May 3, 2012
FARMS in Our Community: The Farm to School Connection
On Thursday, May 3 , 7 pm, “FARMS, in our Community” will be presented at Great Salt Bay School in Damariscotta.” The program will feature a short presentation by Karen Kleinkopf, F.A.R.M.S.’ founder, followed by a sampling of the kinds of healthy, tasty foods F.A.R.M.S is bringing to our local schools.
Since 2004 FARMS (Focus on Agriculture in Maine Rural Schools) has been educating students, many of whom have only a vague idea of where their food comes from, about good nutrition and the role of local farms in promoting healthy sustainable communities, by collaborating with kitchen staff, teachers, students, farmers, parents and community members, and bringing local foods into the schools’ weekly cafeteria through farm-to-institution purchasing and the annual Harvest Lunch event. Through the connection between nutritious food and local farms, students learn about the health, environmental, and economic benefits that come from supporting local agriculture.
FARMS regularly
visits every K-8 classroom in the five schools in AOS #93, having reached more than 1000 children during the 2010-2011 school year. Morris Farm Educational Center recently received a donation from the Allegis Foundation to expand the work of F.A.R.M.S to a sixth school, Wiscasset Primary School.
Activities in these schools include taste tests (see the surprising results at mefarms.org), “Healthy Snacks,” which the kids help to prepare, and which are also served at the monthly “Miles of Friends” gatherings, and providing each school with a “cooking outfit”- a bucket of cooking supplies, FARMS also offers teachers curricula and mini-grants to purchase foods for using the program in their classes. FARMS is developing curriculum for taste tests, farmer visits, and seed- to-table discussions as an integral part of student learning, and has started an after-school Culinary Club reaching 40 students and 38 families.
As reported in a front page article in the 4/11 issue of the Lincoln County News
Karen Kleinkopf was just awarded the Kathryn Musgrave Public Service Award by the Maine Nutrition Council.
The program, which is presented by FARMS and CONA (Citizens Offering New Alternatives) is free, though donations are always appreciated.
To learn more about FARMS go to mefarms.org. FMI: dbalant@roadrunner.com, 563-1216 and www.conamaine.com. Great Salt Bay School is on the south side of Bus. Rte 1, (Main Street), just east of the traffic light at McDonald’s.
March 22, 2012
Film: “Inside Job”
Date: Thursday March 22nd
Spreadsheet: Timeline rev 2
Inside Job, an Academy Award-winning documentary film about the U.S. 2001-to-2007 financial crisis narrated by Actor Matt Damon, will be shown Thursday, March 22nd at 6:30 P.M. at the Midcoast Friends Meeting House in Damariscotta. The film was first screened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, where it was praised for its pacing, research and exposition. Following its international screening, Inside Job was awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010.
The film explores how the erosion of financial protections and policies in the U.S. helped create a national and international financial crisis that injured millions of Americans and destabilized financial markets in countries around the globe. Inside Job looks at how the deterioration of banking controls, especially in the investment and housing industries, led to high levels of mismanagement and corruption in many of the U.S.’s most prestigious banks and investment corporations.
Director Charles H. Ferguson says that Inside Job describes “…the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption.” Ferguson interviews key players from the U.S.’s financial community about how the crisis was created and reveals how a lack of accountability—from the highest to the lowest levels—contributed to the theft of billions of dollars and the collapse of large segments of the U.S.’s financial community. Ferguson also follows the crash of Iceland’s banking industry and the country’s subsequent recession after Iceland underwent a similar process of financial deregulation that paralleled events in the U.S.
Inside Job is co-sponsored by CONA (Citizens Offering New Alternatives) and the Midcoast Peace Center. CONA is a non-profit membership organization celebrating 30 years of presenting programs and community events in support of peace, justice and the environment. Admission is free, but a donation of non-perishable food or toilet articles for the Ecumenical Food Pantry would be appreciated. A second, follow-up discussion and study group program will be offered at a future time for interested participants.
The Midcoast Meeting House is located at 7 Belvedere Road in Damariscotta. From south of Damariscotta, at the blinking yellow light on Route One between Newcastle and Nobleboro, turn left onto Belvedere Road (from north of Damariscotta, turn right onto Belvedere Road). Proceed approximately .2 miles. The Meetinghouse is on the right. FMI: go to www.conamaine.com or contact Doris Balant, 563-1216, dbalant@roadrunner.com.
February 15, 2012
Film: “Mother Caring for the 7 Billion”
A new film, “Mother Caring for the 7 Billion”, followed by audience discussion, will be presented on Wednesday, February 15 at 3 pm at Skidompha Library, Damariscotta.
The film documents important aspects of the global problem of overpopulation. It does not focus on fixing blame for overpopulation but instead suggests we can find respectful ways through one of the most difficult problems facing our world today. The film explores many different facets of the population dilemma, in the “developing” (low-consuming) world as well as in the “developed” (high consuming) world. With climate change already threatening the present and future harvests that must care for our much larger and still growing population, wisdom demands that we return our attention to this crucial issue.
In the film, we follow a young American mother and children’s rights activist, from a large family herself, as she visits a young woman and her family in Ethiopia, and learns about a popular educational program, a radio soap opera, with family planning in the story line, being produced locally. Intertwined with this personal story are interviews with population experts, including the concurrent and equally serious problem of our overconsumption and huge ecological footprint. A trailer for the film can be seen at http://www.motherthefilm.com/trailer
“Mother is a must-see film on why population growth still matters and what is hindering action to reduce it.”
- Hania Zlotnik, Director of Population Division, United Nations
” Mother leaves viewers with a ray of hope… we must not be afraid to reengage with the population issue and that the time for such renewed engagement is now.” Science Magazine , Sacha Vignieri
“Mother Caring for the 7 Billion is a beautifully crafted and unique film that dispels the myths from business leaders and government that we can grow forever, consume ever more, and that the planet is our infinite dumping ground.” -Paul R. Ehrlich , Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University , Author, The Population Bomb
CONA is a non-profit membership organization celebrating 30 years of presenting programs and community events in support of peace and justice, and the environment. This program is co-sponsored with the Midcoast Peace & Justice Group and the Peace & Justice Group of Waldo County. For more information, contact Doris Balant, 563-1216, dbalant@roadrunner.com.
December 3, 2011
Potluck and Poetry 2011
Two exciting Maine poets, Robin Merrill and Tom Lyford, will be our inspiration at CONA’s annual celebration of poetry on Saturday, December 3. Afterward, the audience is invited to read a poem, either an original or from a favorite poet.
Robin Merrill is a freelance writer and editor from Madison, Maine. Her most recent collection of poetry, A House of Battles (2009), is available from MoonPie Press. She has also written children’s books and also serves as an editor for Scholastic, Hudson Bible and World Outreach International.
Born in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, Tom Lyford graduated from Foxcroft Academy and received a B.S. in Education from Farmington State College. For 34 years he worked as an English teacher and is currently a part-time library clerk at the Dover-Foxcroft library. His poems and essays have been published in Sakana, Bangor Metro, Off the Coast, Wolf Moon Press Journal, Up North and the Bangor Daily News. He has published five poetry chapbooks and one full-length collection, My Cinema Paradiso. In 2009 he published a humorous prose memoir, Work Aversion Trauma: A Lifetime of Suffering, and in 2011 a childhood memoir, Playing with Fire. His poems lean toward the humorous and nostalgic.
Potluck and Poetry will be held at the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle, with the supper at 6 p.m. and poetry beginning at 7 p.m.
November 2, 2011
Supper for Somalia
News of the tragic famine in Somalia is heartbreaking. Many seeing the images and hearing the news want to do something. Citizens Offering New Alternatives (CONA) and the Midcoast Friends Meeting are joining together to present a program, Supper for Somalia, on Wednesday, November 2 at 6 p.m. Dinner of authentic Somalian food will be followed by a talk by Mohammed Dini of the University of Southern Maine who will address the famine, its affects on the Somali community in Maine and what they are doing to support relief efforts. A suggested donation of $10 will go directly to famine relief.
Mohammed Dini was raised in Somalia and Kenya before moving to the United States in 1997. He has studied political science and international studies at the University of Southern Maine and is deeply involved 
in Maine activism and politics. In 2010, he became the first African immigrant to run for office in the state, capturing 40% of the primary vote for District 119 in Portland. He served as the President of the National Somali American Student Association, Executive Director of the African Immigrant Association in Maine, and recently founded the African Diaspora Institute. He is currently managing Hamza Haadoow’s mayoral campaign in Portland and is preparing for his next run for state office in 2012.
The event will take place at the Friends Meeting House, 77 Belvedere Road, Damariscotta.
October 4, 2011
Presentation on Philadelphia Peace Museum
There are hundreds of museums memorializing wars and warfare in the United States, but no major museum dedicated to peace and peace-building. Envision Peace Museum, an institution under development in Philadelphia, will be the first major museum in the nation devoted entirely to peace and social justice.
Summer Westport Island resident Tony Junker, an architect and originator of the idea and Chair of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, will present a short illustrated talk on how the Museum came about and where plans are today, on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at Skidompha 
Library in Damariscotta.
“Envision Peace Museum is a visionary social change museum that connects and inspires people with powerful ideas, stories, and tools for transformation,” Junker says. Its mission is, through exhibits and experiential educational programs, to challenge visitors to explore peace and justice in historical, contemporary, and future-focused contexts while developing skills, strategies, and courage to confront violence and injustice.
The speaker will welcome suggestions and discussion from the audience. For more information, call 549-3731.