Community Land Trust History: Interview with Bob Swann
An Interview with Bob Swann Conducted by Kirby White (1992) Originally published in Community Economics (Summer 1992): 3– 5. COMMUNITY ECONOMICS: Would you talk about how the community land trust model was developed, and how your own experience led to the development of the model. BOB SWANN: As a conscientious objector during world War II, I spent two years […]
Shifting African policy towards women and agroecology
The role of rural women and smallholder farmers in African society has been highly undervalued. This is so despite the fact that around 80% of Africa’s population is dependent on smallholder agriculture, it is the backbone of the rural economy, and women provide over two-thirds of the farm labour. There is clear evidence that agroecology […]
Land rights and acequia culture in Milagro Bean Field War (1988)
As directed by Robert Redford, The Milagro Beanfield War is a diverting account of how little guys join forces to fight big-bucks interests. Though this is a life-and-death issue for land conservationists, Redford handles it with a light touch. In his Milagro, land rights are not a matter for the social agenda but an occasion […]
USDA Expands Microloans to Help Farmers Purchase Farmland and Improve Property
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2016 — Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin offering farm ownership microloans, creating a new financing avenue for farmers to buy and improve property. These microloans will be especially helpful to beginning or underserved farmers, U.S. veterans looking for a career in […]
This is the Public Domain
This is the Public Domain is an effort to create a permanent international commons. The land will be free to everyone, and will be held in perpetuity. In 2003, a 2.64 acre parcel of land was purchased to serve as the site for the proposed public domain. Located in Tehachapi, California, sharing of this commons […]
Occupy the Farm
OCCUPY THE FARM tells the story of 200 urban farmers who walk onto a publicly-owned research farm and plant two acres of crops in order to save the land from becoming a real-estate development. This direct action set up a vibrant tent village on land destined to become condos, while their crops blocked the development […]
Land, Co-ops, Compost: Boston Neighborhood Takes Back the Land
Growing local food starts with the land, and the current flourishing of food initiatives would not have been possible without residents fighting to control their land and development in the 1980s. Today, the Dudley neighborhood, which sits between Roxbury and Dorchester, has a 10,000-square-foot community greenhouse that has become a hub for the local food […]
Increasing Demand For Farm Loans Forecasted for 2016
The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) loan programs provided over 37,000 farm loans to farmers in the U.S. over the past year, an increase over the previous year. The FSA programs include loans to beginner farmers and socially disadvantaged farmers, down payment loans, and microloans. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s blog analysis provides additional data and links […]
How To Revive A Neighborhood: With Imagination, Beauty and Art
Watch this video of potter Theaster Gates’ TED talk. “Gates, a potter by training and a social activist by calling, wanted to do something about the sorry state of his neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. So he did, transforming abandoned buildings to create community hubs that connect and inspire those who still live there […]
Out-of-State Farmers Express Interest in Washington Farmland
Droughts are not stopping out-of-state farmers and property investors from wanting to purchase or lease Washington owned ag lands. Pacific northwest farmland continues to increase in value. Read More: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/31/washington-state-farmland-finds-out-of-state-buyers.html