#FoodPantries in #Maine’s most vulnerable regions brace for #SNAP lapse
by Cameron Levasseur, October 27, 2025
Excerpt: "Rural areas like #AroostookCounty, where SNAP enrollment is well above the state average, are expected to feel a greater strain, as more residents, missing benefits, will turn to food pantries to fill their need.
"Do those pantries have the supply to meet new demand? The short answer is: they’re trying.
" 'There isn’t a program that can replace that,' Blanchard, Catholic Charities’ director of hunger and relief services, said. 'But we’re best suited to do the most good and hit as much need as possible.'
"Food pantries across Maine are already feeling a squeeze levied by cuts to several key #USDA programs earlier this year. In March, the federal government cut approximately $500 million in funding from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (#TEFAP) which provides American-grown food bought by the USDA.
"The Trump administration also ended the #LocalFood Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which gave money to states to purchase locally produced food that would then be distributed to food banks.
" 'Before we were getting maybe four or five cases of something and now we’re getting only maybe one case,' said Rena Kearney, a volunteer at the Mars Hill Community Cupboard — which serves around 14 families weekly. 'If you get one case of string beans, that’s got 24 cans in it, it doesn’t go very far.' "
Read more:
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/27/aroostook/food-pantries-maines-vulnerable-regions-snap-lapse-joam40zk0w/
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/v6DHW
#Mainers #MaineFoodBanks #HungerGames #USDACuts #SNAPCuts #StarveThePoor #TrumpSucks #USPol #FoodAssistance #FoodInsecurity
#Donations #MaineFoodPantries #FoodPantries
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