Local Foods Portland

[Local Sprouts Cooperative]

Local Sprouts Cooperative is interested in bringing together food groups in Portland to have a discussion about how we can work together and combine our resources & energy effectively in creating a vibrant local foods network here in Portland.
One proposal to get this idea rolling is to have a roundtable discussion on Earth Day. Many local foods groups participate in the Urban Earth Day Celebration in Congress Square organized annually by MENSK. We set-up tables and talk to the general public and maybe individually to each other. We think it would be great to have a roundtable discussion either during or after this Earth Day Celebration (since people are already there) and really talk about about how we can work together locally in Portland. I know this year's theme for the Earth Day celebration is Transportation and I don't know what is planned for programming (Eli from MENSK is on this site so potentially he can join in this discussion).
Thanks....
In food and community
Jonah

[Food for Maine's Future]

this is a great idea! we hope to do the same coming out of our conference around the state. Please keep us updated and let us know what we can do to help.

Also, if you are from a different part of the state and want to organize something like this in your area - let us know!

[Eben]

I was in Burlington Vermont this past weekend and as I walked down Church Street I saw that most of the restaurants were part of the Vermont Fresh Network. If you are not familiar the VFM builds partnerships between restaurants and local food producers in an effort to: build strong local communities and economies, educate consumers, keep green spaces open, etcetera. The restaurants that are part of the network display a large plaque next to their front door showing loudly that they are part of local agricultural community. I think that it is a great implementation of an idea.

[Local Sprouts Cooperative]

Yeah, I think this is a great idea. the Buy Local Campaign in Portland has gotten really popular and I think doing an Eat Local Campaign with a similar strategy could be really effective. A way for local businesses and establishments that focus on using local food to advertise that and connect together...

[Kathleen Haigh-Trodden]

There has never been a better time than now to help consumers find what we are producing, and what savvy restaurants are using. As farmers, the need to further educate and help people to eat local, is to let them know that when they eat at a certain establishment, the food is fresh, local, and (hopefully) organic!

[Eben]

What steps need to be taken, are there already resources in our community to implement this. To me your idea sounds like there needs to be a Broker, perhaps a hired service that works with individual chefs to get them what they need but also provides updates of who is growing what and acts as a liaison between the two. I wonder if this already exists somewhere.