Pingree moved to fill that void. She’s used her seat on the House Appropriations subcommittee that deal with agriculture to become one of the more influential House lawmakers on these issues. She spoke about her efforts at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Monday, which is co-hosted by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic.

Pingree’s approach reflects a broader shift in how federal policymakers address agricultural policy. As consumers become more conscious of the origins of the foods they eat, the demand for locally grown, sustainable, and organic products is growing far faster than the available supply. Two of her fellow panelists—Walter Robb, the co-CEO of Whole Foods, and Jeff Dunn, the president of Campbell Fresh—emphasized that support for expanding supply isn’t just good policy; it’s good business. “A lot of this is no longer being driven by environmental concerns or health concerns or ideology” on the part of the farmers, Pingree said, but by their awareness of the economic opportunities that meeting market demand represents.

Pingree has ventured to Cuba, an island that adopted many organic methods when the collapse of the Soviet Union cut off its supply of industrial fertilizers and pesticides, to help its leaders understand the opportunities that lie to the north. But most of her efforts have focused on the hurdles facing American farmers, who are seeking to meet the rising consumer demand.

But two sets of hurdles lie in their way. One is regulatory. State and federal rules are often tuned for industrial-scale operations, and can be difficult for smaller producers to navigate. The other is a lack of support. “Part of the challenge in the growth of small farms and medium-size farms is that we’ve lost a lot of our infrastructure over the last 50 years,” Pingree said. She pointed, for example, to the consolidation of slaughterhouses, which may now be distant from smaller producers. And a variety of federal efforts that once supported local farmers have withered away.

On Pingree’s organic farm on the island of North Haven, she raises pigs, chickens, and acres of vegetables, and produces cheese and yogurt from her milch cows. As a young farmer 40 years ago, she’d take her to an agent of the USDA’s cooperative extension system. “I asked him things about processing milk, or pests that I had to deal with, or organic soil amendments.” It helped her understand how crucial a role the department could play in fostering small farms.

And it’s left her keenly disappointed with the lack of federal investment or support. Young farmers today may not find an agent from the cooperative extension system who can answer their questions. “They’re now dramatically underfunded, and they tell me that in a state like Maine where there are farmers with a million questions,” they can’t keep up with demand, Pingree said. Young farmers are looking for advice not just on raising crops, but also “with business techniques or marketing their product.” But they find few answers.