Maine Grains mill in Skowhegan. (Photo courtesy of Maine Grains)
Cheesemaking, seaweed, blueberry and soy byproducts may not be everyone’s idea of breakfast food, but that could be the future since a Skowhegan-based miller looking to use those products to make high-protein, high-fiber cereals was just awarded federal funding to do just that.
Maine Grains, which has produced milled flours and whole grains since 2012, recently received three grants totaling $700,000 that will help purchase a specialized cereal extrusion equipment line to bring their “upcycled” cereal plans to fruition.
One of the grants was $250,000 from the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program, which is funded by the American Rescue Plan. It is part of nearly $1 million that the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded to projects in Maine to strengthen local and regional food systems across the state.
In addition to strengthening Maine’s food system, the funded projects will create new revenue streams for small and mid-sized producers, said USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Jenny Lester Moffitt in a news release Monday.
“We are honored to play a role in restoring manufacturing infrastructure to central Maine that allows us to not only support local farmers growing wheat, oats, rye and other crops, but also helps build a resilient local food supply and good jobs,” said Amber Lambke, Maine Grains founder and chief executive officer.
Lambke expects to hire 15 additional people to operate the expanded production lines and service sales over the next few years.
Additionally, the funding could help the state work toward the goal outlined in its updated climate action plan for 30% of food consumed in Maine to be from in-state producers by 2030.
Along with Maine Grains, the other four organizations that received the funding are spread across the state and target gaps in the current supply chain for a variety of products.
“These grants reflect our commitment to support farmers, advance the future of Maine’s food systems, and ensure the resilience of local and regional supply chains,” Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Commissioner Amanda Beal said in the release.
Bouchard Family Farm in Fort Kent plans to use the money to expand production of buckwheat flour and promote the use of buckwheat as a rotation crop. Tops’l Farm in Waldoboro intends on building a new facility to create shelf-stable products with Maine-grown ingredients.
Maine Coast Sea Vegetables in Hancock plans to install a seaweed powder mill to process farm-raised kelp into a powder. Similarly, Atlantic Sea Farms in Biddeford wants to expand its kelp processing capacity with more cold storage, automated production lines and infrastructure for dried and fermented kelp products.
Longtime organic farmer and advocate for strengthening local food systems, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree expressed her support for the grants. The Democrat is also a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Agriculture.
“These grants are game changers not only for the farmers and producers who receive them, but for their communities as well,” Pingree said in a statement.
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