Press

Plan your summer travel and Eat Downeast! Follow a new map that promotes local food producers and sellers in Washington County, Maine

On the eastern edge of New England, where Atlantic Canada meets Maine, delicious food awaits…. From May to October, enjoy Maine’s boldest region with an easy-to-use digital map that will help plan a picnic or road trip. See below for story ideas based on the month you visit.

A half day’s drive from Boston, four hours from Portland, a great stop enroute to or from Nova Scotia, Downeast Maine is a designated National Cultural Landscape with attributes truly unique to our part of the world — wild blueberry barrens, massive bogs, healthy rivers full of native fish, cliffside trails under protected coastal forests and wide-open beaches. Washington County is an under-recognized destination just east of Acadia. With the local food guide in hand you can find your way to hand-picked crab rolls, blueberries and raspberries with local yogurt, smoked alewives, fried smelt, steamed clams, farm fresh salads, butter basted scallops! Get out your calendar and plan a trip to match your taste for these regional foods. There is no better time to know your local farmers, fishermen and food makers.

Local Food Map

Our always updating digital map of local food producers includes over 140 farms, farmstands, seafood and seaweed, bakeries, restaurants, and retailers. It is the first in 10 years for this region and helps create an online presence for rural business owners. eatdowneast.com/#map

Events

Ready for the Artisan Bread Fair, Wild Blueberry Weekend, or the Rhubarb Festival? Want to take a pruning workshop or attend a cider pressing camp? Find a central list of food and agriculture-related events in Downeast Maine on our calendar: eatdowneast.com/events

Story ideas

Washington County, Maine can sustain food and agriculture features for your publication or outlet through the spring, summer and fall.

MAY: Come visit Pembroke in May during Fourth Annual Pennamaquan Alewife Festival in Pembroke (May 23-24). Smoked fish galore!
JUNE: Kick off camping season with glamping or camping on a Downeast farm. Reversing Falls Park would be a great place for a picnic. Spread Betty’s picked crabmeat on sourdough from Juji’s Kitchen.
JULY: Visit the Smithereen Farmstore and local food hub, where we sell products from many Washington County, greater Maine, and New England food producers.
AUGUST: Maine Wild Blueberry Weekend is August 2-3, and the Washington County Fair is August 24 + 25. Pies aplenty!
SEPTEMBER: Visit the U-Pick cranberry bogs, enjoy other late season harvests and visit the Agrarian Library at Reversing Hall if it rains.
ANYTIME: An Eat Downeast! itinerary and/or map for a road trip with featured producers. Reach out and we will recommend some places to get started!

About the campaign artwork

Available to use with credit to Eat Downeast!/Tess Rubenstein. Tess Rubinstein is a multi-disciplinary artist and naturalist. Learn more at tessrubinstein.com.

Eat Downeast is proud to partner with Crown O’ Maine Distribution, which delivers artisan Maine food and farm products to Portland, Portsmouth and Greater Boston. See if you can spot their truck on those routes!

Eat Downeast! is funded by a USDA Local Food Promotion Program grant, a three-year project undertaken by Smithereen Farm and its sibling nonprofit, Greenhorns. Learn more at Learn more at smithereenfarm.org and greenhorns.org.