What Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” Can Teach Us About Preserving the Land

One sight that has become conspicuously absent from modern life is the small, biodiverse farm. In the 35 years before Big Yellow Taxi was released, the United States lost over five million farms, or more than half of the farms that existed in 1935. While the United States certainly has never been a paradise—most of these lost farms were stolen from Native Americans in the first place—this loss has had dire consequences for rural economies. As small farms disappear, we’ve seen an explosion of industrial farming practices that favor monoculture over diversity, productivity over soil health, and profit over community well-being.
The Agrarian Commons, Land Stewardship, and the Racist History of Land Conservation

As a land conservation organization, it is important for Agrarian Trust to grapple with the racist history of land conservation, and to imagine new models of land stewardship rooted in racial equity and active care for the land. The Agrarian Commons model is a clear step in this direction.
$575,000 Raised in Vermont to Preserve 169-acre Farm

by Mike Faher from the Brattleboro Reformer (VT). Farm conservation continues to make news in Dummerston. About six weeks after announcing new ownership for the Elysian Hills Tree Farm, Vermont Land Trust has finished a $575,000 fundraising effort to conserve the historic Bunker Farm. The campaign’s completion means the Bunker Farm will have new owners […]