Download this document as a Word file For immediate release: December 20, 2007 Contact: Jane Livingston, project coordinator Tel.: (207) 947-4117 Email: jane_livingston@verizon.net "We have everything we need to make it work, right here in Maine." Can Maine Feed Maine? BANGOR, DEC. 21 Certainly it's a cause for concern that last year Good Shepherd Food-Bank moved ten million pounds of food around the state to food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens. We'd all like to see those numbers drop, but that isn't likely in this economic climate. In fact, the projection for 2008 is more like twelve million pounds. And while senior staff of Good Shepherd have stated emphatically that they wish every bit of that food was grown and processed in Maine, the question remains: "Is it possible for Maine's family-owned farming and fishing operations and its local, value-added food producers to thrive by feeding the people of Maine, first and foremost?" "The short answer to that question is emphatically, 'Yes!'," says Jane Livingston, who coordinated a recent project called Maine Feeds Maine. "We brought more than one hundred fifty people to the table in November and December to talk about what it would look like and how we can move forward better. The local food groundswell is already happening, we just want to pick up the pace and minimize redundancy. We never set out to start another non-profit. We're into a more cooperative and entrepreneurial mind-set. How can we pull together to get this food revolution on the road?" Weaving the network together 'Maine Feeds Maine' was a series of four half-day discussions among producers, retailers (Hannaford, Whole Foods, several food co-ops), government workers, local and rural business developers, and organizations focused on nutrition and health, farm-to-school programs, sustainable agriculture, and more. Each discussion took place at four sites simultaneously, linked audio-visually via the Maine Distance Learning Project (MDLP). There are 91 sites in this system, almost all located at secondary schools around the state. The Maine Feeds Maine project involved 16 of the sites, which are available for community use. Any four sites may be linked interactively and any of the other sites can observe and access the interactive sites by a special phone system. The project received some money from Maine Farm Credit and Northeast Farm Credit, but was primarily funded by an anonymous Maine donor through the Maine Community Foundation. An agent of the donor contacted Livingston last spring to inquire about her idea of 'virtual roundtables' that would enable producers to be a more active part of the discussion about local food networks. "We can't always be asking the farmers and fisherfolk to come to the table in Augusta, or Portland, or even Bangor," says Livingston. "We have to take the table to them." When she initially brought this up with Maine Department of Agriculture's John Harker, he suggested she check out the MDLP. She immediately wrote one grant proposal to a Maine foundation that was turned down, but evidently the word was passed around. Last June, the project received a $14,000 MCF grant and Livingston immediately began to organize. For administrative and strategic assistance she turned to the Cooperative Development Institute, a Northeast regional center for group-based business development with whom she has been associated for 14 years. "I had total creative control of the project but their back-up was essential. They helped with the very complex and on-going registration process and sent regular communiqués to a listserve that grew from their core Maine list. They handled the initial Survey Monkey we used to create an agenda, as well as the paperwork and the bookkeeping, and they provided invaluable feedback in the planning process." Experienced group process facilitators Ron Beard and Deb Burwell were enlisted to orchestrate the multi-site meetings, and a dozen other participants, some producers and some community organizers or Cooperative Extension educators, were recruited as satellite site facilitators to lead the local networking segments of each session. Hand-picked participants "From the start, we knew we weren't looking just for warm bodies," she explains. "We were strictly word-of-mouth, or word-of-email. The MDLP classrooms are mostly pretty small, limited to 10 or 15 people, so we needed every seat to be filled by someone who had already done some thinking about--maybe even taken some action around--local food networks." Each session saw several dozen people sitting down to brainstorm and share opinions, resources, and feelings. The audio wasn't always great and some of the video was blurry but the goal of demonstrating to producers and others how using the tool could empower them was more than realized. "We had some important anchors," Livingston points out. "John Harker, of course, who supported the idea from day one and operated the technical system that enabled us to pull it off. Deanne Herman at the department was also an invaluable advisor. Ann Perloff helped me understand the distance learning system, and John Rebar and Doug Babkirk of Cooperative Extension were very supportive. Jim Cook of Crown Of Maine Organic Cooperative (COMOC), the producer-owned statewide distribution company he runs from his farm in Grand Isle, told his network of producers and retailers that he planned to be at every session. He even co-hosted a panel on it at MOFGA's annual Farmer to Farmer conference, which was very well attended. "COMOC's credibility and Jim's integrity drew many of the producers who came to Maine Feeds Maine. Above everyone else who participated (including Auburn's mayor John Jenkins, well-known organizer Larry Dansinger and former MPBN news director John Greenman), they made it evident, as one fellow said in the wrap-up round, that 'Coming today made me see that we have everything we need right here in Maine to make it work.'" Producer-driven outcomes Among other outcomes, a group of Down East producers and allies has already formed 'Maine Feeds Maine Washington County' and plans to meet in January. Several business deals have sprung from networking with other participants, and some potentially powerful collaborations have surfaced. Legislators are now talking about using their own distance learning site to communicate with farmers who have a hard time making it to Augusta in the Monday-Friday, nine-to-five window of opportunity. An interactive web site has been set up by Snakeroot Organic Farm's Tom Roberts and can be found at: http://mainefeedsmaine.org. A report on the project and initial outcomes will be released at a 'Maine Feeds Maine' program on opening day of the Agricultural Trades Show this January 15th at the Augusta Civic Center. The group has purchased an exhibit booth (#167) and is asking participants to contribute their brochures, posters, labels, photos and other materials. "I hope they send me stuff," laughs Livingston. "Otherwise it'll just be me, talking to folks. "All we did was rent the space; the participants in Maine Feeds Maine have always been in charge of loading the content! "And," she notes, "while we know Augusta is hardly the epicenter of the local food movement, "just on this one day, January fifteenth, we want those who took part in the discussions and those who would have if they could have, to come help decide our next steps. January 15th: Pickets and tickets "A huge amount of creative energy was generated and quite a lot of activity has already begun," she concludes. "Some of us think we should picket the State House cafeteria. Some of us think it's time to talk about working groups and agendas and how this effort can fit in with and support existing efforts. " Livingston has ordered 20 tickets to the Commissioner's Luncheon and afternoon Reception on Tuesday, January 15th, opening day of the Agricultural Trades Show. She says, "They are for the first thirty Maine Feeds Maine participant producers who let me know they are willing to say a few words at our program, or over lunch or cocktails, about what Maine's small-scale, commodity and value-added food producers need most from those who were elected to represent the rest of us, in order to make local food reliance a reality." Maine Feeds Maine producers committed to being in August Jan. 15th may contact her at jane_livingston@verizon.net for a ticket, on a first-come basis.