Maine lawmakers are considering an ambitious plan to eliminate hunger over the next decade by addressing the root causes of food insecurity.
The proposed legislation, which was the subject of a public hearing on Tuesday, would implement the recommendations of a state commission that looked at ways Maine could end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition by 2030.
A report by the advisory group determined that the key drivers of food insecurity in Maine are a lack of economic opportunities, access to health care and entanglement with the criminal justice system, among other factors. It called for a long-term plan to “address the economic and cultural conditions” that allow hunger to exist.
Backers of the proposal told members of the Legislature’s Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry on Tuesday that ending hunger by 2030 is within the state’s reach and called on lawmakers to implement the report’s recommendations.
“The causes of food insecurity have little to do with a scarcity of food,” state Rep. Bill Plucker, I-Warren, the bill’s primary sponsor, told the panel. “Food insecurity is most often a function of economic insecurity; hunger is a symptom of poverty.”
Craig Lapine, an official with the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, told the panel the toll of human hunger has an economic impact “that Maine can ill afford” and suggested that the cost of doing nothing was too much.
He said hunger-related costs such as lost productivity and elevated health care expenses from treating malnourished people costs the state about $700 million. That’s on top of the $370 million that’s dedicated to feeding hungry people, he said.
“We believe it would take far less than $1 billion we spend now to end hunger versus just treating it,” he said in testimony. “And we’d open a wellspring of human and economic potential.”
Jim Devine, an advocate with Homeless Voices for Justice, told lawmakers that an estimated 215,000 Mainers – including 60,000 children – are facing hunger that has been exacerbated by the economic impact of the pandemic. He urged them to approve the proposed legislation.
“We know there is not a one-size-fits-all solution that can just address at-risk Mainers, but bills like this one speak not only to the logistics of food but the unequal and inequitable systems that impact people in need, especially children and vulnerable adults,” he told the panel.
