Cultivating Resiliency in Roanoke, Virginia
As a recipient of Roanoke City’s share of American Rescue Plan funding, LEAP is working to create a centralized food hub about a mile down the road from Lick Run Farm farm, where Cam plans to take his vision for growing food and building community to the next level. Once the funds are raised, the land will become the founding farm for the Southwest Virginia Agrarian Commons: a space where Cam can build soil, host workshops, and raise vegetables to be sold on-site as well as through LEAP’s new food hub.
Equity & Justice Research Grant
The Gund Institute for Environment, based out of the University of Vermont (UVM), recently announced their inaugural Equity and Justice research grant, which supports projects that aim to address inequities and injustices underlying environmental crises. I was honored to receive one of these grants to support my collaboration with Agrarian Trust exploring how creative approaches improve equitable farmland access and sustainable on-farm practices. To date, land access policy initiatives in the United States have focused exclusively on expanding private property ownership. Recent research, however, indicates that such efforts may not fully address the systemic and structural barriers to equitable farmland access.
Redlining’s Legacy: Disinvestment in Black Communities in Virginia
Redlining was a red mark against these robust neighborhoods, meaning that they could not connect to federal funding for home loans. Race was the defining factor in redlining and prevented these communities from gaining full access to the federal support that was needed and that they paid into through the federal tax system.
Changemaker Profile: Renard Turner and the Central Virginia Agrarian Commons
A Q&A with Renard Turner, co-owner and operator of Vanguard Ranch and founding board member of the Central Virginia Agrarian Commons.
Press Release: Local Agrarian Commons Co-founders Honored with Food Sovereignty Prize
Please join us in congratulating the Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine (SBCA), co-founders of the Little Jubba Maine Agrarian Commons, on being honored by the US Food Sovereignty Alliance’s […]
Agrarian Trust featured in Catalytic Capital and Agriculture
The team at Agrarian Trust is thrilled to see the Agrarian Commons model of community-held farmland featured in a new report on innovative models for agriculture. As the report’s authors […]
The Fault in Our Farming
Humanity can no longer afford to ignore the myriad ways in which monoculture is unsustainable and dangerous. Widespread environmental sustainability is virtually impossible under the monoculture farming model. It seems as though we must look to the farmers and stewards of the past to protect public health into the foreseeable future.
Harnessing the Power of Local
Agrarian Commons farms, which operate under the joint stewardship of farmers across a community, focus on farming techniques that preserve the land and create a reliable source of product.
Could Putting Farmland in the Commons Support Land Justice and Sustainability?
The Agrarian Trust aims to help farmers access land and stay on it, while fostering a system of community supported, environmentally sustainable agriculture.
Guest Post: How Farmers’ Markets Have Been Affected by COVID-19
The struggle to legitimize farmers’ markets as essential services has been a hard-fought battle. Here are three reasons why the farmers’ market is important to our economy — and why you should support them.