Food and Agriculture

Food stamps cut, subsidy reforms fall short, but local food provisions survive Congresswoman Chellie Pingree voted against the Farm Bill today, saying the bill cuts food stamps for the neediest families, doesn't do enough to create real reform to crop subsidy programs and creates loopholes that guarantee income for big agri-businesses. The final version of the bill passed by the House… Read more »

Pingree, farmers argued that smaller growers would have been be forced out of business Federal regulators made a major announcement today about new food safety rules, withdrawing proposed regulations that Congresswoman Chellie Pingree had said would threaten small farmers around the country. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said they would spend the winter making "significant… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree joined thirteen other bipartisan members of the House of Representatives today to call on their colleagues to ensure unsafe chicken from China does not make its way to US shelves. Their letter asks that the 2014 Agriculture Department (USDA) funding bill ensure Chinese-processed chicken is kept out of the school lunch and other child nutrition programs. It… Read more »

Pingree supports legislation that cracks down on the use of drugs in feed Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said today she's glad the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is beginning to regulate the use of human antibiotics in animal feed, but says the rules need to be much tougher. Today the FDA proposed two new regulations that are aimed to limit the use of those drugs on… Read more »

Funds will help Maine schools overcome barriers to purchasing food locally Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced today that Healthy Communities of the Capital Area in Kennebec County will receive a $100,000 Farm to School grant from the USDA. “Maine schools today want to buy more food locally, but there aren’t many systems in place to help them do it easily. This… Read more »

Comments were to end today, Congresswoman Pingree urged delay because of website problems Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to her request to extend the comment period for new proposed food safety rules that could have a big impact on small and medium sized farms. The comment period had been scheduled to close today, but… Read more »

Congress takes up reauthorization of major farm programs that expired October 1 As Congress debates measures that will end the government shutdown, the House and Senate are also negotiating a Farm Bill--a major piece of legislation that would set the nation's farm policy for the next five years. The current Farm Bill expired on October 1st and House and Senate negotiators will be… Read more »