The December lunch menu at Harriet Beecher Stowe School will be heavy on Bowdoinham carrots, cabbage, beets and squash.

It’s part of FoodCycle’s efforts to get local produce into local schools — for the nutritional value, the awareness and the economics.

FoodCycle is a Brunswick group created to promote a “grow and buy local” mentality.

The group recently bought more than 700 pounds of produce from Six River Farm in Bowdoinham. Two more deliveries are planned for this season — one in December and another in January, according to FoodCycle founder Adam Williams.

All three shipments will be cooked into lunches and meals at the Stowe school.

Earlier this year, Williams and Leah Heyman left Brunswick on their bicycles bound for the West Coast. An avid cyclist, Williams admits the cross-country ride was, basically, a publicity stunt.

“The concept was to gain exposure for local food in schools,” he said. “We were fundraising through that to provide a year’s worth of vegetables for local schools.”

Only Williams and Heyman made the entire trip. But they occasionally were joined by other cyclists, friends, supporters and family members along various legs of the journey.

They left town in April. Four months and 4,600 miles later, Williams and Heyman dipped their front tires into Tomales Bay, Calif., about 20 miles northwest of San Francisco. Along the way, they raised $8,000 to buy fresh, organic, locally grown vegetables for the Brunswick school; about $3,600 of which was spent Nov. 8 during the initial shopping trip to Bowdoinham.

Another cross-country ride in 2013 is unlikely, with other local events and fundraisers being planned instead.

FoodCycle’s goal is to work with more farms and more schools.

Ultimately, Williams said he sees it becoming a statewide clearinghouse to link school districts and farmers.

If enough capital can be secured, schools could apply to FoodCycle for grants which then would be used to buy vegetables and other crops from area farms for use in lunchrooms.

“Food in schools is prison grade,” Williams said, qualifying his criticism to exempt kitchen staff.

Rather, he blamed the quality of the food itself.

“Basically it’s terrible, because it’s the result of an industrial process,” he said. “But if we can do things on a more local level, we can make those connections with children at a young age.”

Other farms on the list for 2013 include Fairwinds Farm in Bowdoinham and Topsham, and Crystal Springs Farm in Brunswick.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com