The Cuban Agroecological Experiment
Small farms thrive under Cuba’s unique blend of agrarian reforms, farmer autonomy and state support By Christina Bronsing-Lazalde, Food First Cuba Tour Coordinator and leader of upcoming Cuba delegation. The son of two pioneers of the Cuban agroecology movement, Fernando Funes-Monzote has been steeped in sustainable farming his entire life. Two years ago, he decided […]
Farm Profile: Broadfork Farm
Shannon Jones and Bryan Dyck farm 15 acres of veggies, herbs, fruits, cut flowers, vegetable transplants, and cover crop in River Hebert, a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. They started Broadfork Farm in 2011 on leased land, and then purchased their own property the following year. I spoke with Shannon about their move, and […]
Farm Profile: Frith Farm
When Daniel Mays started his search for farmland in 2010, he knew it wouldn’t be easy. A Pennsylvania native with Quaker roots, Mays knew he wanted land in the Northeast. He went to school in New England and felt at home in the region and its seasonal climate. He confirmed his love for farming and […]
Conserving Ranches in California
California has seen development threaten agricultural lands for decades. Organizations in the Golden State, like the California Rangeland Trust, are working to save farms and ranches for working agriculture. California Rangeland Trust has preserved over 275,000 acres of privately owned ranches since 1998. In 2012, they helped facilitate a conservation easement on Goodwin Ranch, putting […]
Farm Profile: Our Table Co-op
The fresh food that makes it to our tables follows a rough and rocky road. It must survive the legal, organizational and natural trials of a farm business. At Our Table Co-op, in Sherwood, OR, they are doing their best to take the uncertainty out of our food’s future with an innovative and intentional business […]
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 […]
A Brief History of How We Lost the Commons
In an article published earlier this year by Guernica Magazine, Peter Barnes investigates how humankind lost “The Commons”, the land that once belonged to everyone. He follows a quick lineage from hunter-gatherers to the culture of Ancient Rome, and onward into the present. His closing argument reiterates the mission of Agrarian Trust: “The world today […]
Farm Profile: Greyrock Farm
Matt Volz had been working the small farm circuit on either side of Lake Champlain, both in upstate New York and Vermont, when he decided to head back to the town he calls home, Cazenovia, NY. “I was really looking for a management position,” Matt recalls, “I wanted to save enough money to eventually buy […]
Farm Profile: Blue Ox Organics
From the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, head east into Wisconsin for just over an hour to find the land Caleb and Lauren Langworthy lovingly farm and call their own. The couple runs Blue Ox Organics. They began farming on rented land, with a year-to-year lease agreement. “We pretty quickly into that […]
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 […]