Dispatches from the Field & Project Summaries
Primo Summary I
August 30, 2009
Rockland, Maine is 
historically known for its ideal shipping port and for its recreational boating. According to Lorain Francis, the Director of Rockland Main Street, the city has also recently made significant progress in revitalizing Main Street as well as creating an overall atmosphere of interdependency around the larger downtown area. Recently distinguished for its promotion of local, green initiatives, Primo restaurant, co-owned by Chef Melissa Kelly and Pastry Chef Price Kushner, effortlessly fuses the ideals of sustainability- recycle, reuse, reduce- with an array of palate savoring pleasures.
In the back of the restored Victorian house, the cuisine brilliance begins and ends on Primo’s extensive garden plot. Unlike other restaurants that use commercial distributors, such as Sysco, Primo’s gardeners decide each morning what seasonal produce from the two green houses and several patches are ripe for that evening’s delights. Pulsing with life, the garden also provides chickens, pigs, herbs, grapes, edible flowers, and even honey. Fluctuating according to season, the gardens bestow around 80% of the food served at Primo during the early fall.
In addition, Primo invites guests to explore the garden so they may come into contact with the elements that later arrive at their table. As Melissa remarked, chefs often put their ego on a plate; however, her philosophy is to wield her dishes so they teach about where food comes from and how it is grown.
Inside, Primo is restless with 
energy as the afternoon is followed by nightfall. In the back of the house, or kitchen area, the wood oven is being prepped while bread sticks are rolled out. Line cooks chop, dice, and slice while the pastry cooks blend and bake. Downstairs, wait staff is changing into their black attire while beer is brewing in the back. The chalkboard door at the top of the stairs lists the specials for the night as well as displays flyers on “How to Become Green”. Servers, bussers, and runners whirl by as they prepare for their evening performance.
In the front of the house, or the seating area, the décor is rustic with merlot and wood colored walls and complementing art that brings out the old house charm. Upstairs the rooms are funky in modern meets Maine fare motif complete with recycled materials, copper counter tops, and natural elements, save the private room that is adorned with pictures of Melissa’s Italian grandfather/restaurant namesake, Primo.
Primo also excels at energy efficiency and water conservation through their use of Maine produced biofuel, dual flush toilets, and waterless urinals. The garden practices crop rotation as well as uses the mobile chicken coop to help clean and prep the soil for the next crop.
After a long day of filming, GLP sat down for a succulent dinner. The cuisine not only exceeded our expectations, but also matched the wondrous beauty of Maine and Primo’s mission to sustainably landscape both the outside as well as the inside of every guest’s experience.
Primo
August 30, 2009
Like many students desperate for a quick 
financial fix, I have made my circulations in restaurants across the nation, often experiencing the same harrowing episodes: a chef with a large ego, quick hands to dump “waste” from plates, customers who lack an appreciation for the food and the service, piles of the same-ole, same-ole Sysco ingredients, and a sort of impassive, nightly performance by the wait staff. If you have ever worked in a restaurant, I am sure you can strongly relate. Several times I have sworn off my addiction to food service life. Yet after visiting Primo (www.primorestaurant.com/), I possess a newly sparked affection. Let me explain.
Practicality, the running theme in Maine, is especially authentic at Primo where Co-owner and Chef Melissa Kelly strives to implement her dishes as not only an expression of palatable art, but also as an interactive, educational tool for her customers. As she related to GLP, many chefs put their ego on the plate. Rather, her menu is distinctly crafted to demonstrate where the food comes from and how it is grown. And one needn’t look far. In fact it is only a small walk out the front door.
Complementing the ideals of customer education, Chef Kelly and Co-owner/ Pastry and Bakery Chef Price Kushner encourage their guests to explore where the cuisine brilliance begins and ends everyday- the one and a half acres of thriving flora and fauna. Unlike other restaurants, Primo’s gardeners decide each morning what seasonal produce is ripe for that evening’s delights. The food is harvested in the morning, the back of the house staff preps the 
ingredients in the afternoon, and by the evening the front of the house is delivering you, say, a Ricotta Stuffed and Fried Zucchini Blossom, or Black Spaghetti with Braised Cuttlefish and Heirloom Tomatoes, or Price’s famous Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee complete with a Poppyseed Olive Oil Cake. By closing time, all organic, waste products from the kitchen and leftovers go to the Tamworth pigs out back. (I personally am not sure why anyone would leave a morsel, as I happened to devour the rest of Amoris’ Black Spaghetti.)
Earlier that afternoon, I got a personal peek into not only the functionality of the garden, but into the dedication of Primo’s staff. Stumbling behind line cook Jenna Sprafkin, I bumbled out several questions as we plunged past the herb gardens and produce patches, the vibrant beehive, two biofueled greenhouses, fruit trees, the clucking chicken coop, and the muddied pig-pen. We finally reached our destination- the row of pink radicchios. While pulling and snipping, Jenna related to me how three years ago she had landed a job at Primo after her parents, who have a second home in Rockland, had mentioned to the waitress her recent graduation from culinary school. Next thing she knew, Jenna was meeting Chef Kelly and was hired. She had only anticipated washing vegetables for that summer. As a now full-time Maine resident, Jenna confessed, “I have really come to embrace Maine. I wear plaid wool clothes and have a four-wheel vehicle, not because it’s cool. But because it’s practical.” Once again, that word- “practical.” For Primo, its guests, and its staff, sustainability has become a pragmatic undertone to the dishes as well as the larger symbiotic relationship between the earth and her beneficiaries.
Island Institute: Monhegan
August 29, 2009
For Mainers, family ties run deep. There is 
a strange saying in Maine that goes like this, “A cat can have kittens in the oven, but it doesn’t mean their biscuits!” Translation: Just because you are born in Maine, doesn’t mean you’re an official Mainer. To be considered a local, both of your great, great grandparents must have been established in Maine and your family must have remained within its 33, 215 square miles; otherwise, you are considered “from Away”, or possibly a metaphorical kitten. Thus for any initiative to spark in Maine, the respect for Mainers and their autonomy holds substantial and consequential weight.
Built upon this concept, Island Institute, a non-profit organization headquartered 
in Rockland, seeks to establish partnerships with Maine’s year round island and working water front communities to help conserve island and marine biodiversity for generations to come. Instead of leading the communities into different projects, the Island Institute provides information and guidance to resources that can help develop ecological solutions. On a cold and very wet Saturday, GLP took a jolting voyage with Suzanne Pude, Director of the Community Wind Program, 10 miles off of Mid-Coast Maine to witness one the Island Institute’s newest ventures- the Monhegan wind project.
Unloading off the ferry like a pack of seasick tourists, we arrived in Monhegan and met one of our contacts, Matthew Thomson. Mattie, a tall, stout man with a wisped beard and orange jumpsuit (the typical garb for most Maine fishermen),
has as much resonance in the community as the loaded canon on his front porch. As the President of Board of Trustees of the Monhegan Power Company, Mattie and his colleague Chris Smith, the Project Manager of the Monhegan Plantation Power District, have made renewable energy the hot topic on the island.
For Monhegan residents, who amount to around 50 year around residents, the average electricity cost in 2008 was around 70 cents per kilowatt-hour! Comparatively, the national average is less than 10 cents per kilowatt-hour! Although several private alternative energy contractors have approached islands like Monhegan before, citizens have almost always rejected their proposals due to the plans’ lack of community involvement, ownership, and self-determination. 
Therefore, it was no surprise that a majority of the Monhegan islanders voted to continue developing the community wind power project in conjunction with the Island Institute. Currently, the island electricity is run off of three diesel powered generators atop of Lighthouse Hill; and eventually, one wind turbine would hybrid with the generators.
A project that would stabilize energy costs, grant islanders ownership, localize benefits, and revolve around a renewable resource is, indeed, a powerful solution. In fact, the Monhegan wind project could act as a sort of petri dish for other renewable projects across the North East. According to Mattie, Chris, and Suzanne, renewable energy is not really a matter of sustainability for the islanders as much as a “plain common sense” approach to the island’s fragility and islander’s susceptibility to economic downturns.
After filming several colorful shops, the local grocery store, and blocks of lobster cages, Green Living Project headed back to Mid-Coast Maine on an even more epic boat ride. As Chad stood at the bow of the boat watching the water pummel the glass, like an accomplished captain defying the waves, Amoris battled from loosing her camera, Rob edited photos standing up, and Jayms listened to his music to wane off sickness, I closed my eyes and thought of the ways in which the community of Monhegan has metamorphosed over the centuries but has somehow remained innately connected to their greatest resource, the island itself.
Island Institute Summary II: Monhegan
August 29, 2009
The GLP team woke up to a
chilly, wet 5 a.m. in our matchbox cabin on Saturday. On the ferry dock, Suzanne Pude, Director of the Community Wind Program at the Island Institute, warmly greeted us. We boarded the small boat and set off on what we thought was one of the more tumultuous rides of our lives. During the transit, GLP got a chance to catch up with a few locals on such subjects as: why Maine is more Canadian than North Eastern, the tourist industry, the recent lobster depression, and the coastal buzz on the wind turbines. It seems that everyone was excited for the developing wind projects.
As we approached Monhegan, which stands ten miles off the Mid-Coast Maine, Suzanne gave me a run down of the island. During the era of the French and Indian Wars, families moved to Monhegan to seek refuge from the ongoing violence. Although it has not been proven yet, Vikings may have also inhabited the small island at one time in history.
Today with less than 50 year round residents (mostly lobster fisherman) and hundreds of second-homers/summer vacationers and artists, Monhegan recently supported the proposal to erect one wind turbine on Lighthouse Hill. The community-owned power cooperative, Monhegan Plantation Power District, takes up the space of a small two-story home and currently operates on three diesel-powered generators. With the installation of the wind turbine, the community seeks a hybrid effort of wind energy and diesel power (particularly for the summer season when more energy is consumed than wind generated). Within the near future, MPPD hopes to develop a way to store or dispatch the extra energy from the winter months.
While filming Christopher Smith, the Project Director of MPPD, he clued us in on the forbidden appliances that consume too much electricity: electric water heaters, electric ovens, and driers. Although the wind turbine is sized to generate approximately the same amount of power the island uses during a typical year and will most likely not allow frivolous devices, the islanders will essentially save money as they decrease dependency on the diesel generators and stabilize rates. Quite a convincing set of facts, considering islanders paid an average of 70 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2008.
But as Suzanne remarked
over and over again, for the islanders, it’s not about sustainability, but rather plain common sense. Philip Conkling, President of the Island Institute, reiterated this shrewd mantra in his interview. He disclosed, “Islanders are instinctive environmentalist. They have to be environmentally conscious or everything collapses.”
On the ride back to the mainland of Maine, the team got a taste, or rather a large gulp, of what it means to be at the mercy of Mother Nature. For almost an hour and a half, the ferry was battered and rammed by the surly ocean. At first it was fun. And then we all felt sick. As I glared at the trashcan across the room daring it to make the first move instead of me, I thought about the strata of island predecessors and their lives being precariously interlaced with the uncontrollable beauty of nautical forces and, indeed, with one another.
Maine Huts and Trails Summary II
August 28, 2009
However, Green Living Project 
noticed a few details that could be improved upon in order for Maine Huts and Trails to undeniably live up to their commitment of preservation and conservation. First, automatic motion detectors operate the sinks and lights. However, each time one of us approached or even passed by the sink or the toilet area, the water or lights would flicker on like an anxious neighbor constantly watching for thieves. Secondly when intentionally using the sinks, the only available towels were paper towels, which in that I case I constantly dried my hands on the back of my pants.
In addition, we aren’t very sure where the building materials for the huts came from or how they were harvested. Although Maine Huts and Trails is still developing an appropriate meal plan, the kitchen served mainly non-organic, non-local food, save the items that one employee bought from the farmer’s market previously that week. There were no obvious or accessible bins or containers for recyclables or compost materials in the living quarters or the main lodge. There were only garbage cans, which lead guests to thoughtlessly throw away waste. Finally, visitors who cannot afford an overnight trip at the huts do not have any accessible or affordable camping accommodations along the trail or around the huts, which in essence is the most sustainable type of lodging.
All of these details aside,
Maine Huts and Trails has intentionally incorporated several sustainable designs and features to their facilities, such as the light tubes that utilize sunlight for indoor illumination, low energy and water composting toilets, solar power, a battery bank, and an efficient drying room for wet clothing. Even when GLP needed to plug in our various electronic devices for filming, we only found a small amount of outlets in the bathroom. Ultimately, this means that Maine Huts and Trails is not encouraging the use of electricity by guests and employees, which is certainly to their credit.
On our second night, Maine Huts and Trails hosted a function for donors and potential donors. During Executive Director Dave Herring’s moving speech, it became obvious as to his commitment to the eco-lodges, responsible nature-based tourism, and the conservation of Maine’s natural beauty.
Although Maine Huts and Trails could benefit from a few improvements, they are moving in the right direction towards sustainability by operating only with alternative energy sources, composting their solid waste, and promoting economic development and sustainability for guests and the local community of Western Maine.
Maine Huts and Trails Summary I
August 28, 2009
Maine Huts and Trails is
non-profit corporation, which is creating a hut-to-hut trail system in western Maine that will offer year around recreational opportunities to a variety of land and water adventurers. On the more 180 miles of the groomed, non-motorized trails that will span a corridor from Mahoocus to Moosehead, Maine Huts and Trails is seeking to establish twelve hut sites that will generate as well as store their own power by means of hydro, solar, and wind energy.
To date, only two huts- Popular Stream Falls and Flagstaff Lake- exist. Although it costs money for an individual to enjoy a meal or the amenities at these sites, the trails are open to the public free of charge and offer a spectacular insight into the ecosystem of western Maine.
Upon our arrival late Wednesday night at the Flagstaff Lake Hut, Green Living Project unloaded our packs under the star encrusted sky, filed into our bunk beds, and crashed…hard. The next day, the film crew awoke during the rosy cheeks of sunrise to discover birch trees and a cerulean lake lapping at the sandy beaches that encircled the hut. Generated from a dam built in the 1950s, Flagstaff Lake has superimposed itself over the former Dead River while immersing several farms and properties along its shores. As I found out on a self-guided hike, the only signs of the former habitat are a series of decapitated trees lining the sandy beaches of the lakefront. Nonetheless, the scenery is breathtaking as the Bigelow Mountain looms in the background.
Designed after traditional Maine sports camp, each hut site is composed of a main lodge that provides a dining room, living room, employee quarters, and restrooms. The restrooms are complete with composting toilets and timed showers. The actual sleeping accommodations are in separate, individual huts that are broken into different rooms. Each room is modestly comprised of several bunk beds with a blanket and pillow (guests must provide their own cases), one or two windows, and a light.
Although the huts did not have fans (understandably since it is an electricity conserving eco-hut) and the doors did not have any screens to keep out the bugs, heat for the room via a radiant floor heating system is provided by the a wood gasification boiler in the main lodge basement. This type of seamless energy use is key for keeping visitors warm and dry in the brutal Maine winters as well as keeping Maine Huts and Trails’ footprint low.
Maine Huts and Trails
August 27, 2009
Upon our arrival late Wednesday night at the
Flagstaff Lake Hut, Green Living Project unloaded our packs, ate a hearty dinner with the Executive Director, Dave Harring, filed into our bunk beds, and crashed…hard. The next day, the film crew and Rob awoke during the rosy cheeks of dawn only to discover birch trees encircling the hut, the Bigelow Range on the horizon, and a cerulean lake lapping at the sandy beaches. Welcome to beautiful western Maine, only 100 miles from Quebec, comme la corneille vole (as the crow flies)!
Maine Huts and Trails
is non-profit corporation, which is creating a hut-to-hut trail system that will offer year around recreational opportunities and twelve eco-lodge sites to a variety of land and water adventurers. When finished, the public trails will span over 180 miles of Maine corridor.
Designed after traditional Maine sports camp, each hut site is composed of a main lodge that provides a dining room, living room, employee 
quarters, and restrooms. The restrooms are complete with composting toilets and timed showers. The actual sleeping accommodations are in separate, individual huts that are broken into different rooms. Each room is modestly comprised of several bunk beds with a blanket and pillow (guests must provide their own cases), one or two windows, and a light.
A wood gasification boiler in the main lodge supplies hot water for the radiant floor heat and the warm showers. There is even a drying room for wet clothes from lake 
activities or snow. The Flagstaff Lake Hut, the second of the two established sites, also primarily runs on solar energy and uses light tubes as a part of the interior design. This type of seamless energy use with natural resources is key for keeping visitors comfortable during their stay as well as energy consumption low.
Our visit at Maine Huts and Trails was coordinated with a special event that welcomed the Governor of Maine, John Baldacci, the Ambassador of New Zealand, Roy Ferguson, the COO of L.L.Bean, Bob Peixotto, and 
several others. The purpose of the gathering was to reunite supporters, review the past accomplishments, and to garner momentum to move forward the construction process. To this date, there have been over 3,000 guests from more than 17 states that have used Maine Huts and Trails. The corporation, according to Dave, is gaining supporters as it sustainably connects visitors to the local community and to the breathtaking beauty of the region.
Telling by the laughter from the dining room that night over games of Scrabble and glasses of wine, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We too were able to take advantage of the high spirits that night and steal away to listen to the loons croon over the lake while the moon wedged itself behind Bigelow Mountain.
Chewonki Foundation Summary II
August 26, 2009
And that’s not all. 
Chewonki also tends the Saltmarsh Farm, which produces around 10,000 to 15,000 pounds of veggies each year. The farm houses cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs. The pigs are not only a source of entertainment; they also are an integral part of the waste management. Speaking of solid waste management and interspecies rendezvous, Peter inquired the next day whether I had used the compost toilets next to our cabins. I giggled, yes of course. “Good.” he said (well rehearsed), “Then you left a little piece of yourself at Chewonki.”
For Peter Arnold and The Chewonki Foundation, sustainability isn’t just bathroom humor; it is the ability for humans to thoughtfully interact with and within surrounding ecosystems while generating a low environmental impact. The Chewonki Foundation takes pride in its unique educational structure where individuals of all ages can encounter opportunities that inform a lifetime of conscientious behavior and true stewardship of the natural world.
Chewonki Foundation Summary I
August 26, 2009
Originally founded in 1915, 
Chewonki began as a summer camp for boys on the shores of Lake Champlain. By 1962, the camp had evolved into what is today a year-round, non-profit educational institute known as The Chewonki Foundation. Each year, over 40,000 young people are served by this highly respected institute through one of the following programs: summer camp for boys or girls, the foundation’s semester school, multigenerational wilderness trips, outdoor classrooms, or the traveling natural history program. Much in harmony with the surrounding 400 acres of lush fern groves and the rocky, pine-decorated shores of Mid-Coast Maine, Chewonki’s mission is to teach its students and partners through a hands-on approach about the importance of sustainability and natural history education.
On a rainy Monday afternoon, we met Peter Arnold, the Sustainability Coordinator, under a massive Fin Whale skeleton hanging from the Center for Environmental Education’s ceiling. Peter, a clean cut man with warm eyes and a placid demeanor, made his career at Chewonki by proposing that he mold and direct an environmental studies program. Peter related to us that he was concerned about global warming way before it was even a hot issue. So he approached President Don Hudson, who is alumni camper and has been on Chewonki’s staff since 1966, with the notion of an engaging conservational curriculum. Thus the Sustainability Office was created in order to bring the concept of stewardship to the staff and visitors of Chewonki.
With such awards as the 
GreatNonprofits Green Choice Award in 2009 and the Green Champion Award from Clean Air Cool Planet under its belt, Chewonki has definitely demonstrated its ardent commitment to the preservation and vigilant management of the environment. Currently, The Chewonki Foundation is spearheading several energy initiatives concerning solar heat and electricity, geothermal power, renewable hydrogen, biofuel (in collaboration with the Maine Compost School), and even an electric car! In particular, the electric car, which looks like the love child of a golf cart and a recumbent bicycle, is one of the many projects that Chewonki and the town of Wiscasset have jointly researched and created to help bring sustainability to the wider community.
Furthermore, Chewonki has recently utilized green building standards to update or erect structures on campus. GLP got a really exciting glimpse into one of the more eco-friendly buildings- Gordy Hall cabin. Built during 2006-2007 by supervised students, Gordy Hall is state of the art sustainable. It features south facing windows, photovoltaic panels for electricity, light tubes in the ceiling to utilize natural light, and a seven-layer insulation system that includes cotton fiber and cellulose. Tacked to the outside of the cabin are hand-made, solar powered stations used to recharge AA and AAA batteries. As Peter mentioned, these devices aid students in understanding the amount of energy it takes to charge even our smallest of batteries. However, Green Living Project’s favorite feature was the old mountain bike in the corner of the cabin that serves as a petal power generator. Each of us relished watching Jayms do a few takes while continuously peddling the bicycle.
Local Sprouts Cooperative Summary III: Community Supported Kitchen
August 26, 2009
Local Sprouts Cooperative, based in Portland, establishes itself after the concept of holistic learning and community activism. From our first adventure at Burdock Gathering in Starks, GLP wanted to catch what Local Sprouts means in a urban setting by capturing co-owners Jonah Fertig and Hanifa Washington during their typical Wednesday routine.
In the middle of downtown Portland amongst the farmer’s market, Jonah met the team and escorted us into the Public Market House- a venue to several small, specialty grocers and food venders. Beneath the old, brick building awaited the industrial-sized and vivacious kitchen of Local Sprouts Cooperative.
Rooted in a mission to provide people in Maine with creative, local and organic food, the crew at LSC consider themselves to be performers who nourish their community by offering an alternative taste of culinary experiences. As one of Portland’s first worker-owned cooperatives, Local Sprouts is democratically controlled by members and focuses on developing self-reliance around sustenance that is straight from local farmers and gardeners.
Based off of the Community Supported Agriculture model, in which the public directly buys “shares” from a farmer and enjoys the crops’ yield, Local Sprout’s Community Supported Kitchen cooks a variety of menu items each week for members to take home to their family. The CSK model is especially unique due to its various membership payment options, such as money, work for food, and Time Dollars (an attractive bartering system). For example, one interviewee, Tim McClain, exchanges massages for his membership with the Community Supported Kitchen.
Massive in size, the Kitchen has extensive counter space, one large stove and oven, two dishwashing sites, and several storage areas. There are a few table and chairs for visitors to hang out at, but they are more of an afterthought than the focus of the space. This particular Wednesday, working members were hastily preparing spring rolls, canned green beans, frittata, and blueberry bars to distribute in reusable containers for member pick up.
Currently, Local Sprouts is building their totem pole, as Hanifa describes, to include a
Community Supported Cafe that will more explicitly host community events as well as provide access to hot food, all day. True to its grass-roots demeanor, Local Sprouts has already begun to integrate the community into the Cafe’s building plans by, for example, consulting the local renewable energy company, ReVision Energy.
For Jonah, Hanifa, and their crew, the connection from farm to table in the community is one of the most vital features of the Local Sprouts framework. As Jonah shared in his interview with GLP back at Burdock, “An individual can be green by his or her self. But to be sustainable, we must interact with the community; we must welcome others and learn from others.” Proven by the track record of an over 80% membership renewal, Local Sprouts Cooperative continues to grow, inspire, and be inspired by the community of Portland.