UMaine Dining hosts event focusing on local food and sustainability
Locally sourced foods and sustainability will be highlighted in a Bangor Greendrinks event Feb. 11 at the University of Maine.
UMaine Dining is hosting the Bangor Greendrinks event from 5–8 p.m. in Wells Conference Center. A suggested donation of $5 per person will benefit the Greendrinks Green Grants program.
Bangor Greendrinks events focus on growing sustainable local businesses and provide a great opportunity to network with professionals from throughout the Greater Bangor Region, according to the organization’s website. More information about the UMaine event is online.
UMaine Dining has planned a menu of locally sourced foods. Orono Brewing Company beer will be available for people age 21 and older, and information tables will have materials about sustainability initiatives at the university.
UMaine is committed to purchasing local products and instituting sustainable practices, and hosting Bangor Greendrinks is part of the department’s outreach mission, says UMaine Dining director Glenn Taylor.
“I am proud to showcase our conference and catering facility along with being able to reach out to community members that may not know who we are and what we do,” he says.
The department has surpassed its goal of sourcing 20% of its food purchases locally by 2020 with 23% local sourcing in 2019. A new goal has been set to source 25% of food locally by 2025. Learn more about its sustainability practices at umaine.edu/dining/local.
“Being a part of UMaine Dining’s service mission to source local foods is an incredible and satisfying journey,” Taylor says. “To help make a difference in people’s lives by purchasing products grown or produced locally is awesome.”
Partners for the Feb. 11 event include University of Maine Conferences and Institutes, University of Maine Stein Society, Orono Brewing Company, Bangor Greendrinks, Green Campus Initiative, UMaine Sustainability Office and Americorps Maine Partnership for Environmental Stewardship.