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Jenni Tilton-Flood is a farm family member of Flood Brothers LLC in Clinton.
As a Mainer who also happens to be a dairy farmer, I have a little insight and understanding of just how diverse, wide reaching and all-encompassing our food system is here in Maine. With my boots on the ground, I see the work that goes in from the farm all the way to the table, and all the parts, pieces and people in between needed to keep the Maine value chain running. The people who do the work on farms and throughout agriculture do so with skill, expertise, grit and goodness.
Oftentimes they are unseen, unrecognized, undervalued and underappreciated. But I think we can all agree that those who are in the fields, farms, barrens, greenhouses, tractors, packing plants and anywhere there is food to be raised, cared for, harvested and tended are not only integral, important and essential, but well worth an investment that is fair, just and honorable.
We want good food, and we want it to come from a good place. For that, we must value and invest in those who power our farms and agricultural businesses and back that up with an investment that measures up to Maine standards and Maine dignity.
The work to keep our food system and agriculture sector here in Maine healthy, robust, secure and resilient takes many hands, too. Last year, after a veto of legislation that would have provided Maine agricultural workers minimum wage and the same basic rights and opportunities that is provided to every other Maine employee, Gov. Janet Mills made the effort and decision to create the Agricultural Worker Minimum Wage Committee with an executive order.
The governor assembled representatives from along our wide-reaching agricultural value chain to share, learn and develop meaningful legislation that would improve and better our food system, economy and communities. The mission and goal of the committee was to “develop legislation for introduction in the second session of the 131st Legislature that will implement a minimum wage for agricultural workers, identify the impacts the bill will have through other laws interconnected with federal and state wage and hour laws, and ensure the full range of impacts are thoroughly understood by both agricultural employers and their workers.”
As a member of the public during the multi-month work of the committee, I was able to witness the participation, contributions and work of so many from the fields and farms of Maine to the stakeholder organizations that serve farmers, businesses and the public, to state government. Their resulting report is an example of consensus building, willingness to learn and concession by so many passionate and dedicated advocates.
The resulting amended bill, LD 2273, recently passed by both the Maine Senate and House, is an example of that work and cooperation and it provides, at long last, a meaningful and important opportunity for Maine to be able to say that all of those who work in Maine are afforded the right to earn the state minimum wage. It has been far too long, and the time is now for us to make this a reality and all that is left is for Mills to continue her commitment to this process and purpose to ensure this becomes law. Her support and work throughout this process to balance and include so many voices and perspectives seeking a responsible and balanced solution is so appreciated by me as a Mainer and a farmer, and by so many others.
Those of us with a vested interest in the security and excellence of Maine farms know that minimum wage is an important opportunity to further invest in the sustainability of Maine agriculture and the equity and justice of our food system. We are grateful to the governor for her efforts thus far and we are looking forward to her seeing this hard work through to completion.