Maine Media Coverage
Michaud moved by local-food movement by David Robinson. Morning Sentinel. Published 05/20/2011.
Marble, 29, is the fourth generation to farm the same land in the western Maine hills in Farmington, where his family goes to sell most of their crops, eggs and baked goods. About 80 percent of what they produce is sold directly to consumers within 10 miles of the farm, many gathering at year-round farmers' markets, Andy said.
Marbles' vegetables are also sold to area schools, which participate in the farm-to-school programs sparked by community advocacy group Western Mountains in Alliance in Farmington, according to Andy. Read the entire article.
Kittery, York schools move to grass fed beef by Susan Morse. Seacoast Online. Published 03/06/2011.
Move over, chipped beef on toast. Grass-fed beef is now on the cafeteria menu at schools in York and Kittery, Maine.
Food Service Director Doris Demers has long bought local produce to serve to students as part of her farm to school program. This fall, she extended the slow food movement to hamburgers and cheeseburgers made from grass fed beef raised in Maine. Read the entire article.
High-caliber organizations with demonstrated experience implementing Farm to School and school garde. UMaine News. Published 11/30/2010.
oodCorps, a new national AmeriCorps school garden and Farm to School service program, has selected University of Maine Cooperative Extension as one of ten partners to collaborate on a national launch in 2011. FoodCorps will serve vulnerable children, improving access to healthy, affordable food, while training young leaders for careers in food and agriculture. Read the entire article.
Kittery school has nation's best by Charles McMahon. Seacoast Online. Published 07/26/2010.
Cheryl Dixon, food service manager at Horace Mitchell Primary School, has had quite the summer. Dixon was honored for her work teaching good nutrition and promoting lifelong healthy eating habits among the students at Mitchell School. Read the entire article.
Facebook YouTube Twitter Get Email Updates Contact Veterans' Webpage Economic Recovery P. Congresswoman Pingree Press Release. Published 07/20/2010.
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced today that she has introduced the Eat Local Foods Act to help schools provide healthier meals for their students while supporting local farmers. Read the entire article.
Kittery school kitchen boss wins top state honor by Amy Bevan. Seacoast Online. Published 03/27/2010.
Kitchen manager Cheryl Dixon's determination to bring fresh, healthy and locally grown food to Mitchell School students has earned her the Maine School Food Service Association's Louise Sublette Award of Excellence for 2010. Read the entire article.
WJHS Students enjoy a local harvest lunch by Reg Bennett. York County Coast Star. Published 10/22/2009.
This was the first Maine Harvest Lunch at WJHS and is part of a growing statewide movement encouraged by the Maine Department of Education simply known as "Farm to School." For one school day, many schools across Maine make it a point to serve locally grown food. Read the entire article.
Farm to School hopes to make grade by Susan Morse. Seacoast Online. Published 04/12/2009.
Farm to School, a program to serve fresh local vegetables in student cafeterias, seems like such a no-brainer of an idea it's a wonder the practice hasn't been widespread for years. Read the entire article.
Meeting seeks to bring local farm-fresh produce to York schools by Susan Morse. Seacoast Online. Published 04/08/2009.
Four local farmers attended a meeting Monday to find out how to get their produce into York and Kittery schools. Doris Demers, the nutrition director for the schools, held the meeting before an estimated half dozen people in the York Middle School cafeteria.
Demers wants to get more fresh local vegetables into school lunches. Local farmers want to sell more produce. Read the entire article.
Local food program draws national interest by Oka Hutchins. Mount Desert Islander. Published 02/27/2009.
The concept of school "hot lunch" does not usually bring to mind images of creative, flavorful food made with fresh local produce.
Take a trip to the Mustang Café at the Mount Desert Elementary School in Northeast Harbor, however, and that's exactly what you'll find. Read the entire article.
Food, farm jobs filled. Mount Desert Islander. Published 02/27/2009.
College of the Atlantic recently hired Heather Albert-Knopp and Alyssa Mack to support its commitment to local and global studies in food systems and organic agriculture. Read the entire article.
Group acts to improve life in Washington County by Steve Colhoun. Bangor Daily News. Published 01/16/2009.
Other topics included a call for emphasis on proper nutrition, with childhood obesity cited as a major problem in Washington County, and concern over the high cancer rate. The farm-to-school program that has been implemented in some districts was noted as a valuable program. Read the entire article.
Program connects farms, school by Oka Hutchins. Mount Desert Islander. Published 01/16/2009.
Something's cooking in the kitchen of the Mount Desert Elementary School. Students here are excited by the culinary arts and the fresh, local produce that has become the cornerstone of the school's food service program. That excitement has led the school's administrators to pursue a dynamic food service program that includes increased education and interaction with food and the local growers who produce it.
The program fosters the connection between local growers and the student population of about 160 kids. The farm-to-school program has even landed the elementary school recognition on the "Martha Stewart Show." Read the entire article.
Mount Desert Farm to School Program by Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart. Published 01/09/2009.
Martha Stewart takes us to Northeast Harbor, Maine, for a look at the inspiring "farm to school" lunch program of Mount Desert Elementary. Read the entire article.
Damariscotta River Grill Prepares for an Exciting November with Fourth Annual Harvest Dinner and Com. Maine Business. Published 10/29/2008.
The FARMS project promotes farm-to-school activities throughout Maine by connecting classrooms, cafeterias, local farms and communities through its goal of educating students on good nutrition and the role that local farms play in promoting healthy communities. Read the entire article.
School Lunch Now Healthy And Locally Grown by Mike Webster. WCHS 6. Published 09/19/2008.
School lunch doesn't look like it used to -- not in the elementary schools of Union 74 in Lincoln County. Students are eating corn on the cob, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli and salad greens -- all locally grown by farmers in the county. Read the entire article.
Solutions from within Washington County by Judy East. Bangor News. Published 07/21/2008.
A Farm To School initiative is also supporting local purchasing, healthful eating, and increasing nutrition curriculum in our school systems. Read the entire article.
Farm-To-School Conference A Big Success by Kay Liss. Lincoln County News. Published 04/02/2008.
A fairly heavy snowfall did not stop registrants for the Maine Farm to School conference from attending the all-day program hosted by Focus on Agriculture in Rural Maine Schools (F.A.R.M.S.) at the Chewonki Center in Wiscasset March 28. Read the entire article.
South School Children Hear Stories of Maple Sugaring. Village Soup. Published 04/01/2008.
Staff from Maine Gold were invited by the second grade teaching team of the South School in Rockland to read stories of Maine agriculture. The focus of last week's stories was Maine's fifth season, maple sugaring. Read the entire article.
County Budget Committee Gingerly Approves $2 Million LCSO Budget by Sherwood Olin. The Lincoln County News. Published 10/31/2007.
Winston said her office is currently pursuing a $26,000 grant that will support the Farm to School initiative: an effort encouraging Lincoln County schools to acquire their food from sources local growers. Read the entire article.
School lunch goes gourmet in Rockport by Lynda Clancy. Knox County Times Village Soup. Published 10/29/2007.
The scent of rosemary and sage filled the kitchen at Camden Hills Regional High School last week, with steam rolling high above pans of angel hair pasta, waiting to be tossed with shrimp and red peppers. This fall, she's inviting professional chefs once a month into the high school kitchen to prepare a special dish for students and staff, one that will appeal to just about everyone, and represent a healthy meal. Read the entire article.
New Farm to School Link Launched. The Ellsworth American. Published 10/18/2007.
As a means to support community-based food systems, strengthen family farms and improve student health, the National Farm to School Network launched this week its improved Web site, farmtoschool.org. The release coincides with National School Lunch Week, Oct. 15-19.
Read the entire article.
Houlton: Schools reap healthful harvest by Jen Lynds. Bangor Daily News Newspaper. Published 09/27/2007.
Houlton Maine completed its 2nd annual Harvest luch with great success. The school district included more then the Food Service program for the better of the students. Read the entire article.
A Maine Course for Students by Craig Crosby. Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel. Published 09/27/2007.
The Nokomis High School junior had no idea that Wednesday's hot lunch was almost entirely locally produced, but Raye could see the difference in the potatoes, chicken and corn on her tray.
"It looks real," she said with a laugh.
Read the entire article.More Pupils Eat What Neighboring Farms Grow by TESS NACELEWICZ. Portland Press Herald. Published 09/24/2007.
Maine Harvest Lunch by Kristen Anderson. Bangor News. Published 08/29/2007.
Scrutiny on the bounty An innovative workshop, recognizing that Maine has so much that's fresh, local and organic, shows 'lunch ladies' how to incorporate it into school lunch programs. Read the entire article.
Planting the seed by Keith Edwards. Kennebec Journal. Published 01/25/2007.
Local farmers salivating over the prospect of selling goods to schools that serve thousands of lunches a day -- and school food service directors hoping to get students salivating over fresh, locally produced food -- connected Wednesday. Read the entire article.
Fresh Vegetables make Healthy School Lunches by Mike Colbert. Lincoln County News. Published 01/24/2007.
In an age when child obesity is rampant and vending machines dispense junk food in schools, parents, teachers and others hope to establish new protocols under a Farm to School Project that would keep schools in Maine supplied with fresh, locally grown foods. Read the entire article.
First Lady Baldacci Keynote of Farm-to-School Forum by Kim Fletcher. Lincoln County News. Published 11/08/2006.
Maine’s First Lady, Karen Baldacci, was the Keynote Speaker before an audience of more than 100 people who turned out for the first Farm-to-School Forum in the GSB school cafeteria and gym on Nov. 2. The forum was designed as a community gathering exploring the opportunities to partner local farms with local school systems with aims to establish and grow a mutually beneficial relationship. Read the entire article.
A healthy partnership: innovative farm to school programs address childhood nutrition by Karen Imas. State News. Published 05/01/2004.
The United States loses two acres of mostly prime farmland every minute to development--the fastest such decline in the country's history, according to the American Farmland Trust. More than 25 percent of Americans under 19 are overweight or obese--a figure that has doubled in the last 30 years, according to the Community Food Security Coalition. Although these two facts may seem to be unrelated, advocates of Farm to School programs see a connection. What is Farm to School? There is a growing consensus among a wide spectrum of individuals, including teachers, farmers, lawmakers and parents, that integrating locally grown produce into school cafeterias can provide health benefits for kids while helping to reconnect communities with local agriculture. Farm to School is a broad term for various types of programs and initiatives, such as establishing salad bars, incorporating local produce into lunch and breakfast menus, holding events like a "local food day," bringing a farmer into a classroom, creating a school garden and taking field trips. These programs often arise from grassroots efforts by local farmers, school administrators, and advocates who recognize the potential market opportunities for farmers and the educational and nutritional opportunities for kids. Across the country, such initiatives have gained momentum and are taking on many different forms through the support of government grants, advocacy groups and legislation. Read the entire article.