WHS senior Riley Davis and nutrition staff member Kelly Bourgeois cooked up at the 2026 Maine Farm-to-School Cook Off, finishing as second runners up!
Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin said, “Every spring, the Maine Department of Education looks forward to the Farm-to-School Cook-Off to celebrate the outstanding partnerships among local farmers and producers and school nutrition programs statewide. We are grateful to child nutrition professionals in Maine who do essential work in providing healthy, delicious meals to students at no cost multiple times per day.”
At this year's contest, teams were tasked with incorporating local wild blueberries and ground beef into their dishes. The beef was donated by Maine Family Farms and the blueberries were donated by Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Co.
In Maine, local foods play an essential role in school nutrition efforts. To date, Maine school nutrition programs have been reimbursed nearly $385,000 in local foods purchases using the state’s Local Foods Fund. That translates to roughly $770,000 going to local farmers and producers in Maine.*
*from Maine DOE press release, 4/8/26