LEWISTON — It was a nice day recently at the Lewiston Farmers’ Market. But something like a dark cloud loomed over the weekly event.

The budget reconciliation legislation passed into law by Congress — President Trump’s “one, big beautiful bill” — contains deep cuts to federal food assistance.

The cuts, and more strict requirements, will be phased in over the next few years. But farmers and others who sell their wares at the market are worried the trickle-down effect is on its way and it could hurt farmers, who depend on every bit of revenue for survival.

For the Lewiston Farmers’ Market and others across the state, a reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget, will affect sales and income for vendors and the market itself, according to Lewiston Farmers’ Market Board Chair Jon Staples, who is a vendor at eight markets from Falmouth to Augusta.

SNAP CUTS IN MAINE

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said 176,000 people in Maine depend on SNAP for help buying groceries, generating $1.54 in local economic activity for every dollar spent.

Effective in the fall, the benefit level reductions will cut $26 a month from the average household receiving SNAP benefits. Elimination of the SNAP-Ed grant in the fall means Maine will lose nearly $5 million a year for nutrition education, affecting some 20,000 people.

Noncitizen eligibility will eliminate benefits for 2,000 refugees, asylum seekers and human trafficking victims, even though they have legal status in Maine.

Requirements that people work or volunteer 80 hours a month to receive SNAP benefits are being expanded from those 54 years old and younger to those up to 64 years old for able-bodied adults without dependents. Work exemptions will end for more than 5,600 veterans, as well as for another 27,000 who were homeless, former foster youth or received geographic exemptions. Some elderly and disabled will also lose what is known as “Heat and Eat” assistance, which helps pay for heating and cooling.

The biggest change starting in October 2026 is the cost-sharing burden for states. The federal funding match drops from 50% to 25%, which will cause Maine’s SNAP costs to increase $60 million by fiscal year 2028.

In its budget request to Congress, the Trump administration said funding for farmers markets should be a local, not federal, responsibility.

Things are certainly shifting that way: The effect of the cuts on the nutrition program, and ultimately farmers, will depend on whether Maine and other states are able and willing to cover the deficit.

GROWTH MAY MEAN SURVIVAL

The Lewiston Farmers’ Market was formally founded in 2004, although vendors like Debra Mongeau, owner and operator of Mainely Soap, gathered informally with a few others before then, she said.

“We were set up outside of St. Mary’s Hospital on the tar,” she remembered. “We hadn’t really developed, I guess you could say.” 

The Lewiston Farmers’ Market was the first in the state to accept SNAP/EBT and among a pioneering few markets to pilot and lead the development of the nutrition incentive program, which would become the statewide, federally funded program known as Maine Harvest Bucks.

SNAP recipients get $1 in Harvest Bucks for every $1 spent in SNAP benefits to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and food-bearing seedlings such as tomato plants. The program greatly extends the buying power of SNAP recipients. It is unclear if that benefit will also get reduced or eliminated.

By 2004, Mongeau and others were setting up every Tuesday afternoon at Kennedy Park. In 2006, St. Mary’s Nutrition Center assumed responsibility for the farmers market — a relationship that would last until the COVID-19 pandemic.

The market moved from Kennedy Park to the parking lot at Bates Mill No. 5 in 2010 and to the current location on city property at 2 Oxford St. and 75 Lincoln St. in 2022.

The market was reconfigured this year, aligning more vendors along Lincoln Street and expanding the parking availability and visibility.

“We like where we are now and I’m liking this year because I’ve never been on the grass,” Mongeau said. “We’re liking that a lot, and then we’ve got lots more room for more vendors, and we’re just trying to get bigger.”

Staples estimates the reductions in SNAP benefits alone will end up being around 30% over current funding levels. And he said for markets in Augusta, Lewiston and Somerville, about 30% of vendor income comes from SNAP/EBT sales.

“It’s going to flat-out hurt people, that’s the bottom line,” Staples said. “It’s going to hurt the producers. I don’t know if it’s going to destroy the producers, the farmers.”

Smaller farmers count on every single sale and source of revenue, he added, so interrupting that percentage of income could be a breaking point for some farmers.

Farmers markets in Falmouth, Cumberland and Waterford are less at risk, Staples said, because vendors get little to no income from SNAP sales, due mainly to the socioeconomic makeup of the patrons.

The Lewiston Farmers’ Market is growing but still faces hurdles attracting new patrons. Staples said the market’s greater visibility is helping this year and there’s more interest from new vendors, with 20 applying to be part of the market. Cumberland, Falmouth and Lewiston have all seen a jump in growth of around 25%, he estimated, while other markets are flat. Staples credits the market’s marketing manager, Zoe Caron, with engaging vendors and patrons alike and boosting interest.

Staples also said the city of Lewiston has been very supportive of the farmers market for some time. Mayor Carl Sheline can be seen at the market most Sundays and is a big cheerleader, calling the farmers market a staple in Lewiston.

“It supports local farmers, boosts small businesses, and encourages people to be together,” he said. “In a time when so much of what we eat comes from far away, the farmers market financially and nutritionally benefits the Lewiston community.”

Mongeau has been selling her homemade soaps and balms for more than 20 years at the Lewiston Farmers’ Market. She said even if her customers don’t come every week, it’s still well worth her time. “I don’t get as many customers as the vegetable people do, you know, because that’s basically why a lot of people go to the farmers market, is to get their veggies.”

Sally Gelinas agreed. The Lewiston resident goes every week and has been going since it was located at the Bates Mill parking lot. “I love the farmers market,” she said Sunday. “I support local farmers.”

Staples said one of the goals is to expand the market into a truly year-round event, even if it’s only once a month. The problem is, they can’t find a suitable location that’s affordable and preferably on one level for customers who are disabled or can’t manage stairs.

For now, they’ve added vouchers for seniors and veterans once a month, and a bonus market on the third Thursday of each month.

The federal cuts won’t be a death knell right away for the farmers market, but Staples said if the cuts ultimately prompt a key vendor such as Jillson’s Farm in Sabattus to drop out, that could change the equation.

“It’s what people want,” he said.