System’s local food pledge focus of Press Herald editorial

The University of Maine System’s pledge to offer more local food was the focus of a Portland Press Herald editorial. When the University of Maine System signed a food-service contract in 2016 prioritizing local food, it sent a strong message about supporting Maine agriculture, according to the editorial. The 10-year contract set the goal of purchasing 20 percent of all food from local growers and producers by 2020, and in January 2018, university officials announced the system already was at 23 percent. “By working with growers and producers they already knew, and by seeking out others who could meet their needs, food-service officials throughout the system — including in Orono, which by itself made great strides in the use of local food in the last two years — they replaced food from out of state with Maine-made offerings, and in the process provided a new market to many local growers,” the editorial states.