Community & Economic Development

Maine Street Marketplace

A meeting to design a delivery system to connect Maine producers with Maine consumers, wholesalers, & retailers

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
9:00AM-2:00 PM
Glickman Library, 7th floor, University of Southern Maine in Portland

Please RSVP to University of Maine Cooperative Extension by February 5, 2009
at (207) 780-4205 or e-mail Colleen Hoyt
$10.00 registration covers “local foods” lunch.
Payable in cash or check at the door to Cumberland County Extension Association.

Maine Street Marketplace is an idea to reinvent the infrastructure that supports our local food system to meet the demands of the 21st century. By working together, we can create a delivery system where Maine producers can connect directly with Maine consumers, wholesalers, and retailers to exchange Maine products, including produce, fish, meat and poultry, dairy, greenhouse, fiber, and other goods. Designed, owned, and managed by producers, the marketplace would feature a number of capabilities in one location, such as the following:

• Online ordering for households, wholesalers, restaurants, institutions, buying clubs
• 24/7 access for producers to update available inventory
• Warehousing and refrigeration of product for distribution
• Commercial kitchen for value added processing
• Co-packing and re-packing services
• Transportation network to move produce from farm to market
• Expansion of CSA operations in Maine through pick-up and delivery
• Retail storefront for consumers and visitors

Please join us on February 10 to learn more about the idea and participate in a facilitated discussion to create a high level design of the components of our local food system. We hope to design a model that fulfills the desires of many but that is always changing to respond to local needs. Together we can feed ourselves!

Hosted by
Cape Farm Alliance www.capeelizabethfarms.com
Jordan Farm www.jordansfarm.com
Broadturn Farm www.broadturnfarm.com
Greater Portland Council of Governments www.gpcog.org
Threshold to Maine Resource Conservation and Development www.thresholdtomaine.org
University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Cumberland County www.umext.maine.edu