MEFTI catalyzes a social impact network focused on farm to institution in Maine to build a healthy and sustainable regional food system.
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MEFTI September Newsletter: |
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What's Inside?
- Maine Farm to Institution Updates
- Transforming Culture
- Leadership Team Spotlight
- COVID-19 & Local Food
- Funding & Training Opportunities
- Webinar Opportunties
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Maine Farm to Institution Updates |
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Forward Contracts for the Maine Food System? |
Could forward contracts be a solution to some of the market chaos growers experienced this year? Please take this 10 minute survey by FarmSmart Business Services and Coastal Enterprises, Inc. to gauge interest in a forward contracting arrangement. More info here.
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Finding New Markets for Maine Farmers: A University of Maine Cooperative Extension Bulletin |
"This information is designed to help farmers and growers who have lost some or all of their markets (or are looking for a new market)." |
October is National Farm to School Month |
"This marks the tenth annual 31-day campaign to recognize, appreciate and celebrate the connections happening across the country between kids, families and their community food systems."
Learn more about the ways to involve your community including nominating a community food champion to receive $500.
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Join Maine Farm to School Network for their Strategic Planning Event |
And share your voice with MFSN |
Fill out this 10 minute MFSN survey by 10/7 and be entered to WIN a basket of locally grown Maine Grains!
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Support Latinx Farmworkers in our communities |
Mano en Mano's Estamos Aquí Fund is a mutual aid fund to support immigrants and farmworkers in Maine with financial challenges associated with COVID-19, especially those who are not eligible for government support right now. Community members can request and receive direct funds for whatever immediate needs they are facing including housing, utilities, food, and more.
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Leadership Team Spotlight
Maine Farm to Institution Network welcomed a new cohort of leaders last fall to guide the future of the farm to institution movement in Maine. Each month we will highlight a Leadership Team member and the ways they've been involved with farm to institution work.
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What's an exciting Farm to Institution project you are working on?
MEFTI is involved in supporting some work that the Wild Blueberry Commission and the University of Maine are doing to look into ways to develop additional markets for wild blueberry growers in Maine. I've had the chance to participate in a recent call related to that in support of research that a UMaine Economist is carrying out which includes investigating institutional markets as possible outlets for blueberries.
I also recently submitted a $300K USDA Grant for Montezuma County School to Farm Project here in SW Colorado where I live, to help support professional development for local teachers who want to do more to incorporate the existing school gardens into their classes, and to provide more learning opportunities for them to learn about Ancestral Puebloan agriculture and current agriculture initiatives of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe locally.
What have you found to be the biggest barrier to local procurement?
I believe the biggest barrier to local procurement is the inherently unfair food system that is in place that has been built up over many many decades and is the result of corporate lobbying at the federal level and policies that don't reflect the needs of communities. In addition to that fundamental issue which we will continue to be up against for some time I feel, the other biggest barrier is the expectation that food at the institutional level should be cheap and convenient, and therefore budgets and institutional leadership base their decision-making, staffing, and financial allocations on that from year to year.
What's your favorite local food?
My favorite local food in Maine is wild blueberries and my favorite local food in SW Colorado where I now live is peaches. As a former small-scale tomato farmer, I also would say that those first local heirloom tomatoes that come off the vine are probably my favorite anywhere.
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NEW USDA Launches Resource Hub on Local Food System Response to COVID-19
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NEW As School Meal Programs Go Broke, a Renewed Call for Universal Free Lunch By Lisa Held, Civil Eats’ Senior policy reporter
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"The need for more outdoor learning is bringing new schools and classrooms into the world of Farm to School (FTS), which has already established curriculums, lessons, and activities that are ready to be implemented."
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FINE's resource library has a wealth of farm to institution resources as well as relevant COVID-19 information.
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Maine Farm and Seafood Products Directory details what local food is available across the state and what alternative pick-up options producers are using during COVID-19.
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Maine specific COVID-19 resources for farmers and fishers can be found on our website. |
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Funding & Training Opportunities |
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Funding
Deadline: October 7, 2020
Deadline: October 22, 2020
Deadline: November 17, 2020
Deadline: November 22, 2020
Accepted on a rolling basis
While Funds Last
While Funds Last
Deadline: December 11, 2020
Trainings
November 9th-11th, 2020 9:00am-1:00pm ET
"Join us for our multi-day virtual racial equity training that will offer a shared language, a shared framework, and a shared history for understanding how racism and systemic barriers inhibit equity in the food system. Our goal is for this training to assist with setting meaningful goals and strategies to ensure racial equity in farm & food programs and policy."
"The MAMP provides alternative dispute resolution through mediation to farmers, their lenders and others directly affected by the actions of certain USDA agencies, neighbor disputes, and workplace and family disagreements that affect the farm."
Deadline: October 1, 2020
"This program is designed for commercial farmers who grow vegetables and/or small fruit, and agricultural advisors who work with vegetable/small fruit farms. Participants will enhance their knowledge of climate change and green house gas mitigation, experiment with or evaluate adaptation management practices, and encourage other farmers to explore farm-specific climate change adaptation measures through this peer-to-peer curriculum."
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Local
October 5, 2020 3:00 - 4:00 pm | Hosted by University of Maine
October 29, 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Hosted by MOFGA|
$25, $15 for MOFGA members. Journeyperson Program participants and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) free.
November 2, 2020 3:00 - 4:00 pm |Hosted by University of Maine Sea Grant
Regional
October 1, 2020 12:00pm ET | Hosted by Tufts University and Farm to Institution New England
October 6th & 7th, 2020 | Hosted by NH Farm to School and Office of Nutrition NH Department of Education
Oct 13, 20 & 27, 2020 10:00 am ET | Hosted by New England Dairy
October 6 to 15, 10:00 am to 8:30 pm | Hosted by UNH Cooperative Extension
November 12th & 13th, 2020 | Save the date | Hosted by The Farm to Plate Network
National
Oct 14, 2020 1:00 - 3:00 pm ET | National Farm to School Network
Webinar Recordings| Hosted by USDA
Weekly Broadcast and Webinar Recordings| Hosted by A Growing Culture (AGC)
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Maine Farm to Institution Network is supported by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation |
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is the Fiscal and Staffing Home to the Maine Farm to Institution Network
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