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Stay up to date with upcoming opportunities, events, resources, and news on the continuing work of Farm to Institution across the state.
Whether you are an advocate, farmer, educator, food service professional, or anyone interested in MEFTI's work across the supply chain, you will find valuable information to help us build a healthy and sustainable regional food system.
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In This Email
- Upcoming Events
- News from the Network
- Job Opportunities
- Reports and Publications
- HOM
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UPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES | |
Film Screening: Seeds of Change airs on
NHPBS TONIGHT at 9pm ET!
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Tune in TONIGHT at 9pm ET on NHPBS!
Organic farmer, Mark McBrine, sets out to transform the prison food system in Maine. Filmed over the course of two years, Seeds of Change captures the intersecting stories of life-long farmer Mark McBrine and a group of incarcerated men as they harvest their own meals from a five-acre prison farm.
This is a story about the power of using organic agriculture as a means to reform our food systems and change the course of people’s lives.
A film by Maximilian Armstrong
Watch the Trailer
Live virtual screening and Q&A
In partnership with MOFGA
You can also stream award-winning PBS film with the The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) February 7-23, 2025!
And Join MOFGA and director Maximilian Armstrong for a livestream discussion on February 20 at 7pm.
Watch with MOFGA & Reserve Tickets
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Food Processing Work Group | |
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Upcoming Opportunity:
Join the Maine Processing Workgroup to learn about Maine's Food Supply Chain Infrastructure Development Efforts
Online| February 11| 11-12:30 | Zoom Link
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The Processing Work Group is co-facilitated by MEFTI and the Maine Food Convergence project, and convenes monthly to identify processing-related interventions that generate high impact shifts towards getting more local, culturally nourishing food to institutional and other markets
To register for the February 11 event, join our communications list, or attend monthly workgroup meetings for updates on upcoming processing-related grants and collaboration opportunities email Alida Peterson @ a.peterson@hccame.org
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Connected Learning Ecosystems Gathering
In-Person | February 25 - 26 | University of Maine, Orono, ME
Where: University of Maine, Wells Conference Center, 131 Munson Rd, Orono, ME 04473
When: 8:30 AM on Tuesday, February 25, until 2:30 PM on Wednesday, February 26
Who: Librarians, teachers, in and out-of-school educators, 4-H staff & volunteers, museum/science center staff, learning experience designers; any adults who engage with youth as part of their learning pathway in the climate and data literacy space. This is for people interested in joining a CLE and for existing members. We want a diversity of educators who work in different contexts to join us. If you bring a friend who works in a different context than you, you will have a chance to win a prize!
Learn more and Register
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Eastern Maine Regional Opportunities for Ocean, Timber and Soil
(ROOTS) Conference
In-Person | March 22 | Machias, ME
2025 Eastern Maine ROOTS Conference brings together industry leaders in agriculture, food, forestry management, fisheries, and aquaculture. Presenters and service providers from UMaine, local agencies, and non-profit organizations will be present to share information with Eastern Maine farmers, fisherfolk, growers, woodland owners and interested community members.
When: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Snow Date: Saturday, March 29, 2025
8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Where:University of Maine at Machias
Reynold’s Center, 116 O’Brien Avenue, Machias, Maine 04654
Learn more and Register
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21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge
Online | April 7- 27
Food Solutions New England will host it’s 11th annual 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge. Each year, thousands of individuals and hundreds of officially participating organizations join in a shared journey of learning and charting a course of action to dismantle racism in our food system and our world.
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Registration Now Open for
The Maine Food Convergence
May 29 | 9am - 4:30pm |Jefferson, ME
The 2025 Convergence will explore how shifts in the food system can advance social and racial equity while increasing climate resilience.
Registration deadline: May 15th or until full
Where: Wavus Camps, 88 Wavus Point Road Jefferson, ME 04348
Who: The Convergence is a space for members of Maine's food, land, climate, and social justice efforts to gather, explore collaborations, and celebrate together. The event aims to:
- align networks around common priorities and connections;
- influence funders, legislators, and investors by supporting and centering the voices of impacted communities and people working on the ground;
- build common understanding around the intersectionality of racial, climate, economic, and food justice within Maine’s food system**;
- inspire, energize, and support participants to work together and implement actions catalyzed at the event (and beyond);
- and more!
Learn more and Register
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OPPORTUNITY FOR SCHOOL NUTRITION PROFESSIONALS
2025 Culinary Skills for School Meals Application Now Open!
The Culinary Skills for School Meals training is a 5-day hands-on intensive culinary training for school nutrition professionals focusing on foundations for food service, including knife skills, cooking techniques, and kitchen efficiencies, to improve the culinary skills of school nutrition professionals.
There will be 4 Culinary Skills Trainings this year.
· August 4-8 | Mt Blue High School, Farmington
· August 11-15 | Edward Little High School, Auburn
· August 18-22 | Kennebunk High School, Kennebunk
· September 29-October 3 | Presque Isle High School*, Presque Isle
The application deadline is Friday, March 28 at 11:59 pm. All applicants will be notified in April whether they are accepted.
Additional information can be found at: LetsGo.org/CulinarySkills
*Preference will be given to school districts in Aroostook County.
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The House Ways and Means Committee wants to make drastic cuts to the number of kids receiving free school meals, As a result, over 75 schools in Maine will likely be negatively affected by this proposal, as will 21,884 Maine students (FPFP). And while School Meals for All in the state guarantees children will still be fed during school hours, Maine schools will see fewer federal dollars coming in to support feeding our kids. | |
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Applications are open for the 2025-2026 Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute
The Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute is a year-long professional development program designed to support school, early childhood education (ECE), and district teams in building robust Farm & Sea to School programs that enhance student learning, promote local food procurement, and strengthen ties to our state’s farming and fishing communities.
Bring Farm to School to your community with the support of an entire network.
Applications are Due Friday March 14, 2025
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Did you miss the informationI webinar?
Learn from Institute leaders, alumni and coaches about the application process, how to build a school team, details of participation, and all the ways the Institute can benefit you and your school community.
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Watch ReTreeUS in Action
Check out this recap of an incredible day at the Cumberland Community Orchard, where volunteers planted 100 fruit trees, making it the largest community orchard in Maine!
Learn more at retree.us and arborday.org
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Maine School Garden Network announces 2026 School Garden of the Month Calendar! | |
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Maine School Garden Network announces the School Garden of the Month Calendar, a new fundraiser to benefit both MSGN and Maine school gardens across the state!
Calendars are available for purchase on the MSGN website as well as participating businesses and school gardens across the state. For more information, go to www.msgn.org/fundraisers
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Advancement Manager | Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association | Full-time | $60,000-$65,000 | Unity and remote office hybrid (TBD), with regular travel throughout Maine
Maine Field Agent | Land for Good | Part-Time | Remote with occasional regional travel
Multiple Job Openings | Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment
Food Services Lead Cook + Multiple Job Openings | Kieve Wavus Education | Full-Time | Nobleboro, ME
Do you have a job you'd like us to share?
Please contact Program Associate Sarah at s.sims@hccame.org
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2025 IS PROCLAIMED AS THE
“YEAR OF YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE” IN MAINE
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Statewide Efforts Aim to Celebrate and Engage the Next Generation of Agricultural Leaders
Governor Janet Mills, in collaboration with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (DACF) and Maine Department of Education (DOE), has proclaimed 2025 as the “Year of Youth in Agriculture” in Maine.
The Year of Youth in Agriculture will focus on integrating youth perspectives into key activities throughout the year, fostering opportunities for learning, networking, and showcasing their contributions to the future of farming. Statewide efforts aim to celebrate and engage the next generation of agricultural leaders.
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Description: A revealing account of what we feed our citizens in schools, hospitals and prisons. Access to good food is the litmus test of a society's commitment to social justice and sustainable development. This book explores the 'good food revolution' in public institutions, asking what broader lessons can be learned.
Drawing on evidence from the UK, US and Sweden, Serving the public highlights how public institutions are harnessing the power of purchase to secure public health, social justice and ecological integrity. The quest for good food in these institutions is an important part of the struggle to redeem the public sphere and repair the damage wrought by forty years of neoliberalism.
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CUNY Urban Food Policy Forum recently hosted a book talk and presentation with Kevin Morgan, Author of Serving the Public: The good food revolution in schools, hospitals, and prisons (Manchester University Press, 2025)
Watch the recording for insightful perspectives on Farm to Institution challenges and opportunities in the US, UK, and Sweden
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Hear an interview with Denise Tapley Proctor, the Food Service Director for RSU 89 in Stacyville, Maine, to talk about the positive impacts of their farm to school program on students and families and their award-winning scratch cooking, which recently received the 2024 USDA Innovation in Preparation of School Meals award. | |
Farm to School Northeast is a monthly podcast that explores the creative ways that local food is getting into school cafeterias and how food system education is playing out in classrooms and school gardens across the northeastern states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. | |
Reading Spotlight
Farm to School Policy in 2024 and What Comes Next
December 16, 2024
National Farm to School Network
Summary: In 2024, the U.S saw policy victories at both the state and federal levels. Key wins include the USDA’s strengthened child nutrition rules, historic funding for farm to school programs, and major gains in state-level local food purchasing. As we look ahead, the focus will shift to protecting these gains, advocating for further policy improvements, and preparing for new legislative opportunities in the upcoming year. Read more at National Farm to School Network
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FEBRUARY'S HARVEST:
ROOT VEGETABLES
Harvest of the Month (HOM) promotes the use of seasonally available, local products in schools. The program is available to Maine Schools who participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and CACFP sites. Each month, a different local product is highlighted, and participating schools and CACFP Sponsors pledge to serve the product and promote it through educational materials and activities.
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“This is the power of gathering: it inspires us, delightfully, to be more hopeful, more joyful, more thoughtful: in a word, more alive.”
― Alice Waters
MEFTI is thrilled to announce that we've recently expanded our communications capacity and are excited to continue growing this newsletter. Our goal is to share even more of the incredible work happening throughout the state. If you have a story or update to contribute to a future edition, we'd love to hear from you.
Submit your story or news to our Program Associate Sarah at s.sims@hccame.org and help MEFTI share your story.
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For any questions about Maine Farm & Sea to Institution, please contact Healthy Communities of the Capital Area's Food Systems Team Alida Peterson at a.peterson@hccame.org & Sarah Sims at s.sims@hccame.org | |
MEFTI fosters collective power through collaboration and coordination to strengthen farm to institution efforts in Maine. By addressing systemic challenges and supporting public health, education, and the local food economy, MEFTI catalyzes a resilient, equitable, and sustainable food system that benefits all. To Learn more, visit mainefarmtoinstitution.org
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Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Network is supported by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation | Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Network is supported by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation | Maine Farm & Sea to School Institute is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture | | | | |
