Food Innovation
PDAL Food Competitions, Training, and Summer Tour
Rob Dumas, UMaine’s food science innovation coordinator and manager of the Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant, is partnering with UMaine Cooperative Extension on a grant that brings culinary arts instructors from across the state together to learn about the vast array of nutritional raw materials in Maine.
Through the Professional Development in Agricultural Literacy grant, Dumas and extension professor Kathleen Savoie are teaching the state’s culinary technical instructors about the diverse economic food chain that exists in Maine, and connecting instructors, students, and businesses in a dynamic web of flavors and textures from all over the state.
“At the very beginning, our intention was to strengthen our food system here in Maine. We thought we could do that by helping career tech education have a better understanding of Maine’s food system,” said Dumas. “Having it in the curriculum of 700 career tech educators throughout the state and getting them exposed to and inspired by Maine foods will hopefully lead to a lifelong interest in those foods – seeding it into careers and in turn creating more demand for Maine-grown food and more opportunities for Maine’s producers.”
Dumas and Savoie visit classrooms across the state, providing culinary arts instructors with a firsthand look at their teaching methods and interaction with students, and exposing them to diverse instructional styles. Savoie, a registered dietitian, and Dumas, an American Culinary Federation certified executive chef, offer participants a wealth of knowledge. They can take the students through activities that are modeled after the practical exam that students would take if they sought certification. All the ingredients that are used are local from the fall bounty of carrots, pumpkins, onions, garlics, beets, radishes, and turnips. Local proteins are also on hand. Immersing both the instructors and the students in these food networks helps to foster a better understanding of how Maine’s agricultural roots sustain Maine’s economy and nutritional health.
After the visits, instructors take a multi-day bus tour of agricultural businesses across the state to learn more about the raw materials chefs work with day in and day out.
Collaboration with the Good Crust
Rob Dumas, UMaine’s food science innovation coordinator and manager of the Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant, collaborated with Heather Kerner, CEO of the Good Crust, a pizza dough manufacturer in Canaan, Maine, to help the company scale up their dough-making and test freeze it for shipping. The Good Crust, which utilizes 100% Maine-sourced, sustainably grown grains in its dough, is now being offered to more than 150 breweries, food service programs, restaurants, and natural food stores throughout Maine and New England.