Considering Land Access — Nationally
Syndicated NPR show All Things Considered featured the creativity of young farmers earlier this week. Highlighting Maple Avenue Market Farm in Virginia and talked to Lindsay Lusher Shute of Hearty Roots Farm in New York. Listen, see pictures and read the story by Dan Charles at the NPR website.
Iowa Public Radio Examines Organic Corn Shortage
The demand for organic food is growing, but in the Midwest, organic is far from king. A report from Iowa Public Radio examines the demand and need for supply of organic corn. The article follows farmer Tom Frantzen (see Farm Profile) who has made the transition to organic, and examines a changing food chain. […]
New Regulations Could Hurt Local Food Systems
Land Access is only one of the obstacles facing beginning farmers. Once these young agrarians have found access and financing for land, they enter the maze of barriers that face all small farmers. Public comment is open until November 15th on a recent proposed regulation that could serve as a major barrier for small farmers. […]
Boots to Fill
I was working the Union Square Greenmarket a couple of weeks ago, when a woman, probably in her late twenties said she wanted to be a farmer. Her husband was enmeshed in big business and they wanted out. She wanted to know how to go about it, and since we were there from Vermont, she […]
Land is the New Gold
The three year-old Land Access Project (LAP), an initiative of New England-based Land for Good, has made countless contributions to defining and solving issues around farmland access. Their report on farmland investment directly addresses the financial side of farmland for the next generation. The report, Farmland Investors: An Exploration for New England and Beyond, presents […]
The New American Farmer
A research paper from the Transnational Institute draws on ethnographic research conducted in the Central Coast of California and the Northern Neck of Virginia, where a significant number of Mexican farmworkers are in the process of transitioning to small-scale family-run farm owner/operators, despite race and ethnicity based discrimination. Although they attempt to succeed as small-scale, […]
Report Addresses Helping the Farmers that Feed New York City
GrowNYC has put out a report detailing the challenges of the farmers that supply New York City’s Greenmarket. The report is Farmers on the Edge: An Assessment of Greenmarket Farmers Needs, and the Growing Challenges of Keeping Their Farms Viable. The report details various regions throughout the Northeast and the challenges faced by beginning farmers […]
Agriculture Advocates Use Theatre to Protest Development in California
A group of vegetables were bulldozed inside an East Bay location of Sprouts Farmers Market–a grocery store chain with 160 locations throughout the Southwest and Western United States. Sprouts Farmers Market recently entered a development contract with the University of California Berkeley to develop what is currently a piece of agricultural land into a new […]
Land Conservation Efforts Need Re-evaluation
The National Young Farmers Coalition released a report yesterday that reveals how current farmland conservation practices are failing working farmers. Farmland Conservation 2.0: How Land Trusts Can Protect America’s Working Farms surveyed 200 land trust leaders from across the United States. The report discovered that one-quarter of land trusts have seen protected farmland move out of […]
Giving Voice to the Soil
The methods we use to gain attention for agricultural land access must be as diverse as the land we aim to preserve. Doug Nopar, a farmer and program organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, authored a creative dramatization about land gifting called “Look Who’s Knockin.’ The play gives life to the ethics and motives behind […]