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Farmland Trusts: Give Ground to Local Food

I remember when "organic food" was a phrase that was only heard at the dinner tables of the Diet For a Small Planet-reading subculture known as "Granola." At the time, most of us were grocery shivering — uh, I mean shopping — at tiny, cold, cement-floored co-ops, and we both lived and smelled somewhat earthy. The few organic-certification organizations were small and regional. But with the political birth of the USDA Organic Certification label, "organic" found itself on the tip of everyone's tongue. Suddenly, more and more people were discovering the environmental and health benefits of organic food and wouldn't think of feeding their babies anything less.

Now, you can find organic food just about anywhere, and it is even crossing the economic barrier with its recent arrival on Wal-Mart shelves. But the question on the minds of food-sustainability advocates has become: Is organic the beginning and end of sustainable agriculture, or is there more to consider — such as, how important is local food? This question is being taken up not only by those who consider themselves to be food savvy, but by organic consumers across the country.

What began with Francis Moore Lappé's Diet for a Small Planet has expanded. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and the recent The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen (see review in issue #16), plus books by some of our nation's favorite writers such as Jane Goodall and Barbara Kingsolver (see review on page 12), are putting the words "local food" on the lips of more and more people. The message isn't hard to swallow. We don't need a book to tell us that local food tastes better because it's fresh, and when you consider the fossil fuels and resultant greenhouse gases involved in transporting food the estimated 1,500 miles it typically travels in the United States between farm gate and dinner plate, it just makes more sense to eat locally produced food.

The local-food movement has the additional zest of being fun. American culture has a wonderful nostalgia for farm life (how many babies learn to moo and cluck at the appropriate pictures of farm animals before they can even say their own names?). And in our busy lives, how great is it to get outside, see our neighbors, chew the fat with our favorite farmers, feast our eyes on a cornucopia of colorful vegetables and get our groceries all in a single jaunt to the neighborhood farmers' market? Best of all, we then get to create a fresh, scrumptious meal that evokes the fun we had acquiring it! This year, many are embarking on Eat Local Thanksgiving, a campaign to encourage people to prepare Thanksgiving feasts cooked with ingredients grown exclusively within a 100-mile radius of home.

Is it just an American dream?

What's really happening on the ground level of our local food systems? While farmers' markets and pumpkin patches are as popular as ever, we are losing farmland to development at the astonishing rate of two acres every minute, according to the American Farmland Trust. In the interest of housing developments and sprawl, we are destroying the best land in the country, richly grown by nature and conscientious farmers over hundreds of years. Flat, low-elevation farmland appears great to build on, but it's also precious space for birds and other wildlife that take refuge there. As the open spaces that farms provide disappear, air quality diminishes and watersheds suffer.

Many farmers are selling their land because of the struggles to survive in a difficult national agricultural market where commodity prices are on the decline and federal subsidies benefit a few of the largest and wealthiest agribusinesses the most. Yet dedicated farmers and young men and women hoping to sow their own dreams of farming are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire suitable land. Agriculture supports 17 percent of the U.S. labor force and provides 13 percent of our Gross Domestic Product, but when farmers lose theirlivelihoods, rural poverty increases and the whole regional economy suffers. Our quality of life also suffers as we lose local heritages and diverse cultural landscapes to vacation-home developments and faceless business interests. Not to mention, where do we then get our wonderful fresh, local food?

PCC Farmland Trust: "Saving Organic Farmland Forever"

That's one of the questions that Seattle-area co-op PCC Natural Markets was asking when they started the community-based nonprofit organization PCC Farmland Trust. Unlike many large food chains that carry organic food, PCC is dedicated to bringing local food to local consumers and providing a market outlet for the region's organic farmers. PCC Farmland Trust supports this market connection from the ground up by saving local farmland for organic production. It is the only land trust in the country to focus exclusively on conservation easements for organic farmland or land that can be moved into organic agriculture.

A conservation easement is a legal agreement that permanently restricts the uses of land for the sake of its protection. In the case of the PCC Farmland Trust, conservation easements state that the land must be preserved for organic production. Because the restriction lowers the market value of the land, the PCC Farmland Trust can lease or sell it to farmers at a reduced rate. The easement protection remains with the land, so if a farmer were to buy the farm and then sell it to someone else later on, it would be ensured to continue as organic farmland forever. Nearly 430 acres of organic farmland in Washington have been saved by the PCC Farmland Trust since 1990 — including produce farms and an organic cattle ranch — and their efforts continue.

Across the country, land trusts are gaining ground in conservation. Between 2000 and 2005, land trusts doubled the amount of land they saved to 37 million acres nationwide. Land can be purchased outright and put into an easement, as the PCC Farmland Trust does. Or landowners may be able to retain ownership by putting all or part of their land into a conservation easement and then selling or donating the easement to a land trust. Farmers and ranchers who donate an agricultural conservation easement can even receive a 50 percent tax reduction on up to 100 percent of their income for 15 years. (Although this benefit was due to expire at the end of 2007, it appears to have enough support from Congress and the Bush administration to become permanent in 2008.)

If this sparks your interest, you can look into your local land trust or farmland trust. Supporting your local land trust benefits your local community and our earth. You can get involved as a volunteer, a financial donor or a land donor. You can also review S. 469 and H.R. 1576, congressional bills currently pending that would permanently extend the tax benefits of conservation easements. Your local land trust may have other ways for you to get involved.

Local Food Fun

Talk to farmers at your local farmers' market or check in with a natural-food store near you. Try looking up the Eat Local campaign to see if there's a group in your area. If not, start one with friends. Experiment with your family to see if you can eat a meal made entirely of ingredients grown locally and talk about what you discover with your friends. Sign up with a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. Many farms are now offering year-round CSA programs or are specializing in winter CSA programs. Treat yourself and some children in your life toa weekend excursion to a harvest fair or a farm tour at a local organic farm. Educate yourself by reading one or more of the many excellent and entertaining books discussing local food and the state of our national and international food policies. Getting involved in the local-food movement is an easy and fun way to connect with your community and support a healthy, diverse world.

Summer Linnea Howe finds magic in moments such as a baby's first laugh, a cup of tea with a friend and the first scent of autumn. She recycles that magic into wholesome home-cooked meals, watercolor paintings, poetry, songs, or other arts and crafts. Summer is a Certified Energy Therapist and an infant care provider living in Seattle, Washington.

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