University of Maine Cooperative Extension Launches “Think Globally, Eat Locally” Initiative

Contact: John Jemison, 581-3241.

Food has shaped much of human culture and history, and the role of food in society is changing. A new University of Maine Cooperative Extension outreach program will help you shape the future by gaining a better understanding where your food comes from; how it is grown; and the nutritional, societal and environmental issues surrounding the nation’s food supply.

Starting March 1, John Jemison and Kate Yerxa, both educators with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will lead “Think Globally, Eat Locally,” a Food System Extension outreach program that covers the history and role of food in our lives today.

Through presentations, video, hands-on training, and discussion, Jemison and Yerxa will cover the challenges with today’s food system and discuss ways we can work together today to improve it. Topics include: threats to the system:  climate change, energy and water; relics of the green revolution; genetic engineering/genetically modified foods; how food influences health and well-being; new food movements such as Slow Food, farm-to-school and school gardens; and how to grow good, clean and just food for yourself and your community.

“The best-case scenario, after this program, is that people would be spending more of their food dollars on locally grown food, supporting local farmers and creating the need for more farmers,” Jemison says. “People would eat better, feel better and be actively involved in their community in food-related issues.”

Jemison and Yerxa will ask participants to give 25 hours of service in a meaningful project related in some way to food systems. Examples might include volunteering in a food pantry, starting a church or school garden, or developing a farmers market.

There is a $25 registration fee for this 25-hour, four-week program. Scholarships are available. The workshop will take place on Monday nights in the Coe Room of the University of Maine Memorial Union.

The first two sessions will begin at 5:30 p.m. due to spring break building hours. The remaining sessions will start at 6:30 p.m. and end at 9:00.  To register, please contact John Jemison at 581-3241 or jemison@maine.edu.