Dot and Allen Danforth, owners of the Homestead Bakery in Farmington, congratulate Alissa Thebarge, the 2007 winner of the Justin A. Maurer Memorial Scholarship.

Maurer Meals will offer alternative menu items

FARMINGTON – The fourth annual Maurer Meals on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18, will feature 13 western Maine restaurants from Harrison to Eustis offering a menu of alternative specials using fresh and locally grown foods, focusing on organic and all natural foods.

For two nights, the businesses will raise money for the Justin A. Maurer Memorial Scholarship Fund while supporting local agriculture.

The scholarship is for a third- or fourth-year University of Maine at Farmington student in the community health program.

Justin A. Maurer, a high honors graduate of that program, died in a motorcycle accident shortly after graduating. “He had become such a supporter of the small farm in Maine, and the whole approach of producing food without poisoning the earth and preparing and eating it without poisoning the body,” said Justin’s father, Gary Maurer of Leeds. “We thought that this might be a good way to carry on his beliefs and honor his legacy.”

Each year more restaurants, diners and farms participate. Justin was studying organic and biodynamic growing methods. He felt it was important to make healthy food choices as available to people as the popular and unhealthy choices.

Building on Justin’s vision, his father has developed a regional collaboration of restaurateurs and community organizations to encourage local businesses to offer healthy menu choices prepared from locally grown foods, to heighten awareness of health through personal food choice and to bring vitality to local agriculture.

Maurer is hoping that sustainable relationships will be built between local restaurants and local farms, driven by diners’ increasing demand for a locally grown menu.

This year UMF’s ARAMARK Dining Services will feature local and Maine foods at lunch on Saturday, Oct. 18, in conjunction with Maurer Meals.

“The expertise of the chef/owners in preparing menus of culinary excellence, plus the support of organizations such as the Healthy Community Coalition of Franklin County, the Western Mountains Alliance, Healthy Oxford Hills, Healthy Androscoggin, River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition and the University of Maine at Farmington, has made this a very successful project,” said Maurer. “I have met the first three recipients of the scholarship and have found them to be outstanding young people, for whom the money is very significant.”

Participating restaurants are the Homestead Bakery in Farmington, 778-6162; the Granary in Farmington, 779-0170; Source 365 in Farmington, 778-6249; the Carriage House Café in Livermore, 897-5880; LaFleur’s in Jay, 897-2117.

Also, the Sedgley Place in Greene, 946-5990; the Porter House in Eustis, 246-7932; Café Nomad in Norway, 739-2249; the Olde Mill Tavern in Harrison, 583-9077; the Lake House Inn in Waterford, 583-4182; Café di Cocoa in Bethel, 824-5282; Willy Beans in Lewiston, 777-1111.

For reservations, call a participating restaurant; for information about the scholarship, contact Pat Carpenter of UMF at 778-7091; and for information about the project, contact Gary Maurer at 524-2060 or go to www.maurermeals.org.