Data collected by the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association show farmers have benefited from contributing to public food assistance programs over the past few years.
In August, MOFGA presented an organic farming industry report that tracks sales and demographics from 2007 to 2022. When surveyed, farmers said they worry about how climate change and an aging workforce will present challenges in the coming years.
But farms of all sizes have been able to lean on food assistance programs like WIC, SNAP and Maine Harvest Bucks as steady partners in recent years.
From 2022 to 2023, the estimated dollars paid to farmers through these four programs grew 18%, from $2,748,179 to $3,245,323, according to the report. The Mainers Feeding Mainers program provided the vast majority of revenue to farmers in both years.
MOFGA Executive Director Sarah Alexander presented the findings to farmers at the Agriculture Trade Show this week. She said recent federal cuts to those programs could impact an already unstable agriculture industry.
"When these programs are decreased, that has a big impact on Maine's farms and the profitability of Maine's farms, because these dollars are supporting our local producers and our local farmers," she said.
Changes to SNAP in “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will eliminate an estimated $187 billion in federal spending from SNAP through 2034.
SNAP is the nation's largest food-security program, with approximately 42 million individuals receiving benefits, including about 170,000 Mainers or over 12% of the state's total population.
In Maine, the average monthly SNAP benefit for a family of four is $572. Seventy-five percent of SNAP households include at least one working adult, more than half include a person with a disability and more than one-third include children.
The benefits also make up significant revenue for small, rural grocery stores and food vendors. SNAP recipients accounted for over $750,000 in sales at Maine farmers' markets in 2024 according to the Maine Federation of Farmers Markets.
"We have people that need food. We have farmers that are growing food. It's a natural match," Alexander said. "We want our local dollars and our local food that we're producing to go to those folks that need it most to feed our community."
MOFGA's report found the overall economic impact of organic agriculture in Maine reached $74 million in 2022.
