Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association

For Immediate Release
February 15, 2010

Don't miss the local foods event of the season!

Attend a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Fair near you on February 28th.

The event is part celebration and part education, as local food producers and members of the community come together to share information about opportunities to support local farms and other businesses supplying the community with wonderful fresh, whole foods. Farms with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) arrangements ask you to commit to purchasing a share of the coming harvest before the season begins. The benefit? You get to support local farms while getting your locally grown and harvested food direct from the producer at a fair price.

In addition to farms with CSA shares, local fishermen with Community Supported Fisheries (CSF) shares will also be present in several locations including Bangor, Belfast, Damariscotta, Hallowell, and Rockland.

The CSA Fairs will take place on Sunday, February 28 from 1-4pm in a dozen locations across the state, representing over 80 businesses and organizations, and organizers have been working hard to make sure each location has plenty of local flavor.

In Damariscotta the CSA Fair is being held at the Great Salt Bay School where students in the second grade class involved in a greenhouse project will be exhibiting their work. The active farm-to-school group, Focus on Agriculture in Rural Maine Schools (FARMS) will also be present to share information on their work to connect local agriculture with classrooms and school cafeterias.

The documentary FRESH, featuring Michael Pollan, Will Allen and Joel Salatin celebrating the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system, will be shown at 2pm at the Portland CSA Fair.

In Belfast attendees will enjoy live music from local talent, Bangor will have a children's activity area, and farmers at all locations will bring items from the farm for sale, sampling and, in some cases, petting!

Complete list of CSA Fair locations, Sunday February 28, 1-4pm:

Auburn- First Universalist Church, 169 Pleasant St
Bangor- Beth El Synagogue, 183 French St
Belfast- Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, 37 Miller St
Brunswick- St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 27 Pleasant St
Damariscotta- Great Salt Bay School, 559 Main St
Farmington- Fairbanks School Meeting House, 508 Fairbanks Rd
Hallowell- St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 18 Union St
Norway- Christ Episcopal Church, 35 Paris St
Portland- Woodfords Church, 202 Woodford St
Rockland- First Universalist Church, 345 Broadway
Waterville- Barrels Community Market, 74 Main St
Wells- Laudholm Farm, Laudholm Farm Rd

No location near you? Not to worry. You can still locate CSA farms near you by using the Maine CSA Directory on the website of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, www.mofga.org (under the Resources tab).

The event is co-sponsored by the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (MOFGA), the Maine Council of Churches, and local organizations at each site.

Admission to this event is free.

For more information about the event or the over 80 farms, fisheries and other local businesses and community organizations participating, contact Melissa White Pillsbury at MOFGA, 207-568-4142, melissa@mofga.org