Featured Blog Posts (37)

Want delicious, fresh fish this summer?



We're still taking new CSF subscribers--Sign up anytime to receive a weekly share of wild-caught fish harvested by the Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative of Port Clyde, Maine!



Your weekly share of our fishermen’s fresh catch will consist of a variety of

haddock, cod, flounder, hake, dabs, grey sole, monkfish, pollock and redfish.



Whole Fish Subscription Options (cleaned and packed on ice)

Half… Continue

Yesterday loaded up several people with well composted manure. Enjoy watching peoples reaction when they see how dark and rich the manure is. Last night evaluated our lambs and marked two ewes that will be good replacement ewes. Have some nice lambs this year. Good long length, depth, and out of ewes with superior maternal instincts. Now need to begin halter training the 4 lambs we kept from last year.

Will be busy now, turning compost into garden and plant,plant plant. My favorite time of… Continue

Hello ELFC folk,



Here is a mission for someone to get going on: Reform the federal school policy that dictates all uneaten fruit be thrown out if the child receiving the "free federal meal" chooses not to eat it.



As of 2005 when I worked in the public schools in Portland, I was told it is federally policy to prohibit teachers from collecting uneaten fruit or for children to share it with others. The reasoning cited was "health concerns." Even fruits with protective skins… Continue

No one is happy with their current health care benefits (except, perhaps, Congress who have blessed themselves with lavishly complete medical benefit plans,) but according to a recent article in AARP magazine, we in the US are now spending about $8000 per person per year and we're getting crappy results for that… Continue

Early Spring parsnips are freshly dug. They are sweet and buttery, even before you add the maple syrup and butter! Simply boiled, they need little to dress them. They are also great additions to any dish calling for potatoes. The best Shepherd's Pie I have ever had was topped with spring-dug parsnips. (Stacy warns me that my enthusiasm for the roots is more related to the garden's spring wake-up...) But planted in Spring of last year, they have… Continue

SAVE YOUR FOOD & SMALL FARMERS!

No to HR875, HR759, HR814, HR1105 and S.425 and No to NAIS!



Corn engineered with human genes (Dow)

Rice engineered with human genes (in California) (Applied Phytologics)

Sugarcane engineered with human genes (Hawaii Agricultural Research Center)

Corn with pig, hepatitis B virus & simian immunodeficiency virus genes (ProdiGene)

Pigs engineered with mouse and e-coli genes “Enviropigs” (Ontario’s University of Guelph,… Continue

Tickets for the three of the FOOD+FARM 2009 events are now on sale via SPACE Gallery's Brown Paper Tickets page. The event runs May 7-10 at SPACE Gallery and many of the events, particularly the Bryant Terry talk and the advance preview screening of the new film Food, Inc. are expected to sell out.



Eat Maine Foods members get fist crack at buying tickets here.



We're still working on the scheduling for the Sunday,… Continue

In February the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (for whom I work) sent out our latest newsletter. Although I'd be naive to think that there wouldn't be opposition to our position, I was surprised to see such strong support for for agribusiness in a fisheries magazine. I've attached this response to our newsletter as published in the April issue of National Fisherman, a Portland, ME publication. What do you think?



Green Jobs on the Blue Ocean



A message from Niaz… Continue

Rippling Waters / Backyard Organics is a small nonprofit 12 acre vegetable farm and greenhouse operation locate on the banks of the Saco River in Standish, Maine. Currently 5 acres are in production. A large variety of MOFGA certified organic produce and other products including organic vegetable seedlings, herbs, bedding plants, and perennials are grown for markets in the Portland and Bridgton area. Besides several wholesale accounts, farm products are sold at 3 different farmers’ markets, at… Continue

Greetings!



We are running six-week Maine shrimp CSF subscriptions starting on February 6th, 7th, and 8th in seven locations around the state. Would you please help us spread the word?



CSF is the acronym for Community Supported Fishery. CSFs are modeled after the highly-successful Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) concept. In both CSAs and CSFs, members pay for shares at the beginning of the season and pick up their shares at a specific time and place each… Continue

1.) Eat well yourself. If your relationship with food needs some work, there is nothing that will have a greater single impact on your kids' health for the rest of their lives than for you to eat well and feel good yourself right now. (Need help with that? Hire a health counselor!) The "do what I say and not what I do" line your parents gave you never worked when YOU were a kid and it won't work now. Kids listen to your actions, not your words. Furthermore, the Center… Continue

This new MSGN is now looking for volunteer members for an advisory board. Being a member of this board will be an opportunity to shape the Maine School Garden Network as it is being rebuilt, and to create support for school gardens and green school initiatives all over the state.



One and two year board membership opportunities are available. We are looking for some college and high school age members, and also for members with fundraising experience or expertise. Most of all though,… Continue

Today brings a brand new year with the shivering sunshine peeking above the horizon. What will 2009 bring for all? Exactly what you want it to. Businesses have a chance to really shine this year after a less than stellar 2008. A chance to lead the pack and do something really great with your business. As business owners we have the real ability to affect environmental and social change and make 2009 a banner year for green businesses going forward.



Start with the small steps. Change… Continue

As we look forward to another exciting year here at Mother Oven Bakery, we would like to take a moment to thank all our customers for sharing the passion for local, organic, whole grain foods with us this past year. Because of your continued support, we had one of our best years yet - and we are expecting 2009 to be even better. As many of you know, 2008 saw the expansion of our line of products and an increase in retail offerings at both farmer's markets and directly out of our bakery in… Continue

If you missed it in print, here it is online:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=227892&ac=Food

It's a common refrain that good food is not affordable food, and unfortunately, it's often true. This is, however, the first time in human history that nutrient-depleted food is cheaper than nutrient-dense food. This is a twisted fact that stems from none other than the industrial revolution. Once machines could process our foods, we started having them do it in massive quantities. Why would white rice ever be cheaper than brown rice? It's had more done to it! Volume. Industrial processing was… Continue

When I was a kid, my grandmother would pick up my sister and me on Saturday mornings and take us to do her weekly shopping. First to Uncle Andy’s Bakery in South Portland. There she would trade her fresh farm eggs for her weekly baked goods and a treat for us. Then across the bridge to Harbor Fish Market. Howard Latham would take eggs for fish, and then trade some of the eggs with another vendor while holding some aside for his family. After… Continue