FARMINGTON - Plans to launch an Internet site for the sale of local foods is the topic of informational meetings sponsored by the Western Mountains Alliance.

Farmers and community members interested in learning more about the project are invited to talks at 4 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Olsen Student Center at the University of Maine at Farmington and at 8 a.m. Oct. 22 at the Skowhegan Community Center.

Based on a model in Plymouth, N.H., customers can preorder locally grown foods online to be picked up at farmers' markets in Farmington and Skowhegan, Tricia Cook of Western Mountains Alliance said.

The online site is expected to launch next spring with nonperishable items such as maple syrup and jellies. The first step involves talking with local farmers and growers and getting their feedback on how it could work best for them, she said.

On the New Hampshire Web site, www.localfoodscanterbury.org, customers may purchase in-season vegetables, eggs and other foods grown in the Canterbury area as well as baked goods and products made locally.

Customers are given a day to order then a box of the items selected are picked up at the farmers' market a of couple days later by the customer, she said. Items purchased from different farmers are gathered and packed in the one box, but customers can also make their farmers' market visit as long or as short as they choose, she said.

Some details still need to be worked out, including distribution with farmers spread over Franklin and Somerset counties. Whether producers would be charged to participate is also being discussed, she said.

Internet sales have been the wave of the future for many types of businesses and Western Mountains Alliance's new Web site will connect more farmers to online sales, she said.

After the informational meetings, a workshop in Fairfield is planned for November when Abby Holm from the Canterbury site will talk about the model and train people to maneuver the Web site, Cook said.

The Western Mountains Alliance annually publishes directories of farms and farm stands for three counties and coordinates several workshops and public forums on topics of interest to the region.

For more information or to RSVP for the informational meetings, contact Tricia Cook at 778-3885 or tcook@westernmountainsalliance.org