AUBURN, Maine – Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine’s frozen vegetable company Harvesting Good, in partnership with Sodexo, Native Maine, W.R. Allen, and Jasper Wyman & Son, has been awarded one of the 2022 New England Food Vision Prizes, funded by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation. The $200,000 grant supports the marketing of frozen locally-grown broccoli florets and expands the food processing infrastructure in the Northeast.
“We are honored and encouraged to be selected as a recipient of a New England Food Vision Prize,” stated Harvesting Good President Matt Chin. “Harvesting Good broccoli is a food that feeds more, and partnerships are key to our impending success, including those with Circle B Farms, W.R. Allen, and Jasper Wyman & Son. Our partnerships for wholesale with Sodexo and Native Maine, and retail outlets like Hannaford Supermarkets, which carry Harvesting Good’s product in 2023, allow the company to give back 100% of profits to local food banks. With one bag of frozen broccoli, you’ll help fight hunger, support family farms, and strengthen communities.”
Maeve McInnis, the Maine Course director, stated, “We are thrilled to partner on this project with Harvesting Good to bring Maine-grown broccoli to the New England market, including the food-insecure communities of Maine. A locally produced, frozen broccoli will be a big hit in all our dining halls, especially when we share the impact this green-stemmed brassica has on our regional economy, from the farmer growing it to the company processing it and knowing that a portion goes to food insecure neighbors. These are values we stand behind, and so do our customers.” Maine Course is Sodexo’s statewide local food sourcing program.
Harvesting Good joins seven additional prize winners, including Center for an Agricultural Economy, CLiCK Inc, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Healthy Communities of the Capital Area, Massachusetts Farm to School, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, and Vital Communities.
The $1.4 million fund awards to proposed projects and is a multi-year commitment aimed at building resiliency, relationships, and capacity within New England’s farm-to-institution food supply chain. The New England Food Vision Prize from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation is designed to accelerate progress towards the New England Food Vision, a regional goal to produce at least 50% of New England’s own food by 2060, while supporting healthy food for all, sustainable farming and fishing, and creating thriving communities. One high-leverage strategy to accelerate the region towards this goal is to unlock the market power of large food purchasers, like educational institutions and school districts. The Prize is designed to support ideas that result in higher procurement of regional food by institutions, more regional food in school kitchens and student meals, and increased demand for regional food by students and their families.
Harvesting Good has received an investment from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation before. In 2019, the University of Maine at Farmington and the University of Maine at Presque Isle, led by food service provider Sodexo and in partnership with Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine and Maine-based food producer Jasper Wyman & Son, received an award to develop a vegetable freezing facility in Maine.