The Salt Exchange

For your reading and web-browsing pleasure:

• It looks like the movement towards making local food more easily accessible to low income people is picking up across the country.  
• The Portland Press Herald reports that Good Shepherd Food Bank opened its new distribution center in Portland on Monday morning. 
• Further, the folks at Good Shepherd remind us that for many kids during the summer, no school lunch means no lunch at all. 
• According to USA Today, The First Family enjoyed cones at Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream Shop and ate at Stewman's Lobster Pound. The Washington Post reports they ate at Bar Harbor's Havana on Saturday.
• The First Family's visit to the state had folks looking at Maine as a foodie destination. Here, The Boston Globe examines prime, not-necessarily-obvious tourist destinations here in Maine. 
• The Raitt Homestead Farm Museum in Eliot is working on becoming a year-round exhibit.
• The blog Erin Cooks looks at some Maine Food Blogs.
• Finally, it looks like some lucky folks from Philly will be eating and drinking like some well-fed Mainers early next week.

• Are you looking for local food from real people? Enter your zip code here and look no further.
• Not sure how many of you are up in and around the Rockland area, but this event for the film Meet Your Farmer at the Strand Theater looks well worth a visit.
• The Kneading Conference and Maine Artisan Bread Fair is coming up. It's in July. Check it out.
• Here is a great story from the Bangor Daily News about farmers market approaches to making vegetables more farmer's markets affordable for folks who qualify. The "Veggie Prescription" is part of an initiative to get folks to eat healthily and locally, and it is funded by Redington-Fairview General Hospital, the national Wholesome Wave Foundation and the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Foundation.
• Right across the border, New Hampshire is finding out the benefits of maintaining a local food economy.
• And finally, we have a tequila tasting coming up on the 30th of this month. The event features Hornitos tequila, and you can RSVP for it on Facebook here.