CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — In Maine, over 200,000 people are anxious about where their next meal is coming from.
That’s a lot of people. More than 16% of households, according to the USDA.
The Good Shepherd Food Bank’s mission is to provide Mainers with fresh, local food with help from more than 70 farmers across the state.
Getting good, healthy food to people is the family mission at Jordan’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth.
The farm sells what it grows to the Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Mainers Feeding Mainers program.
“I was lucky enough to be involved at the beginning,” said Penny Jordan.
Jordan says they’ve contributed 15,000 pounds of produce or more and it’s a win-win for farmers and the Mainers who depend on food pantries.
“We as a family farm have been involved with Good Shepherd Food Bank for many, many years. Back when my father was operating the farm,” she said.
Through this program alone, their produce goes to five area food pantries.
“The Mainers Feeding Mainers program helps us connect with a lot pantries and it also allows us to move some of our bulk product to other parts of the state," Jordan said. "So we either sell direct to Good Shepherd and they distribute or we distribute to local pantries.”
State funding for the program ran out last June, but the legislature approved an additional two million dollars to cover the program for another two years.
“A program that’s extremely important to the state, and to people who are food insecure," Jordan said.
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