LIVERMORE FALLS, Maine — Hunger is a problem in our state.
One in five children doesn't know where their next meal is coming from. That's according to the Good Shepherd Food Bank which has a program that works to combat that.
Mainers Feeding Mainers supplies fresh, healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables to people in need. Funding for that program, however, runs out next week.
Not only could impact the Mainers who depend on that produce but the farmers who sell it, too.
"Our livelihood is to provide for people," said Joel Gilbert, co-owner of Berry Fruit Farm. "When my mission is fulfilled like that when somebody who's in need can get a piece of fruit from this farm it makes me feel like what we've set out to do has been accomplished."
The apples that are grown at Gilbert's family farm in Livermore Falls go a long way. To date, Good Shepherd Food Bank has purchased 200,000 apples and packs of applesauce from his farm.
"It's pretty cool to see," said Gilbert.
It's part of the Mainers Feeding Mainers program. For the last three years, it's been funded by a $3 million grant. That funding though is expected to run dry next week.
Gilbert is among the more than 70 farmers who supply fresh produce, over 2 million pounds of it just last year alone, to the Good Shepherd Food Bank.
"We are preparing for the worst," said Kristen Miale, the President of Good Shepherd Food Bank.
She and others are hoping proposed legislation to restore funding, LD 786, gets through the legislature.
"Our timing doesn't always sync up we had to approve our budget with our board last week," said Miale. "We approved a worst-case scenario budget which showed us having to cut our budget for produce purchasing and for the first time in over ten years showing a decline in the amount of food Good Shepherd will be able to distribute next year, including a decline in produce."
She says what's at stake is two-fold: Farmers will lose out on business and Mainers will lose access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
"Probably around two and a half million meals lost," she estimates. "It's millions of meals and it's the best quality food that's going to be lost."
Right now the proposed bill is before the appropriations committee and according to testimony, the state is neither for nor against it.
A spokesperson for Governor Janet Mills provided the following statement to NEWS CENTER Maine:
“In 2017, the Legislature dedicated one-time funding for the Mainers Feeding Mainers Program. If the Legislature decides to dedicate additional funding for the program through L.D. 786, which is pending before the Appropriations Committee, the Administration would be happy to continue implementing it and its associated services.”