Local agriculture’s future discussed

    SANGERVILLE — About 30 area residents gathered at the East Sangerville Grange on Friday evening, March 1 for a diverse local-foods potluck (such as roast turkey and rabbit, apple ciders, sauerkrauts, dried fruit, coleslaws, blueberry cobbler and buckwheat cake) before settling down to discuss the status of local food production itself.

Photo courtesy of Steve Grammont

FIRST FRIDAY GATHERING — Wendy Russell of the Maine Highlands Farmers addresses the March 1 First Friday discussion group at the East Sangerville Grange.

    Carol Feurtado from the Dexter Historical Society opened the evening’s program with a quick history of Dexter agriculture, as one town exemplifying what most of the regional towns experienced. Being a railroad terminus in 1868 did give Dexter a unique status for a while as a hub for agricultural exporting, where the many small farmers of the region could haul their products to sell. But soon that same railroad connection allowed imports from much larger and more productive farms out West, causing the smaller-scaled central Maine farms economic pain, a situation that continued up until very recently.
    Wendy Russell, owner of Widdershins Farm in Dover-Foxcroft and a member of the Maine Highlands Farmers, then related her perspective of current agriculture in the area to the group, citing the rise in consumer demand for knowing where their food comes from as a major change in the marketplace.
    An open discussion followed, led by Linda Tisdale and Sam Brown of Dexter Dover Area Towns in Transition (DDATT), the sponsor of the monthly First Friday gatherings. Of the many issues raised, the underlying theme of farming as a way of life and a lifestyle choice more than an economic machine kept surfacing. Finding and encouraging those young people who want to farm was a major topic; connecting them with farmers who are near retirement was another. Consumers need be able more easily to buy local foods year round. Small farms and farming as the economic foundations for a rural community need reinforcement. Organic production methods use less imported energy per food unit than “conventional” methods.
    Continuation of these agricultural discussions is slated for Saturday, April 13 (9 a.m. to noon) at the East Sangerville Grange’s “Cultivating Community: an Agricultural Resource Exchange” event. Contact eecallaway@gmail.com or call 564-7167 for more information.
    DDATT’s next First Friday discussion will be at 7 p.m. on April 5 at the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter, with the topic of “Water: who controls our ground and surface water?” Contact 277-4221 or info@ddatt.org for more information.