Saucy Processing Workgroup News
In August, the statewide, cross-sector Processing Workgroup made strides on putting long standing relationships into action by designing the Maine Marinara Collaborative. A proposal was written for the Kendall 2022 New England Food Vision Prize, and we’ve just received word that the project has been awarded funding! The Collaborative will produce a regionally–sourced, Maine–processed marinara sauce for use in multiple hospitals, Department of Corrections facilities, and K-12 schools.
This project will bring together multiple stakeholders, particularly those impacted by systemic inequities – from supply chain partners to institutional buyers – to develop relationships and solutions to long standing issues. Lessons learned and potential partnerships will be shared with the wider Convergence network to spark similar projects and/or other farm to institution value-added products. The project will start with a test batch of marinara sauce this Fall, followed by the pilot batch grown and produced Spring to Fall/Winter of 2023. The pilot batch would source 10,000 pounds of local vegetables from BIPoC farms and produce 179,000 servings of yummy sauce for its destination institutions. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us!
Congratulations to the other projects in Maine who were also chosen for Food Vision Prize Funding. So much collective learning ahead from the development of the various projects!
Expanding Locally-Grown, Frozen Broccoli Distribution to Educational Institutions Throughout New England (Partnerships include The Good Shepherd Food Bank, Sodexo, Native Maine, WR Allen, and Jasper Wyman & Son.)
Building Access to and Demand for Regional Seafood in Schools (Partnerships include Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Portland Public Schools, and Westbrook Public Schools.)