Across Maine, community gardens are increasing food security by bringing people together to grow food for their communities. This panel will explore how collective garden spaces allow neighbors to work side by side to grow fresh, local food that is donated to food security organizations. Panelists will share real examples from across Maine and offer practical insights into how community gardens get started, build partnerships, and grow into lasting resources that strengthen local communities.
Speakers: Rachel Stamieszkin, Master Gardener Volunteer in Cumberland Coounty, Johnny Sanchez, Collective Gardens Program Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator at Food And Medicine (FAM), and Julia St. Clair, Agricultural Programs Manager at Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust
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About the Speakers
Rachel Stamieszkin is a retired Project Manager. Upon her retirement from Unum she participated in the Master Gardener Class of 2017. Rachel has been intrigued and involved in growing vegetables since she was 3 in her own backyard in Pennsylvania, and in Maine since 1981. Rachel joined the Cape Elizabeth Community Garden at the Gull Crest Fields in the mid 2000’s, which had been established as a Master Gardener project by three Cape residents. After gardening at the Gull Crest Garden for a few years, Rachel put her corporate experience and love of gardening to work and became involved in managing the garden, a role she has played since 2010. Rachel’s big focus at the Gull Crest Garden has been helping gardeners grow their own organic produce, building community and growing food for the Maine Harvest for Hunger. Since its inception in 2002, this community garden has donated 10,000 pounds of food to local area food pantries.
Johnny Sanchez, Collective Gardens Program Coordinator & Volunteer Coordinator (he/him), joined the Food And Medicine (FAM) staff in 2021. Johnny was born in Albuquerque, NM and grew up on the Ohkay Owingeh reservation in northern New Mexico where he gained a passion for growing food and feeding people. After graduating undergrad from Dartmouth College, he further developed this passion by pursuing a Masters degree in sustainable agriculture from the University of Maine and managing a farm in central Maine before coming to FAM. At FAM, he has utilized these skills to help coordinate the annual Solidarity Harvest as well as outreach to farmers.
Julia St.Clair (she/her) is the Agricultural Programs Manager at the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and has been overseeing the Tom Settlemire Community Garden and the Master Gardener Volunteer Project, the Common Good Garden, for the past five growing seasons. Julia has lived and worked on farms across New England and has been involved in community gardens in Bar Harbor, Portland, and South Portland. When she’s not gardening, cooking, or talking about food, Julia can be found swimming in the ocean, reading on the couch with her cats, or traveling the world to try new foods.