Transcript for Expanding Local Food Production and Agriculture Education Across Maine

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

Well, you know, one of the lessons learned from the pandemic time was how dependent we are as a state and community on producers from other states and other countries for basic goods like food, textiles, and construction materials. It occurred to me that our growing season is too incredibly short for us to become as self-reliant as we should be.

And after the pandemic disrupted markets and caused food shortages nationwide, we realized it was very important to have locally grown, fresh food right here in Maine and help our local farmers. So I used federal funding through my Jobs and Recovery Plan to provide grants to farmers to buy equipment to meet that higher demand for locally grown food, and I began to look for other ways to extend our growing season here in Maine.

Well, one of the things you can do is to provide greenhouses to communities who are able to support them and help people of all ages learn how to grow their own food. I called on the Legislature to provide one-time funds through the state biennial budget to buy greenhouses for as many schools and communities as possible. That will strengthen our supply of local food and will teach kids and families to grow their own food and extend the growing season.

The Legislature funded that proposal, and I'm proud to announce that we're now awarding grants to communities across Maine to expand their local food production and education programs through durable shared-use greenhouses. These grants were awarded through a competitive process. The organizations applied for them, and they include the Alfond Youth and Community Center in Waterville, where they're going to install a greenhouse to expand local food production and youth education.

The Healthy Island Project in Stonington will use a greenhouse to increase access to fresh, locally grown food. And the Portland Community Squash will install a greenhouse to send more fresh produce home to low-income families and teach Portland Public School students how to grow their own food. Limestone Community School will install a greenhouse to expand their outdoor science program and provide students with hands on learning in nutrition, agriculture, and environmental science. And they'll run a student-run farmers market-I think that's great.

Over the past eight years, my Administration has invested more than $60 million in Maine farms and local agriculture, supporting the purchase of locally grown food, helping farmers expand their operations and equipment, strengthening our food system, and keeping Maine's farming heritage thriving.

You know, my grandparents were potato farmers in Ashland. I hope they would be proud that their granddaughter insisted that the state budget include a small amount of money for community greenhouses across the state. Sort of like the Victory Gardens of World War II and decades past, places where people of all ages can learn something about nutrition and how to grow lettuce, peppers, and parsley; where the older folks can teach the younger folks about the value of homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers and such and talk with each other in community. Where they can feel the joy of growing their own healthy food and appreciate what their neighbors are doing and appreciate their own Maine roots, the way I appreciate mine.

Dave Mallett, one of my good friends, the singer who passed away last year, used to sing a very popular song: "Inch by inch, row by row. Gonna make this garden grow. All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground."

Well, we're going to have everybody singing those songs in Maine in honor of Dave Mallett, and in honor of our agricultural heritage and the state of Maine's ability to become independent and self-reliant by community greenhouses.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.