Network Building & Food System Support
Farm Labor Roundtable attendees gathered to discuss challenges and opportunities.
Photo Credit: Merrymeeting Food Council
To fulfill our aim of bringing partners and community together to discuss pressing issues facing the food system in our region, MFC plans to host a few community conversations each year.
In mid-December, after a truly collaborative planning process, MFC helped convene more than 50 people to engage in a solutions oriented discussion about the labor challenges faced by many farms in our region and statewide. The evening was facilitated by Nikkilee Cataldo of Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust (and a founding member of MFC) and was held at the Bowdoinham Town Hall. Brief presentations were followed by breakout sessions for longer discussions led by farmers and service providers. The first half of the evening focused on existing labor pools; farmers and service providers shared their experiences working with specific labor pools. Cathy Karonis from Fairwinds Farm in Topsham and Bowdoinham shared insights about employing high school students, Muhidin Libah from the Somali Bantu Community Association of Lewiston Auburn discussed working with New Mainers, Ian Jerolmack of Stonecipher Farm in Bowdoinham shared his experience hiring H-2A visa workers, and Jan Goranson from Goranson Farm in Dresden talked about how they have structured and organized their workforce. Darcy Brockman from Maine Department of Labor’s Vocational Rehab Program and Leilani Carlson from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s AgrAbility Program spoke about opportunities for working with individuals with disabilities. Randy Thomas, the Farm Manager at Buldoc Correctional Facility in Warren, spoke about opportunities to hire workers through Work Release Programs. The second half of the evening again included short presentations followed by breakout discussions which were focused on three topics. A discussion about organizing labor and worker cooperatives was led by Katherine Bessey from the Cooperative Development Institute. Discussion of the needs and opportunities related to farm worker career development and training was led by Richard Brzozowski, Food System Program Administrator at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Jason Lilley, a Sustainable Agriculture Professional with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension shared resources and insights about effective labor management on farms.
Next steps, event notes, and a resource document created during the planning process, will be available on our website soon and emailed directly to attendees. If you were unable to attend the event, but would like to receive these materials directly, please contact us. Read more about this event in coverage from the Lancaster Farmer.
Farmers! Please complete this survey from Cooperative Development Institute about Farm Labor.
Kennebec Estuary Land Trust’s LOCAL Garden. Photo credit: KELT
MFC’s next roundtable will be focused on Community Gardens (details coming soon). Contact us if you are interested in helping plan this conversation or can share resources other gardens might find useful!
If you have a topic you would like to see as the focus of a future community conversation, please reach out!
As a member of the Maine Network of Community Food Councils Lead Team, MFC has contributed to recent statewide food system funding proposals and is looking forward to sharing more details soon about a multi-stakeholder statewide food system summit being planned for Fall 2020 with support from the Quimby Family Foundation. This project is being led by five organizations: Maine Climate Action NOW!; Maine Farm to Institution Network; Maine Food Strategy; the Maine Gleaning Network; and the Maine Network of Community Food Councils. The statewide summit and several pre-summit gatherings will begin to knit together the broad network of food system organizations and networks that exist in Maine with the aim of increasing our collective impact, building capacity, and reducing duplication. We look forward to sharing more on this soon!
Food Access & Health
As part of MFC’s work to increase access to healthy local produce for all in our region, MFC created Community Nutrition Resource Guides for all 14 of our communities. They are available for free on our website and we are counting on our network to help spread the word about these guides. They will be updated regularly so please check back for the latest versions and let us know if you see any updates needed or missing information. Print these out for your school, farmers’ market, town office, or…! If you aren’t sure if your community is within MFC’s service area, check out the service area map at the bottom of our homepage.
MFC’s Merrymeeting Gleaners had another record year in 2019. Review 2019 by the numbers, read about our bone broth pilot, and read other updates from the Merrymeeting Gleaners here!
Chefs George and Mark (above) and organizers taking a moment to welcome and thank everyone (below).
Photo credit: Jo Werther
Community Meals! One outcome of our community food access work over the past year and a half was the recognition that there are communities in our region interested in starting or revitalizing existing community meals. These are a simple way of building community and building access to healthy foods for all residents whether the barrier is transportation, time, finances, or something else.
MFC helped a group of volunteers launch a successful monthly community brunch in Bowdoinham this fall. Each of the four brunches has been attended by 65 or more people, of all ages. Residents are thrilled to have these opportunities to gather around good food during these cold months to see friends, old and new. Farmers and community members have generously donated ingredients and baked goods, and volunteers have planned and prepared delicious family style meals each month. The fourth Sunday brunch was held in early January with almost 100 attending! Through donations, $425 was raised during the January brunch for the Bowdoinham Food Pantry which, like other pantries in the region, has seen a significant increase in use during the past year.
Interested? MFC can help convene residents of other communities who are looking to start or revive a community meal program. We can share ideas from Harpswell Aging at Home’s Lunch with Friends model and our experience in Bowdoinham for inspiration.
We look forward to continuing to find ways to help people come together around food, build community, and support our food system in 2020!
Catch up on more news from MFC’s Merrymeeting Gleaners, MFC Partner Updates and Statewide Food System News!
Let us know how you would like to see our local and statewide food system grow. Are there connections you would like to make with other sectors of the food system? Email us with ideas.
Hope you are enjoying these additional minutes of daylight and planning for Spring! CSA sign-ups are opening and farms are beginning to hire for seasonal positions…Spring must be coming!