Locally grown produce highlighted at Maine Broccoli Takeover

ORONO, Maine (WABI) - The University of Maine in Orono joined 10 other schools across the state for The Maine Broccoli Takeover hosted by food supplier Sodexo.

The takeover highlighted Sodexo’s partnership with Good Shepard Food Bank and efforts to bring locally grown food to these campuses.

“One of the Sodexo values is to support the community in which we work. And so to do that, it means you know partnering with variety of different vendors farmers, collaboration such as with Harvesting Good, where you know, a portion of the product is going to help fight food insecurity here in Maine,” said Maine Course Director Maeve Mcinnis.

Harvesting Good, a subsidiary of Good Shepard, is aiming to combat food insecurity by feeding those who are hungry and investing in local farmers.

“We believe nobody should go hungry. And students who are hungry, can’t study can’t learn,” said Matt Chin, president of Harvesting Good. “And we are doing it. We think for the right reasons. We’re not doing it to make money. We’re doing it to feed hungry people. We’re doing it to invest in the local food systems. We want to help small Maine farmers become financially stable over time.”

“This project is by far one of the best feel-good projects you could ever have in farming. Not only is Harvesting Good, Sodexo, and Good Shepherd supporting local farms, but we’re bringing more money back into the economy,” said Thomas Ayer, owner of Circle B Farms.

Broccoli is the number one vegetable consumed by students at the University of Maine’s different campuses.

During the event students could try a number of different dishes featuring broccoli grown right here in Maine.

“We can do it in Maine. And I think that shows just the initiative that the Maine farmer has, we can get it done,” Ayer added.

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