Herbs, Health, and Heritage: Addressing Maine's Cultural Food Gap
Listening to Diverse Voices Leads to Innovative Market Opportunities
There are almost 140,000 people of color in Maine, and many are Asian, Hispanic, and Muslim. Maine State Chamber of Commerce held focus groups with people of color, and we discovered that Maine does not have adequate supply of fresh herbs. Not having access to herbs prevents many people of color from access to culturally appropriate foods or healthy meals. In one of our focus groups, a Muslim mom of 7 said that she spends $48 a week on fresh herbs. She uses fresh herbs to encourage her family to eat more fresh vegetables and fruit.
A national study showed that the average US household spends 1.85% of their fresh produce budget on fresh herbs whereas the Cambodian spends 220%, the Iraqi 433% and the Honduran 777% above the national average. The market potential for fresh herbs is significant and growing since these populations are the fastest and largest growing in Maine. Can Maine grow ethnic herbs to accommodate culturally appropriate foods, to encourage healthy eating, to grow a produce sector that is profitable and that is good for our planet and climate. These were the questions we asked the many experts who attended our strategic planning session. The answer was yes. Our hope is to develop a proof of concept where people of color work with local farmers to grow ethnic herbs to fill a void in our communities.
Many thanks to Sewall Foundation for making this meeting possible and to all the participants: Farm to Sea Collaborative, MOFGA, UMaine Cooperative Extension, UNH Ag program, Good Shepard Food Bank, Department of Agriculture, CEI, Vertical Farms, Springworks Farm, Sweet Relief Farm, Crystal Spring Farm, Jordan Farm and many members from the Khmer Community of Maine and many thanks to our presenter Chan Bunly Uy – a graduate of College of Atlantic in botany who specializes in ethnic herbs, Marpheen Chan, president of Khmer of Maine and my good friend and facilitator Barbara Fiore. When you listen to people of color, new markets, opportunities, and ideas open.