The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing up to $1.5 billion to states and school districts to help school meal program providers address supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Maine's Department of Education will receive more than $5.5 million of the funding to support school lunch programs around the state.
Nearly $4 million dollars will be supply chain assistance for schools to purchase minimally processed domestic foods like fruit, milk, cheese, vegetables and ground meat. The state can also make bulk purchases of local foods and give them to schools for their meal programs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will also buy domestically grown and produced food through its vendors and distribute it to states to help offset impacts to their normal supply chains. Maine will be able to order USDA foods in the coming weeks.