Plenty: There is no greater foundation for good health than regular meals, yet many of our neighbors suffer from food insecurity, or worse, real hunger. How can we help insure that everyone in our state has a place at the dinner table? John Woods from Share Our Strength, chef Jeff Landry of  The Farmer's Table , and John Naylor, owner of Rosemont Market and Bakery discuss their vision for a community with enough food for all. Please join us!

The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast airs weekly at 11 am on WLOB radio 1310 AM (Portland)/streaming online. Listen to the Podcast or click on this link:

Plenty: Dr. Lisa # 38

 

Click here to read the article referenced in our "Wellness Innovations" segment, sponsored by the University of New England.

Listen to interviews with individual guests here.

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Our first featured guest is John Woods of Share Our Strength. Share Our Strength was featured in the June 2011 issue of Maine Magazine.   SOS is working to make sure no kid in Maine grows up hungry. In a state where 1 in 4 children is unsure about where their next meal is coming from, our dedicated volunteers work with community groups and good local programs to catch these children and ensure they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play. Supported locally by our generous sponsors – Bill Dodge Auto Group; PowerPay; Maine Magazine; Stonewall Kitchen; WGME13 and Hannaford – and by Maine’s outstanding restaurants and chefs, we create engaging, pioneering programs like Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation®, Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale®, Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry: dinners®, Share Our Strength’s Dine Out®: No Kid Hungry, and Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters®. Visit Strength.org/portlandme to learn more

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Our second featured guest is Chef Jeff Landry of The Farmer's Table. The Farmer’s Table opened its doors in 2009 and since then Chef Jeff Landry has been committed to using the finest, freshest ingredients he can source to create his Mediterranean-inspired menu.

The name reflects the vibe of the restaurant… it’s a casual place where you can sit, relax, enjoy good conversation, great food while being treated like a member of the family.

Farmer’s Table is a proud member of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), Portland Buy Local , World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) , and Portland’s Downtown District . And Chef Jeff is the 2007 Maine Restaurant Association Chef of the Year as well as a passionate supporter of SOS.

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John Naylor of Rosemont Market and Bakery shares with us his love for local food. John was featured in Maine Magazine in August of 2010.

Try asking John Naylor a question and the answer you get back will likely be peppered with a dozen names of close friends and associates. He’s not showing off, but rather offering a glimpse into his philosophy of life and business: we are nothing without the relationships we forge. What he’s done with his three Rosemont Market and Bakery stores is bring Maine’s expansive but close-knit world of talented local farmers to a larger audience by fashioning a true community-based enterprise. The lettuce you purchase is no longer an anonymous vegetable—it comes with a face and a story. It’s courtesy of  Penny Jordan of Jordan’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth, which, according to Naylor, has the best lettuce-growing conditions in the world.

Rosemont’s employees, hired for their
love of Maine food, are eager to show off their favorite olive oil, or let you in on the secrets of their green curry paste. It was Naylor’s audacity to imagine a store driven, not by price, but by intimate connections, that allowed him and his partner Scott Anderson to set the bar for quality local produce, meats, cheese, and wine.

From growing up on a farm with 12 siblings in Massachusetts to his job at the Portland Greengrocer, Naylor’s life has revolved around large families and fresh food. “I grew up on a farm, so I was around this culture my whole life,” Naylor says from his office in the middle of the Brighton Avenue store, where the aromas of fresh produce comingle with those emanating from the kitchen in the back. Possibly due to the admittedly underwhelming cooking of his mother, Naylor did not come to truly appreciate the sophistication of food until his early 20s, when he started working for the Village Fish Market in Connecticut. Running to Fulton Street during all hours of the night to pick up the fish was when, according to Naylor, “I first started to learn what good fish and good foods taste like. What was in season, what to look for—you eventually get an eye for it.” 

 

Join us next Sunday, June 10th  at 11 am for the next Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast on WLOB radio Portland 1310 AM/streaming online. Our topic will be "Wheels" and guests will include Brandon Gillard of Kennebunkport Bicycle Shop, Tom Bradbury of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust and Kevin Thomas of Maine Magazine.