave. Her keynote speech at our conference last May in Washington was one of the first times that she talked publicly about her work on this bill.

Of particular interest are her proposals to expand access to healthy foods for consumers. The Brown/Pingree legislation would:

Improve access for SNAP participants to farmers markets, CSAs and other direct marketing outlets by creating a level playing field for electronic benefit transfers by treating them similarly to supermarkets.

Improve SNAP Education and Outreach by encouraging states to use farmers markets and other direct marketing outlets as a venue for education activities and providing states the discretion to include nutrition incentives as part of educational curriculum.

Increase funding for the popular Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program to $25 million a year.

Pingree expects the bill will face stiff opposition on both sides of the aisle, since funding for the proposed legislation would most likely come from cuts in subsidies that are normally earmarked for large industrial farms.

Thousands of people and organizations recognized Food Day in communities across the nation, by promoting sustainable, healthy and affordable food for everyone. Food Day 2011 was sponsored by the nonprofit watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest. The day’s honorary Co-Chairs were Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).