Conference Will Plant Seeds for Farm to School
The third annual Maine Farm to School Conference will take place at Ellsworth Elementary and Middle School on Saturday November 1st, from 9am to 4pm. The conference is organized by the Maine School Garden Network, the Maine Farm to School Network, FoodCorps Maine, and Maine Agriculture in the Classroom, in partnership with Healthy Acadia and Ellsworth Public Schools.
The aim of the conference is to bring educators, school food service staff, and farm to school and garden organizers together to share best practices from around Maine and the country. Workshops will include: Local Purchasing and Processing; School Orchards; Seed Saving; Best Cafeteria Practices; Boat to School; Extending the School Garden Season; Waste Reduction and Cafeteria Composting; and much more. Speakers will include: Chelsea Simpson of the National Farm to School Network; Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Commissioner Walt Whitcomb; and John Piotti, President of Maine Farmland Trust.
In previous years this hugely successful and popular conference has taken place in Unity and Portland. This year, conference organizers are pleased to bring it to a new region of Maine. “This is an incredible opportunity for teachers, school cooks, parents, students, and school administrators from the Downeast region to hear from state and national level experts on Farm to School, as well as to share their wealth of experience from the region’s growing Farm to School movement” says Katie Freedman, Food, Farm and Nutrition Program Manager at Healthy Acadia.
Conference registration costs $20, and is now open at www.eventbrite.com/e/2014-
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