Maine Farmland Trust Gallery will host an opening for two new exhibits that share the common theme of documenting hunger relief efforts in Maine. The exhibits will be on view through Nov. 16. On one floor, Unity College student Ru Allen ’17 will make her gallery debut with “Harvesting Unity,” a collection of photographs portraying the volunteers and program leaders of Veggies For All, a food bank farm based in Unity.

“Alternating between camera to my eye and hands in the earth, I attempted to capture as much of the growing process from start to finish in one growing season,” Allen, an Art & Environment Major at Unity College, said. “What I was naturally drawn to, however, were the suspended moments in places that were easily overlooked.” As part of Allen’s exhibit, Sara Trunzo, director of Veggies For All and Unity College Class of 2008, will give a presentation on “How one community fights hunger with a food bank farm,” 6:30 to 7:45 pm, Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the Belfast Free Library.

Veggies For All is a food bank farm in Unity that works to relieve hunger by growing vegetables for those in need while collaborating with partners to distribute and increase access to quality and nutritious food.

Since its founding in 2007, VFA has provided 108,000 pounds of vegetables to more than 1,500 food‐insecure central Mainers and engaged hundreds of volunteers in thousands of hours of community‐based hunger relief.

The exhibit is a collaboration between Maine Farmland Trust and Good Shepherd Food Bank and seeks to document some of the many people working for change in our communities across the state, with the hope that these efforts will continue to grow into a resilient food system that serves all Mainers. VFA became a project of Maine Farmland Trust – based in Belfast but with offices in Unity — in 2014. If you are interested in bringing the exhibit to your community, please email ellen@mainefarmlandtrust.org.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015