ORONO— The University of Maine Cooperative Extension video series "Growing Maine" received a first-place, Eastern Region award from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in the area of Television/Video Communications.

The video series includes six short-form documentary stories about farmers and food producers in Maine. New stories are added to the collection on a quarterly basis.

The "Growing Maine" video series helps consumers get to know their food sources better, as farmers and producers share their behind-the-scenes perspectives on how decisions are made. For those aspiring to farm, the videos are a way to hear directly from farmers and producers about what is most important to them.

UMaine Extension helps support and grow the food-based economy statewide, and is the only entity that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, education, production, processing, commerce, nutrition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated.

The "Growing Maine" series is online. Viewers also have the opportunity to suggest future story ideas for new videos that will be released throughout the year. For more information, contact Leslie Forstadt at (207) 581-3487, leslie.forstadt@maine.edu.