ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 12, 2020
Maine is home to a new law designed to compel state institutions to procure more of their food from local producers. Democrats in Maine say the state's law directs its Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to create a food procurement policy with a goal that 20% of food and food products procured by state institutions be from Maine. The law, proposed by Democratic Rep. Craig Hickman of Winthrop, states that the goal must be accomplished by 2025. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the proposal into law in late March. It goes into effect on June 16.