Event report from MFC…
Morris Farm and Chewonki co-hosted the 5th annual Community Forum on Food Security in Lincoln County at Chewonki on March 2nd. The program this year focused on exploring short and long term solutions to food insecurity. Merrymeeting Gleaners Coordinator, Kelly Davis, co-facilitated a breakout session about gleaning with Lynne Holland from the Cooperative Extension and MFC Steering Committee chair, and Rebecca McConnaughey from Growing to Give. The keynote speaker was Dr. Donna Beegle, who gave an inspirational talk about her experience growing up in generational poverty.
On March 15th and 16th, Kelly Davis, the Merrymeeting Gleaners Coordinator, attended the 14th annual Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit. This year's summit was held at USM in Portland. Kelly co-facilitated a session on the nuts and bolts of managing a gleaning organization, along with Frank Wertheim and Kate Garland from UMaine Cooperative Extension's Harvest for Hunger program. Kelly also participated in a panel on gleaning with Jeff Newell of Androscoggin Gleaners and Colleen Donlan from Cumberland County Food Security Initiative. The summit was attended by hundreds of people from around the globe. There were 67 college campuses represented at the conference.
On April 26th, the Maine Network of Community Food Councils gathered at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast for their Annual Summit. Representatives from food councils across Maine joined with other food system representatives to discuss The Changing Landscape of Maine’s Farms and Food Systems. Three Merrymeeting Food Council members co-facilitated workshops sessions: Local Food and Community Health (Jamison Pacheco, MFC and Darcy Cooke from Food AND Medicine), Integrating Seafood and Fisheries in Local Food Systems (Harriet Van Vleck, MFC and Julianna Fischer from Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance), and Jumpstarting a Gleaning Program in Your Community (Kelly Davis, MFC and Stephen Knight from Central Maine Gleaners). MFC’s region was very well represented with fourteen individuals affiliated with MFC attending the event!
***To learn more and share ideas about food access barriers and community health, join MFC and partners for a community conversation on June 20th!***