The 100 Year History of the San Pedro Commons

Sep 30, 2019 • Agrarian Commons, Commons Alliance, Land Access Stories, Land Access Strategies, Land Justice and Equity • By Agrarian Trust

2018 marked the hundred-year anniversary of the privatization of the San Pedro Land grant, the place where I was born and still call home. It is an arid piece of high desert, covered in piñon and juniper, located in the eastern and northern foothills of the Sandia Mountains in central New Mexico. It was an anniversary no one marked publicly, not even the heirs to the land still living in San Antonito, the village just down the road. It is part of a story lost, for the most part, to so-called progress.

Earthseed Land Collective: Farmers of Color Create Space for Collective Living & Liberation on the Land

Mar 06, 2019 • Land Access Stories, Land Access Strategies, Land Justice and Equity • By Agrarian Trust

The Earthseed Land Collective was formally established in 2012 by a group of black and brown farmers and social justice organizers. All in their 30s and early 40s at the time of its founding, the group currently includes seven founding members. Over the past decade, they have sought to establish a stable land base for their families and an equally grounded, self-sustaining, and welcoming hub for community building, particularly among farmers of color and food justice advocates…

New Hampshire’s First Affordable Whole Farm: Keeping Wingate Farm in the Family, Permanently Conserved, and Affordable for Future Farmers

Jan 23, 2019 • Land Access Stories • By Eliza Spellman Taylor

The story of Wingate Farm is firmly grounded in the rich and complex dynamics of multi-generational family farming, in which everyone must come together to plan the future of the family’s farm. Through their shared commitment and use of innovative tools to promote farmland affordability, the farmers at Wingate have ensured that the farm will remain accessible to future generations.

Building an Agrarian Commons: Learning from Farmers & Community Organizers

Nov 29, 2018 • Agrarian Commons, Land Access Stories • By Eliza Spellman Taylor

Agrarian Trust staff had the pleasure of meeting with farmers, landowners, and organizers at Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY and The Watershed Center in Millerton, NY in late October. We learned a lot from our colleagues in the Hudson Valley and reflected on the economic and social aspects of our beginning agrarian commons work. Above all, it was an honor to spend time with organizations and people engaged in such compelling and inspiring place-based work with larger justice implications.

Thirty Years of Trailblazing a Farm Community at Temple-Wilton Community Farm

Oct 25, 2018 • Agrarian Commons, Commons Alliance, Food Systems and Security, Land Access Stories, Land Access Strategies, Sustainable Farming • By Eliza Spellman Taylor

The story of Temple-Wilton Community Farm is one of community and commitment, persistence, and vision. As a community-based farm, Temple-Wilton provides support for its farmers and food security for its members. The farm exemplifies how Agrarian Trust might protect a working farm in perpetuity as a kind of ‘agrarian commons’ while upholding the values of access, affordability, and land security.