Sam Hayward
FORE STREET RESTAURANT ? PORTLAND, MAINE
In the time I’ve been cooking in Maine—that is, since 1974—everything has changed. Then, almost all food supplies for restaurants came from commercial wholesalers, originating in industrial California farms and Midwestern feedlots. A flip to the availability of local foods began in my own work in the early ‘80s, and continues even now. It’s almost inconceivable that a new restaurant would open in Maine that doesn’t give at least lip service to local foods.
I support MFT’s mission because of my concern for the future of farming—and farmland—in Maine, believing that efforts must be made across the food system to preserve crop and pasture lands available for food production.
