The Berkshire region of Massachusetts has a rich and established farm and food culture. Agriculture provides a key flavor in the identity of the place. Local groups in Berkshire County are partnering with Land For Good to help put more farmers on the land and more land into farming in Berkshire County.
The Farmland Access Symposium will explore ways we can build a more secure land base for farms, farmer housing and related businesses. Kathy Ruhf, LFG Executive Director, will discuss the role of the community in fostering farmland access for all farmers in this region. Kathy will talk about the importance of supporting established farmers as they transition out of farming, and of encouraging landowners to make land available for farming. Kathy will also point to land trusts, agriculture commissions, private sector advisors and food-conscious citizens as crucial to the conversation. For LFG, this community “place-based’ approach has great appeal as an effective “systems” approach to land access challenges.
The Farmland Access Symposium takes place on Saturday, April 12, 2014 at the Berkshire Athenaeum (Pittsfield’s Public Library), One Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA. Advance registration is required. Reserve your seat today!
This event is a collaboration of Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires, Berkshire Grown, Berkshire Co-op Market, Land for Good, The Carrot Project, Great Barrington Agriculture Commission, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Schumacher Center for a New Economics, and Bard College at Simon’s Rock Center for Food Studies.
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