OXFORD HILLS — Every year across the state, Maine Harvest Lunch Week celebrates fresh, local food in public schools. Maine Harvest Lunch week aims to teach students where food comes from, and how buying local food from local farmers can be good for health, budget and community.

Maine Harvest Lunch Week looks different in every school and district across the state of Maine. In SAD 17, whenever possible, local, seasonal fruits and vegetables are offered for a delicious lunch menu throughout the year, and especially during Maine Harvest Lunch Week.

Be sure to check out the full Maine Harvest Lunch menu featuring foods from local farms.

This year, the Western Foothills Harvest Map (see page 6A) is being introduced to help families keep the local food celebration going long after Maine Harvest Lunch Week. Consumers can use this map to plan new adventures and see for themselves where this healthy, delicious, local food comes from.

While there are hundreds of farms in the Western Foothills, the map shows just a few. The Maine Food Atlas is a resource for finding the rest. It can be found at www.mainefoodatlas.org.

Something for all

Many farmers and markets accept SNAP/EBT and some will even double your money with Maine Harvest Bucks for fruits and vegetables.

There are so many farms, orchards, farmers’ markets and local food hubs to choose from all of which welcome families to come visit and by fresh and healthy foods.

Perhaps families are looking for something to do over the weekend and might enjoy combining the chore of food shopping with something the kids will enjoy. Discovering where food comes from and seeing it growing or “on the hoof” is a way to learn and have fun at the same time.

Discovering new foods and getting suggestions on how to use them straight from the grower adds to the adventure.

What are those weird twisted things (scapes) and what do you do with them? You can eat ferns (fiddle heads)? Ground cherries – sweet and delicious. Wait, purple carrots?

Hopefully, there a few weeks left before the first snowfall so grab your map and get going on a new and unique adventure!

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