Maine FRSAN Partners
Maine FRSAN partnered with the following organizations, associations and institutions to provide resources, support, and training opportunities to Maine’s farming communities.
Cultivating Community believes that everyone has the right to good food. Their programs empower New Americans by teaching them sustainable farming practices and connecting them to the community through our food hub. They support and manage diverse urban growing spaces, enabling community members to grow their own food within city limits. They work to increase access to local, healthy foods for low-income consumers, providing affordable produce through CSA shares, farm stands, and mobile markets. They invest in youth of all ages, offering opportunities for food education, community engagement, and leadership development.
Eastern Woodlands Rematriation (Facebook) (EWR) is a collective of Indigenous people restoring the spiritual foundation of their livelihoods through regenerative food systems. EWR is boldly reclaiming the right to food and relationship to the earth for indigenous peoples by initiating and sustaining existing community-led food and medicine projects across tribal communities in the Northeast. EWR prioritizes collective leadership and is led entirely by indigenous womxn and two-spirits.
Maine AgrAbility aims to address the health, safety, and the prevention of injuries across the state of Maine — on the farm, on the water, and in the forest. Maine AgrAbility is a non-profit collaboration of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Alpha One; Maine AgrAbility is part of a nationwide network of USDA programs begun through the 1990 Farm Bill. The goal of the National AgrAbility Project is to inform, educate, and assist farmers, fishermen and forest workers, and their families with disabilities, so they can continue to have successful careers in agriculture.
Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) is a member-powered statewide organization that protects farmland, supports farmers, and advances the future of farming. Their four program areas are farmland protection, farmland access, farm viability, and public outreach. Within those areas, they work to fill the needs of farmers, land owners, and local food markets in Maine.
Maine Farm to Institution (MEFTI) catalyzes a social impact network focused on farm-to-institution in Maine. MEFTI is led by a small leadership team who represent a variety of food-serving institutional sectors, networks, organizations, and geographic locations within Maine.
Maine Mobile Health Program is the state’s only farmworker health organization. By linking agricultural workers to care and services, they aim to reduce health disparities and inequities of access for this workforce.
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) is the oldest and largest state organic organization in the country. MOFGA offers a full suite of beginning farmer resources, support, and services, including Apprenticeship and Journeyperson Programs; educational workshops, classes, and programs on a range of agricultural topics; and farm visits, land assessments, and technical services.
The Maine Shellfish Learning Network (MSLN) focuses on building relationships and improving communication between many different participants within Maine and Wabanaki wild clam and mussel fisheries. These communities face a host of pressing issues, including a steady decline in shellfish landings, increases and changes in predation, climate change, water quality, social bias, and limited civic capacity for managing the resource.
Mano en Mano works with immigrant and farmworker communities to live and thrive in Maine. Mano en Mano’s mission is to envision a stronger, more inclusive Maine where the contributions of diverse communities are welcomed, access to essential services, education and housing are ensured, and social justice and equity are embraced.
Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (NEFOC-LT) centers BIPOC voices and leadership and honors Indigenous sovereignty while healing colonial harm and protecting our future by creating a carbon drawdown in the Northeast and informing climate policy locally, regionally, and nationally. They are sharing and advancing skills and knowledge with and for BIPOC farmers, land stewards, and earth workers, connecting them with the resources, training, education, and land that will enhance their ability to thrive.
Somali Bantu Community Association (SBCA) has a mission to provide vital transitional services, advocacy, and food production that empowers members of the refugee community to uphold cultural identity and economic well-being to thrive in their new life here in Maine.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension Farm Coaching and Maine Agricultural Mediation Program
Farm Coaching helps support relationships for farm success by building competency and capacity as a manager and decision-maker on the farm with individualized coaching sessions. Coaches work with farm management teams to identify growth edges, goal setting, and build communication skills.
The Maine Agricultural Mediation Program (MAMP) provides alternative dispute resolution through mediation to farmers, their lenders, and others directly affected by the actions of certain USDA agencies, neighbor disputes, and workplace and family disagreements that affect the farm. Because sometimes having a third party present can help a conversation move forward.
The Maine Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network is funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, awarded to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, and managed by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.