Maine School Administrative District 6, which serves the towns of Buxton, Hollis, Limington and Standish, is partnering with Rippling Waters Farm of Standish for a program promoting the benefits of agricultural sustainability. The initiative is being funded by a $244,567 three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture community food projects competitive grants program. The farm is one of just 34 organizations to receive the nationwide award this year and the only one in New England from some 400  applicants.

"This will enable us to increase our community food impact," said Richard Rudolph, the farm's executive director. "The funds are being used to support an exciting grass-roots effort called the Saco Valley Food Connections Project, a program at Rippling Water Farm."

That project is designed to increase the area's agricultural infrastructure by teaching community members how to be stewards of the land, planting, harvesting and marketing crops in an effort to stimulate the local economy, provide for the less fortunate and embrace the advantages of ingesting a fresh crop that provides greater nutritional value for people living in Maine School Administrative District 6.

"Right now, most communities are dependant on outside sources for the food they eat," said Rudolph, noting that about 65 percent of foods we eat are imported to the state.

A pilot program began in spring 2007 with the farm offering raised bed garden training for children at the Steep Falls Elementary School and elderly residents of the Stonecrest Senior Housing complex, both of Standish. Money for those projects came from a $1,000 grant from Wild Oats Natural Food Store in Portland and some of the farm's own resources.

The curriculum will be enhanced this year, with farming officials training teachers to be more proactive about integrating the project into their classroom lessons as part of their Maine state learning results studies, perhaps asking students to investigate the origins of the foods they eat, costs involved in having them transported here and how much nutrition is lost from the time it is harvested until it reaches their plate.

"Farms can be great labs for teaching science and history lessons," said Rudolph, a former professor for the University of Massachusetts Boston. "We're recognizing that it would be great to engage kids and seniors in garden projects to create more control over the local food system. It's a multi-collaborative effort with many agencies involved. For the school piece, we're going to be building a greenhouse at Bonny Eagle Middle School. So, kids will be engaged in growing foods at the school to be used in the school lunch program."

Farm overseers and school officials are deciding on a construction site for the greenhouse, which is expected to cost $25,000. It is to be built this summer, with students utilizing the space by fall.

At the high school level, money will provide a seven-week apprenticeship program for 12 students who will receive 30 hours of training per week to learn various aspects of farming, marketing and investing in community feeding programs in addition to offering educational sessions on issues related to food security and organic farming.

"We're essentially trying to raise a whole new generation of environmental stewards," said Rudolph.

"The final piece in the project is that we're committed to growing and giving away 20,000 pounds of fresh produce each year, over the next three years," he said. "Just in October 2007 we gave away 1,200 pounds of food. That's the bigger story."

Christy McKinnon, the farm's community outreach and volunteer coordinator, said allowing the youths to participate at the planning level for the growing space is as crucial as teaching them at the planting level. They will be able to make informed choices about the value of the property and soil where they will invest their labors, considering the outcome of the future harvest.

The garden is expected to be installed in late spring, with students planting a crop. Volunteers in the form of students and families are being sought to care for the plot during summer months.

Another part to the initiative is getting youths outdoors and moving. Both Rudolph and McKinnon sited concepts behind the Richard Louv book, "The Last Child in the Woods" as an impetus for offering the program.

"The author's whole thesis is that kids today suffer from a nature deficit disorder," said McKinnon. "We would go out and play, but youths now are engaged in organized activities or in front of a computer game or TV set. (Louv's) an advocate for reconnecting kids to nature through outdoor classrooms and learning spaces."

McKinnon said the farm hopes to always be involved in spearheading such projects, but it is her hope that project participates will adopt the concepts of sustainability and put them into practice in a way that is tailored to benefit their needs while affording opportunities to grow and expand the program's potential.

"We are the catalysts and initiators of the program," said McKinnon. "We want them to have ownership and feel like it's theirs from the get-go. At every step along the way, students are being educated to have autonomy in carrying out the projects. We want to supply the seeds and soil but want them to run with the project. There's a million things that you can do. It's wide open if it's embraced by the community and implemented. What a great learning opportunity."