RUMFORD — Boxes of freshly harvested cabbage, Swiss chard, zucchini, beets and broccoli lined a section of River Street in front of the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition office.

At an adjacent table hooked up to electricity, farmer Gail Cutting was busy demonstrating how to saute some of these vegetables in an orange sauce for the crowd of more than three dozen who had gathered around her. The colorful and nutritious mixture would be good as a side dish or over pasta, she said.

Early Tuesday evening was the first fresh vegetable distribution from the local Maine Harvest for Hunger program. All the vegetables were grown in the community garden adjacent to the Hosmer Field complex, or at volunteer gardens in the community.

“Anyone is eligible for the vegetables who don’t have access to fresh produce,” said Sandra Witas, a Master Gardener and project coordinator for the local healthy communities coalition.

The free produce distribution and cooking demonstration will take place every Tuesday until the end of the season. Demonstrations are provided at 5 and 5:30 p.m., then distribution of the vegetables begins at 6 p.m.

Similar gardens at the University of Maine Extension office in Paris are offered each Thursday. As in the River Valley, community gardens from the Extension and several other local volunteer gardens provide the produce.

“I’m pretty proud we’ve been able to pull this off,” Witas said. “Poverty can hit any family at any time.”

Along with the sauteed vegetables and a broccoli salad, recipes for these and other healthy dishes were offered for all who took part in Tuesday’s event.

Kate Chiasson, an Extension educator, said the food samples and produce give people a chance to try something they wouldn’t ordinarily eat.

Maureen Davis of Mexico said she heard that a variety of vegetables would be offered Tuesday.

“I like to try anything that’s new and different,” she said. “I like variety.”

Six-year-old Hayliee Hahn tried the broccoli salad. She liked it a lot, particularly because it was mixed with raisins and sweet onions, she said.

Her mother, Andrea Forrester, said she was amazed at the vegetable distribution.

“It is so expensive to eat healthy,” she said.

Witas said surveys were also distributed to participants from the federal food stamp program to learn whether recipients eat more nutritional foods when they are available.

“We encourage families to take only what they like,” she said.

The ongoing Tuesday night demonstrations and vegetable distributions are hosted and sponsored by the Extension and the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition.