MFSC BikeMaine Favorite Foods
Finding the way to BikeMaine base camps driving a 24’ refrigerated truck is always an exciting time. For many of our culinary crew at Maine Farm and Sea Cooperative, the thrill of seeing a new kitchen/dining set up, meeting new community food teams, and working with exquisite locally farmed, caught, and produced in Maine, never grows dull. Most of all, we are delighted to see happy, hungry cyclists devour all the goodness the towns and Maine producers have in store.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the other splendid offerings are made possible by many months of research, site visits, and inquiries into good agricultural and manufacturing practices. We ensure food is delicious, plentiful, and produced in the safest manner possible. Along with these best practices that are instilled on day one of our communications, we get to compile & prepare some fantastic products. As we share some of those food items and community rock stars, please remember that EVERYONE we’ve worked with has helped to make the food portion of the event fantastic in their own ways.
Early morning couldn’t start off for many without coffee. Whether it was Bold Coast Coffee or Rock City Coffee, a warm, caffeinated (or non) beverage helps get you on your way. A tremendous amount of product is served in the morning and evening. And because of the request, cold brew, also supplied by Rock City Coffee in BikeMaine2019, was a huge hit. A few of the community creations included Piperade w/Maine grown eggs: Fort Kent and a staple morning warm option, Maine Grain Oatmeal (Skowhegan) and Native Bacon from Luces Meats (North Anson)
Getting hungry from cycling all morning, we know that stopping along the way is important to refuel. We’ve upped the ante this past year to move into even more plant based and increased local options. MidCoast Grain Bowls with local grains and greens along with a Maine potato bar, much of which was provided by Beth’s Market (Warren), was exquisitely prepared and served by the team at RSU 12 (Palmero), led by Chef Mike Flynn.
Another example of support from school nutrition service is through the SAD27 team led by Melanie Lagasse (St. Agatha & Madawaska)...breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Don’t forget those Lamb/Beef kabobs from Waterville School Nutrition Services led by Lori Hartin. If you haven’t figured it out, schools’ nutrition services have been a great link to regional food preparations and focus on feeding their communities. Please give a loud shout out to all school nutrition service teams during these unprecedented times...they continue to exceed meals served and not just to the students! We’ll see them soon...
Dinner also has had some great products served. Here are a few to start off the list: MicMac farm trout (big thanks to Northern Maine Brewing Company for the connection!), fresh made rotini from Terra Cotta Pasta (South Portland), golden beets (we keep increasing the quantity each year!) from LaJoie Farm (Van Buren), and Maine raised chicken/turkey from Pine Tree Poultry. Local providers always haul in beautiful lobsters for the annual Maine Lobster bake, such as Tenants Harbor Lobster Coop.
We’ll share more providers we’ve had the pleasure to engage with to serve up the best of the best from Maine. And always be on the look out for yourselves when you are in the various parts of the state to also order from them. Here is a link to those local Maine producers by the University of Maine Cooperative extension (thanks Jason Lilley and team!)
Most of all thank you for being receptive and avid patrons of quality, healthy Maine food!
Stay healthy, stay apart, but don’t be strangers to local food.
