Daybreak Growers Alliance

I got to photograph the founders of Daybreak Growers’ Alliance in their first year of business for Maine Women Magazine. The story, The New Share Croppers, described the three farmers’ collaboration with other growers in rural Maine to market their produce collectively through a customizable CSA share. Colleen Hanlon-Smith, Adrienne Lee, and Christa Bahner all met me at Lee’s farm, New Beat Farm in Knox, where they aggregated produce from dozens of farms and packed it for members throughout midcoast, central, and southern Maine.

Five years later, Daybreak is a major player in the local food market, with more than 500 customer-members and ten year-round employees. Now located in the former Unity Food Hub building, Daybreak also handles storage and trucking for local food pantries and public health & food security organizations.

Since this story, Bahner has handed off her share to Hanlon-Smith and Lee in order to grow the eponymous market farm and bustling farm stand she runs with her husband, Mike Bahner and their crew. Colleen not only runs the bulk of the day-to-day operations at Daybreak, now based in Unity, but also launched Peak Season, a sister business for wholesale distribution of the same Maine produce bought directly from producers. Her farm is no longer in operation due to land access issues. Adrienne continues to farm with her husband Ken Lamson and crew, focusing on flowers, intensely and effortlessly beautiful floral design, and root vegetable crops.

I was so grateful to have the enthusiastic support and guidance of my editor, Mary Pols, on this story.