Statewide Collaborative Farm to Neighbor Maine Campaign Launches
“This campaign represents an incredible collaborative showing from Maine’s food access and farm viability leaders. The Farm to Neighbor partners have come together in a time of urgent need to stand up for our farmers and work towards our shared goal of ensuring our neighbors have access to foods grown here. We are excited to see what we can accomplish together.”
Submitted by Colleen Hanlon-Smith
Farm to Neighbor Campaign Manager colleen@peakseasonmaine.com
207-272-2128
Website: www.farm2neighbormaine.org. Instagram: @farm2neighbormaine
Release Date: May 9, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statewide Collaborative Farm to Neighbor Maine Campaign Launches
[Maine, Statewide] Two months ago, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ended the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program without warning. This funding represented $1.25M to be distributed over three years to purchase food from Maine farms and distribute to hunger relief initiatives throughout the state.
One month ago, seven groups that had previously received LFPA funding came together, with support from Peak Season Maine and Full Plates Full Potential, to imagine a collaborative campaign designed to continue to advance their shared efforts to increase access to locally grown foods.
Today, the Farm to Neighbor campaign officially launches with an invitation to the public to help purchase food from Maine farmers to feed our neighbors. To learn more about each entity and its food access work and to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit the campaign website: www.farm2neighbormaine.org.
Farm to Neighbor’s mission is to expand local food access to vulnerable people, support underserved and BIPOC farmers, and contribute to a resilient agricultural economy and community. The Farm to Neighbor distribution partners represent diverse farming community stakeholders that are committed to working collaboratively to inform a Statewide lens on equitable and culturally important local food access in Maine.
The group has set a fundraising goal of $750,000, which would allow project partners to distribute the equivalent amount of food, purchase from as many farms, and supply to as many hunger relief initiatives throughout the state as in previous years of the LFPA program.
“Forty percent of Maine’s population struggles to make ends meet. The most recent federal cuts to farm and nutrition programs means our neighbors throughout Maine are going to be in even more urgent need of access to nutritious locally-grown foods. We as farmers and food advocates are here to serve this cause and are asking for your help.”
Their goal is to raise 30% of this total during an initial two-month-long campaign period in May and June 2025. Through collaborative outreach, they seek to mobilize the public’s support to ensure this year’s crops intended for hunger relief can be purchased from farms and delivered to neighbors in need.
What are Farm to Neighbor’s plans to sustain beyond the first year?
Farm to Neighbor partners are committed to maintaining food access programming as a central tenet of each participant’s organization. Farm to Neighbor partners will also be working collaboratively on market diversification and development to ensure long-term resiliency for impacted farm partners.
The following entities will serve as the distribution partnership for this initiative: Cultivating Community, Daybreak Growers Alliance, Farms for Food Equity, Healthy Acadia, Mi’kmaq Farms, New Roots Cooperative, Somali Bantu Community Association.
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