Press Releases

In an op-ed published in The Hill today, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) lays out a practical, bipartisan path to working with the Trump Administration on its “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda. Pingree, a longtime farmer and advocate for sustainable agriculture, local food systems, and nutrition access, says she is ready to work across the aisle to make MAHA more than just a slogan, highlighting areas for possible collaboration—like expanding produce prescription programs, addressing concerning food additives, and reducing health care costs through better agriculture policy.

“If President-elect Trump and his administration are serious about improving the health of America, we have a real opportunity to bring about transformative changes—and remind the American people what’s possible when Republicans and Democrats work together in a truly bipartisan fashion,” Pingree writes. “But if all the talk about taking on Big Ag and getting serious about chronic disease turns out to be a bunch of bluster, and the only health policies the administration tries to advance are Medicaid cuts and making it even harder for American families to put food on the table, it will sadly be a wasted opportunity.”

Read the full op-ed here. 

Pingree is Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee and also serves on the House Appropriations Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Subcommittee. As co-founder of the bipartisan Food is Medicine Working Group, Pingree has made fighting hunger, reducing food waste, and expanding access to healthy and local food top priorities. 

In the 2018 Farm Bill, Pingree helped to create the Produce Prescription Pilot Program at USDA under the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program. Through her work on the Appropriations Committee, Pingree has also established produce prescription pilot programs at Indian Health Service and the Veterans Health Administration.

The 2018 Farm Bill also included Pingree’s provisions to create the first full-time food loss and waste reduction liaison at USDA, a composting and food waste reduction pilot program, and the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) to enhance market access for local producers.

Pingree led the Kids Eat Local Act to support local and regional food systems and encourage healthy meal choices among school-aged children. In 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new school meal standards to promote the health of America’s children. Notably, the new standards allow schools to require fresh foods to be locally grown, raised, or caught when making purchases for school meals.

She has also written several bills to reduce food waste and address hunger, including the Food Date Labeling Act to ensure Americans do not feel it is necessary to throw out safe, consumable food, and the School Food Recovery Act to support school projects to prevent food waste. Pingree also cosponsors the Universal School Meals Program Act, which would permanently provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack to all school children regardless of income, eliminate school meal debt, and strengthen local economies by incentivizing local food procurement.

###