ROCKLAND – The Historic Inns of Rockland are offering an environmentally friendly culinary adventure that “goes green to give green” to the local food pantry.

Pies on Parade, an inn-to-inn pie tour, is scheduled 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20. Visitors to the Historic Inns during Pies on Parade will be treated to such traditional pies as cherry, apple and berry. All proceeds will benefit Rockland’s Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry to provide food and heating assistance for midcoast Maine families.

More than $6,500 has been donated to feed the needy through this event in the past, offering enough help to provide food for 100 needy midcoast families for a year when matched with national grants, according to Cheryl Michaelsen, co-owner of the Berry Manor Inn, one of the historic inns in the city.

Tour-goers will participate in the Historic Inns’ “green” efforts when they enjoy pie served on biodegradable plates made of all-natural sugar cane stalks and silverware created from potatoes and biobased resins or vegetable matter with no toxins.

“The Historic Inns are working pie by pie to reduce global warming in Maine,” Michaelsen said.

Berry Manor, Captain Lindsey House and LimeRock Inn have been certified by the state as Hospitality Environmental Leaders, making them the first known bed-and-breakfast association in New England totally dedicated to sustainable ecotourism, Michaelsen said.

The group has collectively negotiated a contract for use of biofuel for heating oil and instituted creative recycling programs for inn and guest products ranging from bottles to office products.

Beginning last fall, the three Historic Inns started making a $3-a-guest donation to ecofriendly local organizations as a means to offset their own carbon footprint.

Waste from the Pies on Parade event will be composted locally at participating inns. When possible, pies will be made from locally purchased products, including lobsters and scallops purchased from local fishermen for such dishes as Captain Lindsey House’s Seafood Pie.

Demonstrations and creative pie-making tips will take place at the inns during the tour along with ample opportunities for pie sampling.

Visitors may enjoy such pies as Raspberry Cheese, Kiwi Berry Tart, or Sun Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Breakfast Pie, and Seafood Pie. Some recipes will be provided so that tour-goers can make pies at home.

In June, the Food Network named Rockland “Pie Town USA” when renowned chef Bobby Flay came to challenge the “Pie Moms” to a “Throwdown” or pie-making contest. Flay and Pie Moms Janet LaPosta, Michaelsen’s mother-in-law, and Ally Taylor, Michaelsen’s mother, called the contest a draw.

Tickets, still available from participating inns, are $15 for adults in advance, $20 at the door, $10 for children age 10 and under. Included are a recipe collection and plenty of samples.

The Historic Inns of Rockland’s new cookbook, “INN-Dulgences,” will be debuted at the event and sold for $15.

For information on Historic Inns of Rockland’s Pies on Parade event and their ecofriendly hospitality, visit www.HistoricInnsofRockland.com. To purchase Pies on Parade tickets or learn more about the event, call 877-762-4667.

gchappell@bangordailynews.net

236-4598