The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association has turned to online crowd-sourcing to help fund a project to offer half-price community supported agriculture (CSA) shares to low-income families.
As of late last week, the group’s campaign had raised nearly two thirds of its $6,000 goal. It ends on May 27.
For five years now, MOFGA has been fundraising for the special CSA program, whereby low-income families can use their federally issued SNAP funds (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, sometimes known as food stamps) to purchase a regular farm share.
But this year, MOFGA is holding an online Fundrazr. More than two dozen contributors have already given.
“There are really no words for the feeling that comes from being so uplifted by the community here in the great state of Maine,” said Heather Omand, MOFGA’s organic marketing coordinator.
The goal of the program is to allow low- income families access to regular CSA shares of healthy, local foods at a deep discount while allowing farmers to reap their usual profit.
If the crowd-sourcing effort exceeds its goal, MOFGA will use the money to expand the number of participating farms and to help families that are struggling but may not qualify for SNAP dollars. The SNAP program took a big hit on the federal level with the passage of the most recent Farm Bill, which will cut the program by $8 billion over 10 years. Also, since January Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has removed more than 9,000 childless, able-bodied adults from the program.
The donated funds will be divided into three portions: 70 percent will go directly to the farmers, 20 percent will be used for scholarships for certified organic farmers who are new to the program and need to buy equipment like EBT card machines to process the SNAP funds, and the remaining 10 percent will pay for staff time.
Participating farms include Wolf Pine Farm in Alfred, Tide Mill Farm in Edmunds, Village Farm in Freedom, Little Ridge Farm in Lisbon Falls, Happy Town Farm in Orland, Full Circle Farm in East Vassalboro and Hatchet Cove Farm in Warren.
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