Freeport High School students are partnering with local farmers and community members to cook up leftovers from this year’s harvest for use in local food pantries this winter.

They began cooking soups and stews on Tuesday, and will do so again on two more occasions, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3.

The masterminds behind the idea are Dede Bennell, Service Learning coordinator at Freeport High School, and Stephanie Lemieux of L.L. Bean. The longtime friends put their heads together over a month ago and hatched the idea for “Food for Change.”

“Stephanie came up with this idea and we met and decided to partner up,” said Bennell, who is in charge of enlisting students to help cook the food. “My job is to help local youth get involved in the community. We have a very active student body who love to do community service, so the help wasn’t hard to find.”

Lemieux said that she grew up with many farmer friends, and it didn’t take long for her to start wondering what farmers did with all of the extra produce laying around.

“I used to go to my friend’s farm weekly, and noticed that at the end of every year there’s so much leftover produce,” said Lemieux. “My brain started to click and I thought ‘we should cut all of this down and cook it and freeze it for food pantries.’”

Lemieux asked her friend if she would be interested in donating, and she quickly agreed. Then she pointed Lemieux in the direction of five more farmers in the Freeport and Brunswick area — and “Food for Change” began to gain steam.

“I don’t have time to cook it all, so that’s where Dede and the high school students come in,” said Lemieux, who had worked with the school in the past and new that plenty of students would want to help out.

Six students began cooking Tuesday night at Freeport High School, each one excited to help provide for community members. “Food for Change” helps the farming sector as well, especially with the farm-to-table movement becoming so prominent.

“We know the local movement is here, with many individuals and families looking to sustainable farming as a way of living,” said Bennell. “Planning produce production isn’t a proven science and consequently, unwanted produce is a biproduct of a productive farm.”

Bennell and Lemieux wish to put all of the leftover produce — such as pumpkin, squash, eggplant and red peppers — to good use, as it would be otherwise composted.

“(These) soups and stews can be stored for the winter season and offered to community members in need,” Bennell said.

Bennell stressed that the farmers haven’t just decided to save their extra produce overnight, but rather have been looking for options for quite some time. With the unpredictable frosts this time of year, large amounts of produce are often harvested quickly, leaving farmers scrambling to get rid of it all before it spoils.

“I think generally, farmers are really good about figuring out what produce isn’t sale worthy, but a lot of it gets composted regardless,” Bennell said.

The community is also pitching in to help with “Food for Change,” with Bow Street Market donating food containers and Shaw’s donating cooking essentials such as olive oil and spices.

Lemieux said Tuesday was mostly about the students getting a feel for the kitchen.

“I didn’t want to over complicate things for the students,” Lemieux said. “It was mostly ‘cut, roast and store.’”

Aside from soup and stew, Lemieux plans on making minestrone soup, chicken soup and eggplant parmesan.

bgoodridge@timesrecord.com