Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP) President Bob Dorsey has been selected to serve on the Maine Food Strategy steering committee.

   The Maine Food Strategy is an initiative to create a broader and more strongly connected network of organizations, agencies, businesses and individuals contributing to the food system in Maine. The initiative seeks to convene a statewide participatory process that will identify and advance shared goals to support a robust food economy and a thriving natural resource base in our state.

   Dorsey is one of 21 Mainers, representing agriculture, fisheries, economic development and higher education, selected to the

Bob Dorsey

committee.

   The Steering Committee members will:

• Ensure that diverse stakeholder interests are well-represented throughout the project, as well as in the strategy's goals.
• Provide guidance to the Project's Coordinating Team in development and implementation of the Maine Food Strategy.
• Represent the Maine Food Strategy, when appropriate, in other public arenas.
• Ensure broad representation in the planning process.
• Guide the development of decision-making protocols and work groups. (Work Groups will assist with implementation.)

   Dorsey said this appointment fits in well with the Mobilize Northern Maine asset based economic development initiative. Diversified agriculture, identified as a sector of growth along with the forest economy, manufacturing and renewable energy, shows potential for a number of reasons including abundant fallow land in The County and a budding local food movement.

   According to the Maine Food Strategy website, "all of New England is starting to engage in a discussion of how the six states could, in fact, meet the majority of their food needs from within their own borders by the year 2060. This is a broad conversation, creating a 'vision' of what is possible and, in that vision, Maine plays a large role as a food producer not just for itself but also for neighboring states. This represents an important opportunity for our food economy in Maine."

   Food plans and policies are not new to Maine, several having been developed or partially developed over the years for different parts of our food system. The Maine Food Strategy seeks to learn from those past efforts while building out a stronger network of engaged participants in order to increase the chances of making real positive and measurable change for as many sectors as possible.

   More information on The Maine Food Strategy is available online at mainefoodstrategy.org.

   CARIBOU - Committee members have been selected for the Community Guided Planning and Zoning effort being facilitated by Northern Maine Development Commission and the group's first meeting is Wednesday.

   In February, the Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) selected Aroostook County as the initial region to participate in a series of local workshops to help determine overall regional interest and further develop a framework for the community guided planning and zoning process. Recent efforts to improve the effectiveness of managing land use in the unorganized and deorganized areas of Maine have focused in part on the need for more locally guided and proactive planning for these areas. The 2010 Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) identifies this type of planning, referred to as prospective zoning, as a priority for implementation.

   The members of the committee are Ned Berce, farmer St. Agatha; Mark Draper, Tri-Community Recycling and Sanitary Landfill; William Patterson, The Nature Conservancy; James May, former LUPC Commissioner and retired forester; Sarah Medina, Seven Island Lands Company; Ked Coffin, Irving Woodlands; Cheryl St. Peter, small leaseholder Cross Lake; Doug Beaulieu, County Administrator; Ralph Dwyer, Town Manger Ashland; Candis Nevers, Town Manager Smyrna/Merrill; Fred Corey, Aroostook Band of MicMacs; Kathy Mazzuchelli, Recreation, City of Caribou; and David Cambridge, small landowner and business representative from Presque Isle.

   The meeting will be Oct. 23 at 9 a.m. at NMDC in Caribou.

   For more information about Community Guided Planning and Zoning, contact Jay Kamm, NMDC Senior Planner, at 498-8736 or by email at jkamm@nmdc.org .