In 2011 the State of Maine authorized the initiation of the Voluntary Municipal Support Program “to create a mechanism for municipalities to voluntarily protect and support local farms, preserve farmland and reduce the potential tax burdens from new development by allowing them to enter into farm support arrangements with the owners of qualified farmland.” In March 2013, the Town of Winslow formed an Agricultural Working Group (AWG) to survey and identify the farmland protection needs and interests of the farming community and in 2016 became the first town in Maine to adopt a VMSP. By adopting a version of the State’s Voluntary Municipal Support Program, Auburn and Lewiston would demonstrate interest in the preservation of farmland and support of farm businesses. It is more expensive to farm in cities than it is in smaller towns and overt municipal support of farmers will not only demonstrate an investment in future farming but also in the sustainability of the region’s food producers. Furthermore, this action is supported by the Auburn Comprehensive Plan as a way to grow the productive capacity of commercial farms, and was lifted up as a priority from the Food/Agriculture Chapter by the Auburn Agriculture & Natural Resource Product Working Group.