Food and Agriculture

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today announced two USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program grants that would benefit Maine—one to Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport to train organic dairy farmers and another to fund an Armed to Farm veteran farmer training in Maine.   “Farming is hard work and a tough business, especially when you’re just starting… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree spoke out against a bill that would require a complicated labeling scheme on foods containing GMO ingredients. The US House is taking up a bill today, recently passed by the Senate, that would allow manufacturers to place a QR code on the package of food containing GMOs. A QR code requires a smartphone and a special app to access ingredient information through a website. Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree testified before the House Agriculture Committee today to kick off the first-ever Congressional hearing focused on the problem of food waste in the United States. "When good food goes to waste on the farm, it means the resources used to grow that food—fuel, labor and water—is also wasted.  When it goes to waste in a local restaurant it means… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today welcomed news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has agreed to reevaluate the standards for foods labeled "healthy."  Pingree has been pushing the FDA to update those standards since KIND Snacks and leading nutrition and public health experts filed a Citizen Petition last December, asking FDA to reevaluate its requirements to emphasize the… Read more »

Loan program will help farmers buy refrigerated trucks, storage and processing facilities, thanks to legislation written by Pingree Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a big expansion of a loan program that will now help small farmers acquire refrigerated trucks and mobile processing and storage facilities so they can more… Read more »

After the U.S. Senate voted to block the DARK Act, an anti-GMO labeling bill, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree issued the following statement:   "The DARK Act goes against the 90% of Americans who think that food containing GMOs should be labeled and its defeat in the Senate is a win for consumers.  Now we should move forward with a reasonable bill that requires clear, simple… Read more »

Introduced by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Rep. Thomas Massie, the PRIME Act would make it easiers for small farmers and ranchers to serve consumers Today, Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act, lending Senate support for Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Chellie Pingree's (D-ME) bill… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today welcomed new federal rules that require grocery stores to keep track of the sources of ground beef and said the regulations will help track food-borne illnesses like the antibiotic-resistant salmonella outbreak linked to Hannaford Supermarkets in 2011. Pingree had pushed the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to toughen up requirements for… Read more »

(Portland, ME)  At a press event at the Portland Food Co-Op, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said she will be introducing a bill today in Congress aimed at reducing the amount of food that is wasted each year in the United States.  The Food Recovery Act includes nearly two dozen provisions to reduce food waste across the economy. "Forty percent of all food produced in the… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today applauded the EPA’s decision to withdraw its approval of Dow Chemical’s Enlist Duo, a toxic cocktail of herbicides glyphosate and 2,4-D.  “This product—and the GMO crops developed to go along with it—has raised a number of alarm bells. From the onset, I’ve had grave concerns that it would increase the amount of… Read more »