Hello farmers and food producers,

The Regional Local Food Project Coordinators are working on connecting more farms to schools near them. We are updating the website built by Roxanne for our school nutrition directors. You can access the website by going to Farm Directory (https://farmfinder.softr.app/farm-directory). You will need to create an account to access the farm listings. We would greatly appreciate you looking over the listing for your farm to check if your listing needs changes, updates, or if you want to add more information. There is a form on the website where you can add, update any data, and send me an email letting me know you submitted updates, and I will get that corrected in the system. I try to check for updates at least once per week.

If you would like to reach out to the coordinator in your area:

Aroostook County and Northern Washington County – Roxanne Bruce, roxanne.bruce@maine.gov​

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Cumberland County and York County– Ali Mediate, ali.mediate@maine.gov​

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Hancock County and Southern Washington County – Sandy Fortin, sandy.fortin@maine.gov​

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Kennebec (Kennebec & Waldo County) – Allie Moulton, alessandra.moulton@maine.gov​

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Penquis (Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset County) – Amanda Junkins, amanda.junkins@maine.gov​

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Western (Androscoggin, Franklin, Oxford County) and MidCoast (Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc County) – Catherine Brown, catherine.brown@maine.gov​

School Nutrition Directors are looking for local foods of all kinds, and are open to purchasing directly from farms or by requesting your items from their distributor. If your farm sells through FarmDrop, Peak Season, Dennis Paper and Food Service, Native Maine, Sysco or another distributor, you will be able to add that information on the form, and it will help the schools ask for your items from their distributors.

UPCOMING EVENT

MDOE Regional Farmer-to-School Buyer Event

Tuesday, December 9th from 1:00 - 4:00 PM

Fork Food Lab

95 Darling Ave.

South Portland, ME

Dear Fellow Mainer,

You’re receiving this message because you’re a farmer or local food producer in Maine, and we would love to invite you to a special event hosted by the Maine Department of Education Child Nutrition Farm & Sea-to-School Program’s Regional Local Foods Project. Join us! The MDOE Regional Farmer–School Buyer Meetup will take place on Tuesday, December 9th from 1–4 p.m. at Fork Food Lab, 95 Darling Ave. in South Portland.

This event is a great opportunity to connect with fellow farmers, school nutrition directors, and local distributors to talk about the needs of what many of us like to call “the biggest restaurant in town.” Our schools! We’ll be discussing opportunities for forward-purchasing contracts, exploring processing needs, and looking at how farmers and distributors can collaborate to meet demand and help feed Maine kids.

The agenda includes:

• A panel of successful farm-to-school stories

• Demonstrations of local food recipes

• Time to network with School Nutrition Directors from districts across York and Cumberland Counties (as well as others statewide who are invited)

• A tabling session where farmers and community partners can showcase their work

If you’re interested in setting up a table to share more about your farm, offer samples, or simply being available to answer questions during the tabling portion of the event, we’d love to have you participate.

We hope you can join us. Your perspective and experience are incredibly valuable to this conversation, and we are excited for new market opportunities for you if it is of interest! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Roxanne Bruce, DrBA

Regional Local Food Project Coordinator | Aroostook County
Maine Department of Education

She/Her 

If you would like to set a Zoom Call or Phone Call, you can access my calendar on Calendly

Email: roxanne.bruce@maine.gov

Phone: 207-267-5070