About the Local Food Switchboard

The Local Food Switchboard is a food supply chain coordination platform that connects Maine's food system to buy and sell local foods more easily. It streamlines and verifies procurement data and logistics while providing tailored support. By shifting from competition to coordination, the platform builds reliable market connections, and a more equitable, resilient, and relationship-based food system.

Getting Started

Anyone can browse for products, equipment, resources, and more without needing to create an account. If you're a food business, a wholesale buyer, a logistics or service provider, sign up to create an account and a business/organization profile. Once your profile is approved, your business/organization will appear in search results and you can start posting Classifieds.

Find a User Guide, FAQ, Trouble-shooting Tips and more at this link:
Local Food Switchboard User Guides & Resources

The Local Food Switchboard is currently in a beta phase. This means we're still making changes and populating the platform's database. During this phase, all the Switchboard's features and services are completely free. Once the Switchboard is fully launched in late 2026/early 2027, there may be a sliding scale membership fee to support ongoing updates to the platform. There will always be ways to access the Switchboard and its services at no cost for those for whom any fees pose a barrier.

Switchboard Operators

The Switchboard's Operators provide user support, technical assistance, and supply chain coordination support, with a focus on helping school food buyers streamline local procurement. The Operators are the humans behind the technology, offering alternative options for engagement with the Switchboard.

Contact the Operators for:

• ★  Questions or trouble-shooting on the Switchboard web platform that aren't answered in the Switchboard User Materials
• ★  Supply chain logistics questions or challenges not easily addressed through the Switchboard platform
• ★  Connections to other Switchboard users if not easily made through the web platform
• ★  Help finding local suppliers for public K-12 schools
• ★  Help finding resources or technical assistance for forward contracting, menu planning with local ingredients, legal help, grant writing, etc.
• ★  Access to Switchboard services and network if using the web platform is challenging due to equipment, connectivity or language barriers

Contact us!
Email: operator@localfoodswitchboard.org
Check our calendar for upcoming drop-in virtual office hours (on Zoom) and in-person events!

Rae Sage

Central Operator

Rae (they/she) is a community organizer and multi-disciplinary artist living in Midcoast Maine. Rae co-organizes affinity spaces for BIPOC and LGBTQIA farmers and farm workers across the state and does narrative change work with MFCP's Maine Food Narrative's Work Group. Rae is a body worker, zine maker, veteran, and previously worked as Policy Coordinator for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations.

Juliana Beecher

Central Operator

Juliana (she/her) lives in Portland and first joined the Switchboard team as a R&D consultant. A writer, researcher, and project collaborator focused on food system circularity and resilience, Juliana is also a contributing editor with BioCycle CONNECT, a former ORISE Research Fellow with the U.S. EPA, and a past member of the Maine Climate Council's Materials Management Task Force. She's an organizer with Mount Joy Public Orchard, and loves to spend time outdoors.

Background & History

The Local Food Switchboard grew out of years of conversations within the Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Network and the Maine Food Convergence Project's Local Food Processing Workgroup. School nutrition directors, farmers, fishers, processors, and community leaders repeatedly identified the same challenge: Maine has incredible food producers and infrastructure, but no central place to connect the dots. Supply chains are fragmented, information is scattered, and bottlenecks in cold storage, processing, and distribution limit local sourcing.

The platform provides visibility, coordination, and connection across the system, supported by Switchboard operators who build trust, offer technical assistance, and link producers, buyers, and infrastructure. By streamlining local procurement and centering equity, the Switchboard strengthens Maine's food system and expands opportunities for those historically excluded.

For more on the Switchboard's background, visit the Maine Food Convergence Project.

Support & Funding

The Local Food Switchboard is an initiative of Maine Food Convergence Project, fiscally sponsored by Third Sector New England, Inc. (TSNE). Local Food Switchboard Project was awarded funding by Full Plates Full Potential and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's School Food System Innovation Grant. This is part of the USDA's Healthy Meals Incentive Initiative's School Food System Transformation Challenge. This project is funded using U.S. Department of Agriculture Grant Funds. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.