Food and Agriculture

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree introduced a bipartisan bill today to help schools in Maine and around the country modernize and expand their kitchens.  The bill would provide funding for schools that want to buy kitchen equipment and provide training on how to cook fresh meals from scratch.  A national survey found that 88 percent of school districts need at least one piece of… Read more »

Congresswoman Pingree says bill takes away consumers right-to-know, introduces amendment to strike theworst parts of the bill Read more »

Anti-consumer bill up for vote this week would undermine GMO labeling laws in Maine and other states Read more »

Bill will protect chicken farmers, keep Chinese poultry out of school lunches and fund key programs to help local and organic farmers Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree scored some significant wins for sustainable agriculture policy in a spending bill that won preliminary approval in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture yesterday. The bill, which funds the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, contains funding levels and other provisions that Pingree had pushed for.  She is a… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said a spending bill that won initial approval by a House committee today contains a big win for contractchicken farmers who have been punished by big chicken processors like Tyson and Perdue for speaking out. Contract farmers raise chickens for big companies, but it's actually the companies who own the birds and the farmers only get a small fee for each chicken they raise. Read more »

"There are few people who are more knowledgeable or who have made a greater impact on the growing success of organic farming in America than Eliot Coleman. He not only understands the science and techniques of organic farming better than anyone I know, he's also put that knowledge to work and proved that an organic farm on a small piece of land can thrive and be economically viable. ..." Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree took to the House floor today to speak out against an effort to repeal a law requiring imported meat to be labeled with its country of origin. Read more »

The vast majority of antibiotics are not used on people, but are fed to healthy animals to make them grow faster. This "non-therapeutic use" has been linked to an increase in antibiotic-resistant illnesses in humans. Read more »

Says DARK Act threatens to overturn GMO law in Maine and other states Read more »