USDA Funding Goes to Tenancy Research in Vermont
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy announced $759,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for a three-year partnership between the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at VLS and the National Agricultural Library (NAL). The announcement was made September 24th at the Vermont Law School. The USDA funding will support dissemination of agricultural and food law research and the […]
More on the Wall Street Interest in Farmland
by Jim Hightower from his website We know from the childhood song that Old McDonald had a farm – but e-i-e-i-o – look who’s got his farm now! It’s groups like American Farmland, Farmland Partners, and BlackRock. These aren’t dirt farmers wearing overalls and brogans, but Wall Street hucksters in Armani suits and Gucci loafers. […]
Cooperative Farms in Upstate New York
By Kathryn Shattuck from The New York Times It was time for the running of the bulls. As Ron Cieri watched from his ATV this summer, his farm manager, Jim Ingram, unleashed five hulking males into a verdant Catskills pasture, where 80 brood cows — a patchwork of red, black and white — grazed with […]
Going Rural to Get the Farm
By Kathryn Flagg from Seven Days VT When Lila Bennett and David Robb set out to buy a farm in central Vermont, they had to get used to disappointment: Multiple land deals fell through at the last minute, and cash-bearing buyers outbid the husband-and-wife team on several occasions. “We had a lot of heartbreaking near […]
Project Profile: SOLEfood Farms
Across the country, continent and worldwide, urban agriculture is becoming a real solution for growers. Keep Growing Detroit aims to grow all of Detroit’s food within city limits and 596 Acres turns its eye to the public-owned vacant land in New York City. These groups serve to help growers navigate and transform city ordinances and […]
Workers in Maine Buy Out their Jobs
By Rob Brown, Noemi Giszpenc and Brian Van Slyke from truthout.org On remote Deer Isle, Maine, the movement for a more just and democratic economy won a major victory this summer. More than 60 employees of three retail businesses – Burnt Cove Market, V&S Variety and Pharmacy, and The Galley – banded together to buy the […]
New York City Land Event Tomorrow!
Saturday 9/20/2014: Join organizers of the New York City Community Land Initiative’s Education and Outreach media team for a presentation on Community Land Trusts, featuring Picture the Homeless’ Banking on Vacancy report, and discussion of sustainable, truly affordable housing for artists and all low-income people in the city. In addition this afternoon program will include […]
The Tree that Owns Itself: a pioneer for a new agrarian society
We found this little tidbit on Wikipedia, and thought it made a good Land Reform thought for the day! The Tree That Owns Itself is a white oak tree, widely assumed to have legal ownership of itself and of all land within eight feet (2.4 m) of its base. The tree, also called the Jackson […]
Beginning Farmer Program for Women in CT
From NOFA CT: If you are a beginning (less than ten years experience) women farmer in Connecticut and you are interested in joining the program, we are now accepting applications for the 2014/2015 session. The training begins in early November and consists of 10 all-day Saturday sessions. The first six are throughout the winter and will […]
Young Farmers Conference!
2014 NATIONAL YOUNG FARMERS CONFERENCE Every December, hundreds of beginning farmers from across the United States gather at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture to learn from agricultural luminaries, peers, and advocacy organizations at the National Young Farmers Conference: Reviving the Culture of Agriculture. On December 3-5, 2014, Stone Barns Center will host the […]