MAINE PUBLIC • August 29, 2025
A state fund that incentivizes Maine public schools to purchase food directly from local producers is expanding this year. State officials say a new law is helping each dollar a school spends on local food go further. Since the Local Foods Fund was established in 2021, public schools could count on the state to reimburse them one dollar for every three they spent on local food — such as veggies, cheese, meat, yogurt, beans, tofu, etc. — up to a maximum of $5,000 per year. But that changed when the Act to Promote Local Seafood in Schools was passed in June. Jane McLucas, the state's director of child nutrition, says the new law not only explicitly encourages schools to buy local seafood, it also gives the Local Foods Fund a big boost. Now, schools will be reimbursed one dollar on every two dollars they spend, up to a maximum contribution of $10,000.