PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2020
Those who grow, sell and serve our food are essential workers, and we should treat them as such. There are many policies the states simply cannot change without the federal government’s cooperation. One of them is improving our national food supply chain and another is protecting the workers who’ve been deemed essential. Local farms and food producers have not had the privilege of receiving funds from the Trump administration’s farm trade bailouts. My bill, the bipartisan PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act, would change federal regulations to make it easier to process meat locally. ~ Rep. Chellie Pingree, is an organic farmer and member of the House Agriculture Committee