From school lunches to farm fields, federal actions are harming Mainers
By Sarah Alexander and Justin Strasburger
There is no doubt that just two months into the new administration, decisions made from a distance in Washington, D.C., are affecting our way of life in Maine. From the uncertainty created by funding and staffing cuts, to market instability due to tariffs, our farmers and schoolchildren are feeling the impacts of these federal actions. While Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, and Rep. Chellie Pingree sent official letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maine’s congressional delegation must do more to restore funding on behalf of Maine farmers and schoolchildren.
Although only 1 percent of the USDA budget supports programs that directly help farmers improve farm management practices, increase yields and improve availability of local foods, the benefits to farmers and their communities are outsized. Additionally, the Department of Education’s Local Food for Schools program provides funding for K-12 schools to purchase healthy, locally produced foods, improving children’s access to healthy food choices, while supporting local farmers.
Our organizations work directly with farmers and schools, and have seen firsthand how these distant federal actions are directly affecting everyday Mainers.
The Local Food for Schools program in Maine has been cut by $2.8 million in 2025, with nearly $2.5 million going directly to K-12 schools. This funding has been instrumental in getting Maine-produced foods into secondary schools in underserved areas such as hard-to-reach towns in rural Maine, thereby supporting both healthy food access and farmers. Caitlin Frame and Andy Smith of The Milkhouse Farm & Creamery in Monmouth currently supply eight school districts with their farm’s yogurt, providing nutritious options for hundreds of Maine children every day. They were planning to reach more school districts this year, but given funding and program cuts, they likely will not have the opportunity.
Todd Chretien from Fair Share Farm in Wayne grows MOFGA-certified organic vegetables and was planning to expand his markets this year from farmers markets and community supported agriculture customers, to public schools. However, the recent federal actions may prevent Chretien from seeing his fresh fruits and vegetables on cafeteria trays. Waiting on grant funding to come through is a gamble given both the timing of the growing season and the fact that farmers are expected to pay for projects upfront and wait for reimbursement. If the funding doesn’t come through for Chreiten, he would be left paying $20,000 in extra expenses this year, which is not an option for his small-scale farm. He’ll likely be forced to put a hold on expanding production this year until there’s a clear answer for how to move forward.
Referred to as “The People’s Department” by Abraham Lincoln after its establishment in 1862, the USDA has had a long history of supporting farmers through a variety of timely and relevant programs, knowledgeable technical assistance providers, and innovative research. Until recently, the operations of the USDA had reflected the reality that all Americans are directly affected by, and benefit from, farming.
Janelle Plummer of New Spoke Farm in West Paris said it best at a farmer press conference in late February: “Taking these funding opportunities away from farmers, breaking existing contracts with farmers — it affects all of us. In the same way that food starts in a farmer’s field and ends on your plate, the repercussions of these political decisions will ripple out into all of our communities. The effect of this doesn’t end on my farm, it only begins there.”
While in recent days some funds have been unfrozen and some staff have been temporarily reinstated, that doesn’t reflect what we’re hearing and seeing on the ground, and the long-term impacts of these actions on our farmers and communities are yet unknown. We encourage Maine’s congressional delegation to advocate for farmers and schoolchildren by quickly reinstating programs that have been cut.
Alexander is the executive director at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. Strasburger is the executive director at Full Plates Full Potential.