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| Contributed photo Olivia Griset, left, president of the Maine Environmental Education Association board, congratulates Chris Hallweaver, general manager of fresh produce processor Northern Girl in Van Buren, on being named the MEEA’s 2015 Business of the Year. The award was among those presented during the organization’s annual meeting in Wiscasset. |
VAN BUREN — A local processor has earned top honors from the Maine Environmental Education Association (MEEA). Northern Girl, begun by sisters Leah and Marada Cook in 2011 at a small facility in Limestone, was named business of the year during the association’s annual conference on March 20.
MEEA presented its 2015 environmental education awards at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset to the most outstanding environmental educator, school, business, student and environmental program in the state of Maine. The winners were honored in a ceremony during the luncheon.
Northern Girl was recognized for its commitment to selling and distributing sustainably grown and harvested local food from northern Maine to locations all around New England. Northern Girl General Manager Chris Hallweaver accepted the award on the company’s behalf.
Among its accomplishments, the company processes food grown at Catholic Charities Maine’s Farm for ME in Presque Isle, a collaborative effort that grows and distributes local fresh vegetables to families served by area food pantries.
MEEA officials said Northern Girl has shown ingenuity in working to keep Maine at the forefront of the local foods movement by rebuilding Northern Maine’s lost food processing infrastructure.
“In addition, Northern Girl is committed to providing high-quality locally grown, healthy food to many Maine schools and universities,” association representatives stated. “This small, community minded business started by two sisters is now a thriving operation and provides jobs for over 20 people in Northern Maine.”
Awards were also given to the Lebanon Elementary Schools, school of the Year; the Blueberry Harvest School, Excellence in Environmental Education Program Award; Don Sprangers, Eberhard Thiele Environmental Educator of the Year, and Amber Delaney, student of the year.
This year’s conference, “Better Together Maine: Partnerships, Collaboration, Collective Impact,” brought together environmental educators, presenters and participants from conservation organization staff, health advocates, business leaders, governmental agencies, outdoor recreation groups and the agriculture industry.
The MEEA represents environmental education and both formal and non-formal educators in Maine. This year’s conference was funded in part by a grant from the Sewall Foundation. MEEA’s goal for the conference was for interested parties to collaborate, increasing their collective impact to address the most pressing nature-based problems in Maine today, and plans on this work leading directly to new projects that will create more vibrant, healthy communities in Maine.
