By Associated Press - Thursday, November 5, 2020

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine’s governor called on the federal government to include local food distributors in a food aid program on Thursday.

Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, asked U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to reconsider the most recent round of Farmers to Families Food Box program contracts. The program is designed to get fresh food from farmers to consumers.

A contractor from Maryland was chosen by USDA to begin handling distribution in Maine, Mills said. That means “Maine people will receive imported food from elsewhere, and we will have no control over the quality of food included in the boxes,” she said.

Maine food distributors were included in an earlier round of the program, Mills said. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The four members of Maine’s congressional delegation wrote to the USDA last week to say “the economic impact of the program for farmers and businesses in Maine has been more limited as significant federal support flows to other states.”

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