diff --git a/lib/foreman.rb b/lib/foreman.rb
index a7cfaa9..422bdd4 100644
--- a/lib/foreman.rb
+++ b/lib/foreman.rb
@@ -4,5 +4,10 @@ module Foreman
 
   class AppDoesNotExist < Exception; end
 
+  # load contents of env_file into ENV
+  def self.load_env!(env_file = './.env')
+    require 'foreman/engine'
+    Foreman::Engine.load_env!(env_file)
+  end
 end
 
diff --git a/lib/foreman/engine.rb b/lib/foreman/engine.rb
index c74c9cb..b4140d5 100644
--- a/lib/foreman/engine.rb
+++ b/lib/foreman/engine.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ class Foreman::Engine
 
   attr_reader :procfile
   attr_reader :directory
-  attr_reader :environment
   attr_reader :options
 
   extend Term::ANSIColor
@@ -26,6 +25,11 @@ class Foreman::Engine
     @environment = read_environment_files(options[:env])
   end
 
+  def self.load_env!(env_file)
+    @environment = read_environment_files(env_file)
+    apply_environment!
+  end
+
   def start
     proctitle "ruby: foreman master"
     termtitle "#{File.basename(@directory)} - foreman (#{processes.size} processes)"
@@ -73,7 +77,7 @@ private ######################################################################
   end
 
   def fork_individual(process, num, port)
-    @environment.each { |k,v| ENV[k] = v }
+    apply_environment!
 
     ENV["PORT"] = port.to_s
     ENV["PS"]   = "#{process.name}.#{num}"
@@ -175,27 +179,37 @@ private ######################################################################
     @current_color >= COLORS.length ? "" : COLORS[@current_color]
   end
 
-  def read_environment_files(filenames)
-    environment = {}
+  module Env
+    attr_reader :environment
 
-    (filenames || "").split(",").map(&:strip).each do |filename|
-      error "No such file: #{filename}" unless File.exists?(filename)
-      environment.merge!(read_environment(filename))
-    end
+    def read_environment_files(filenames)
+      environment = {}
 
-    environment.merge!(read_environment(".env")) unless filenames
-    environment
-  end
-
-  def read_environment(filename)
-    return {} unless File.exists?(filename)
-
-    File.read(filename).split("\n").inject({}) do |hash, line|
-      if line =~ /\A([A-Za-z_0-9]+)=(.*)\z/
-        hash[$1] = $2
+      (filenames || "").split(",").map(&:strip).each do |filename|
+        error "No such file: #{filename}" unless File.exists?(filename)
+        environment.merge!(read_environment(filename))
       end
-      hash
+
+      environment.merge!(read_environment(".env")) unless filenames
+      environment
+    end
+
+    def read_environment(filename)
+      return {} unless File.exists?(filename)
+
+      File.read(filename).split("\n").inject({}) do |hash, line|
+        if line =~ /\A([A-Za-z_0-9]+)=(.*)\z/
+          hash[$1] = $2
+        end
+        hash
+      end
+    end
+
+    def apply_environment!
+      @environment.each { |k,v| ENV[k] = v }
     end
   end
 
+  include Env
+  extend  Env
 end
diff --git a/spec/foreman_spec.rb b/spec/foreman_spec.rb
index b0a0286..ef1bbb3 100644
--- a/spec/foreman_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/foreman_spec.rb
@@ -8,4 +8,26 @@ describe Foreman do
     it { should be_a String }
   end
 
+  describe "::load_env!(env_file)" do
+    before do
+      FakeFS.activate!
+    end
+
+    after do
+      FakeFS.deactivate!
+      ENV['FOO'] = nil
+    end
+
+    it "should load env_file into ENV" do
+      File.open("/tmp/env1", "w") { |f| f.puts("FOO=bar") }
+      Foreman.load_env!("/tmp/env1")
+      ENV['FOO'].should == 'bar'
+    end 
+
+    it "should assume env_file in ./.env" do
+      File.open("./.env", "w") { |f| f.puts("FOO=bar") }
+      Foreman.load_env!
+      ENV['FOO'].should == 'bar'
+    end
+  end
 end