Mainers are struggling to provide groceries on the dinner table as our estimated average annual food costs surge to the third highest in the nation. A recent article by the website Centersquare called attention to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of Maine’s food costs. EPI is a nonprofit think tank with a predominantly liberal and progressive board of directors.  

The economic report revealed that the average estimated food costs for a Maine family of four has skyrocketed to $11,480 annually. Maine only lags behind Hawaii ($14,042) and Massachusetts ($11,674) in the overall cost to provide food at the dinner table. More alarming for Mainers is that our median family income is far below Hawaii and Massachusetts at only $76,192. Hawaii has a median family income of $97,813 and our neighbor Massachusetts has a median family income of $106,526, $30K more a year than families living in Maine. With our much lower family median income, it is significantly more challenging for Mainers to cover the inflationary increases hitting our food supply chain than our neighboring states.  

The report also noted that Mainers are much more likely than the national average to rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, which provides a monthly benefit to help low-income households purchase food. Maine has an estimated 13.5% of our population enrolled in the SNAP program, compared to a national SNAP enrollment of 12.1%.

EPI’s report is based on figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. National analysts project that our national and state inflationary public policies will continue to drive up the cost of basic necessities in Maine.

The rising cost of gasoline and diesel, our workforce participation challenges, and the increasing costs facing our agricultural industry, including fertilizers will place continued pressure on our food supply.  Maine policy-makers also played a significant role in these inflationary policies when our State became first in the nation to divest (or otherwise ban) pension and public fund investments in petroleum and natural gas production.

Governor Janet Mills signed LD 99 into law, directing the Maine Public Employees Retirement System to divest from fossil fuels within five years. The new law also applied to Maine’s State Cash Pool. This initiative echoed a national effort by the Biden Administration to choke off investments in oil and gas production in the United States and internationally as well.  The consequences of rapidly rising fuel and diesel prices are directly reflected in the costs to feed our families in Maine.