U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Jim Baird (R-Ind.) and U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) plan to reintroduce legislation to support small meat and poultry processors. The bipartisan, bicameral Strengthening Local Processing Act will diversify and make the U.S. meat processing more resilient by giving local livestock… Read more »
U.S. Senator Angus King and Representative Chellie Pingree are calling on the Biden administration to stop illegal wood imports that harm Maine’s forest products industry. In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, the Maine lawmakers highlight the importance of taking on the illegal wood trade, call attention to the slow enforcement of existing laws, and urge rapid… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) final rule, which protects integrity in the organic supply chain and builds consumer and industry trust in the USDA organic label by strengthening organic control systems, improving farm to market traceability, and providing stronger enforcement… Read more »
U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Congresswoman-elect Chellie Pingree today welcomed a $250,000 federal investment to strengthen Maine’s organic food supply chain and support independent organic producers. Awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program funding will help Apple Creek Farm LLC, an organic farm in… Read more »
Today, U.S. Senator Angus King, Chairman of the Senate National Parks Subcommittee, and Representative Jared Golden announced that their bipartisan, bicameral bill to designate a Downeast Maine National Heritage Area has passed Congress and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The legislation, which is cosponsored by Senator Susan Collins and Representative Chellie… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced $1 million in Community Project Funding to address hunger in Southern Maine. Secured as one of 15 projects submitted by Pingree in the Fiscal Year 2023 government funding bill, Preble Street will use the federal funding to support its Food Security Hub in South Portland, helping those facing hunger and homelessness. This Food… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, today celebrated final passage of the government funding bill for Fiscal Year 2023 which directs the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to dedicate $5 million to assist farmers whose land has been contaminated by PFAS or “forever chemicals”. As Chair of the… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced $20 million for solar projects in Maine’s First Congressional District, made possible through the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The projects in Gorham and South Berwick are expected to produce more than 16,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of combined electricity in their first full year of operation, and will create good… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Congressman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), and Senator Baldwin (D-Wis.) led a group of 25 Members of Congress in a push to get emergency relief for U.S. organic dairy and poultry farmers amid skyrocketing feed costs that are impacting the future viability of the industry. In their letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture… Read more »
Today, the Co-Chairs of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC)’s Climate and Agriculture Task Force, Rep. Chellie Pingree and Rep. Kim Schrier, released a report on policy recommendations for next year’s reauthorization of the Farm Bill to ensure it is as climate-friendly as possible.
“Increasingly our farmers are experiencing the impacts of… Read more »