02/02/2026
Let's get the LD2144 proposed working group activated and supported! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences Flood family and team! - Clinton, ME
Well, some of all you all are gonna hate to hear it but we woke up this morning and knew we had to put on our political pants. (who are we kidding, we always put on our political pants because being silent never fed anyone). But, today (28 Jan) we wanted to be down in Augusta and support legislation sponsored by Senator Henry Ingwersen of York to Establish the Working Group to Prioritize Wellness and Mental Health Resources for Heritage Industries.
It is difficult to explain why it is so difficult for those in Heritage Industries to acknowledge the need, let alone seek, find and accept care. It is hard to explain this all to someone who is not one of the less than 2% who are actively engaged in agriculture. It is difficult to explain to someone that no matter what the disaster, crisis, tragedy, or painful stretch we are going through while the milk price is tanking and the weather is not cooperating that the cows still have to be fed and milked, and the fields nourished and crops tended and harvested and that while you may be able to work in some time to grieve or heal, you really can’t figure out how to care for your herd that is hurting- the human herd and the cow herd. You don’t know how to make sure they are okay, you don’t know how to make sure that they know they will be okay, and nobody else knows either. It’s really hard to explain all that. Because this world wasn’t set up to understand that. And our Heritage Industries have not done a very good job of saying aloud, "we cannot go on like this". Far too often we just tell ourselves and each other that this is just the way it is. And so the cows get milked and the logs roll into the mill, and the traps get pulled…until they don’t because it really is too much for anyone…even a farmer, a logger or a fisher.
As a member of the Maine farming community we see each and every day how vulnerable some of the most stoic and hardworking people are to health challenges, both physical and mental. The lack of access, availability and affordability of care that meets us where we are is debilitating and corrosive to the very foundation of our working lands and waterfronts. It is not simply that the hours are long and the work hard; it is not simply that the milk check doesn’t make ends meet; it is not even that most of the work, the living, the dying, the ups and downs are done in isolation…it is all of that and more combined with the uniqueness of the job description and the limitations of resources that were never designed to meet the needs of heritage industries. The working group proposed by LD2144 would lay bare the needs and those limitations and gather the needed information to provide working solutions to the folks that make Maine work. It could result in policies and programs to provide the framework and resources that don’t just provide help in time of crisis, but create a community of care that results in prevention.
We often talk about how good food comes from a good place, and the intent and efforts of this proposed work study would ensure that our good Maine food does indeed come from a place of well being and goodness.
If you would like to support this legislation you can use the link in comments to contact Health and Human Services Committee members and show your support. And if you are battling one too many battles today and need some support of your own- just know that you're not alone and you can always reach out.
