The Magic Food Bus is in its fourth season of offering free, fresh, local produce, health information, and library books for children and adults. This season the Bus is benefitting greatly from the generosity and ingenuity of local businesses. Melody Lewis-Kane of Clay Forms Pottery is supporting Healthy Peninsula’s Magic Food Bus project with her artistry. She has generously donated twenty handcrafted porcelain mugs, which were sold by 44 North Coffee at the Stonington Farmer’s Market and are now for sale at the Blue Hill Wine Shop through the end of the summer.
Chris Leith of Eggemoggin Textiles has created and donated colorful bags and flags, which are on sale at her studio and have been popular items at the farmers’ market. All proceeds from the sale of these beautiful items directly support The Magic Food Bus.
Other local support includes: donations made by customers of Farmdrop, a local foods farmers’ market serving the Blue Hill Peninsula; local public and school libraries; the Blue Hill Memorial Hospital; and a portion of the proceeds from Aragosta at The Barn, a Farm to Table dinner organized by Tree of Life, Healthy Peninsula, and Healthy Acadia.
The Magic Food Bus got its start in 2011 when Sedgwick School Librarian Margaret Bixby’s great idea to provide free fresh produce and books during the summer was a perfect match for Healthy Peninsula’s Good Food Project. In the past three years, the Magic Food Bus has successfully expanded to several sites in Deer Isle and Stonington and Blue Hill and often serves 30-50 people weekly in each town. With an eye toward long-term sustainability, Healthy Peninsula is collaborating with the Tree of Life Food Pantry and Healthy Acadia and UMaine Cooperative Extension’s Gleaning Initiative to help with collection of produce from farms, volunteer power, and broader community involvement.