If you’re really into farm and conservation issues, you might want to make plans to be in Washington, D.C. next month for the National Agricultural Landscapes Forum, April 7 & 8. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, American Farmland Trust, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Foundation NFP invite you to participate in a forum to address the future of U.S. agriculture, natural resource conservation and rural lands. Sounds quite interesting.
Have you checked out the American Farmland Trust? www.farmland.org. It advocates for a variety of interrelated topics, such as food security, saving farmland, the environment, local foods, Farmers Markets. So far, it appears to advocate for the independent family type farms and ranches. Not too much about ranching. It’s unusual for these two groups to be on the same side of the fence. They often compete over the same land and disagree on its usage: cattle grazing vs. sod busting & agriculture. The site also has a Take Action section, which is helpful. ‘No farms. No food.’ is the battle cry. It’s an informative site. It brings to mind that there are some of us who have to actually worry about the food production. How many of us think about it beyond running to the local grocer or Farmers Market? Even if we’re ‘between paychecks’ and worry about rising food prices, we seldom need to worry about the shelves being stocked. But less land, bad weather and other crop damage can really weigh in on the yields. Who thinks Agribusiness and modified foods are the answer? With the increased interest in local foods, community gardens, artisinal foods and back yard growing, it looks like we’re coming up with our own answers. This may put us all back in touch with the land and an awareness of the challenges of food production and importance of sustainability.
