Protecting our Sustainably Managed Farmland - lessons from the US for Victoria

“For the true measure of agriculture is not the sophistication of its equipment, the size of its income or even the statistics of its productivity, but the good health of the land.”

― Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture

Food and agricultural systems are the biggest global drivers of climate change, species loss, hunger and ill-health. Our food system is not merely unsustainable but unfair and destructive. Transformative change is urgent and unavoidable.

As we enter uncertain and uncharted waters in the coming years, and reflecting on the supply chain disruptions, vulnerabilities and inequities revealed by the pandemic, there is a growing recognition that Australian cities must do much more to guarantee their own food security. Critically, this means protecting remaining farmland, enabling the transition to sustainable and regenerative agriculture and land management, and creating pathways for new and young farmers.

Such issues have been tackled in other jurisdictions, notably the United States. A particularly innovative solution has been the creation and implementation of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) and Farm Land Trusts (FLTs). These legal innovations have facilitated access to land for young and new farmers, created meaningful and dignified employment, supported youth leadership, enhanced local food security and food justice, and much more.

At its heart, the CLT/FLT models aim to do what many would consider inconceivable and that is to provoke a reimagining of the commons. Land Trusts have evolved to meet a growing need to protect communities against the commodification, speculation and eager grabbing of land for private wealth and in turn offer a form of protection by holding land in Trust and a dedication to protecting farmland and open space in perpetuity.

Featuring an outstanding panel of leading practitioners from the US, this webinar will explore the context, processes and mechanisms that have enabled the creation and operation of community land trusts and farmland trusts, what the impacts and benefits of these institutions have been especially in terms of food justice, food security and food sovereignty; and what lessons might be applicable and transferable in the Australian context.

This webinar is aligned with the 'Protecting Our Sustainably Managed Farmland' project that Sustain and Young Farmers Connect are jointly delivering with Trust for Nature and Ethical Fields, funded by the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation and the McLeod Family Foundation. The project's goal is to create a model of collaborative farmland ownership and governance that demonstrates a viable and scalable pathway for sustainable food production farms, especially in peri-urban areas of Australia’s major cities. The project is an action-research analysis to define a permanent protection and collective ownership model, supporting sustainably-managed farmland –notably important peri-urban farmlands threatened by encroaching development.

Panellists:

- Greg Rosenberg, Coordinator, The Center for Community Land Trust Innovation

- Joy I. Gary, Executive Director, Boston Farms Community Land Trust

- Danielle Andrews, Boston Farm Manager, The Food Project, Boston

- Travis Marcotte, Executive Director, The Intervale Center, Vermont

- Louise Crabtree-Hayes, Principal Research Fellow, Institute of Society and Culture, University of Western Sydney

Who should attend?

This webinar is for local and state government planners and policy makers, established farmers and other landowners, new and young farmers, community food enterprises and organisations, researchers and academics, and members of the public engaged with topics of agriculture, food systems, climate change, and social and political change processes.

Cost: Free (donations welcome!)

Greg Rosenberg

Greg Rosenberg serves as the coordinator of the Center for Community Land Trust Innovation, whose mission is to support the work of CLTs through documenting the history of the movement, conducting and supporting research, as well as providing assistance to innovative efforts around the world. He is also the principal of Rosenberg and Associates, with a consulting practice in the areas of affordable and sustainable housing development, strategic planning, cohousing, urban agriculture – and all things relating to community land trusts. Greg has developed curriculum and taught workshops on community land trusts, sustainable development, fair housing, property taxation, universal design, and urban agriculture. Greg is licensed to practice law in the state of Wisconsin, is a licensed Advanced Practice Social Worker, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Joy I. Gary

From seed to fork, Joy is passionate about food. She has dedicated her time to supporting regenerative systems development, food justice, and education through urban agriculture. As the Executive Director of Boston Farms Community Land Trust she, along with her team, is working to reclaim land and to build and protect urban farms across Boston, under community control, and for the benefit of Black and Brown farmers from the neighborhoods they serve.

Danielle Andrews

Danielle Andrews (she/her/hers) has worked on and off at The Food Project since the summer of 2000, where she started as a grower’s assistant on The Food Project’s Lincoln farm. In the fall of 2000, Danielle returned to her hometown of Toronto to finish a master’s degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on agriculture-based education and work on urban agriculture projects. In 2002, she returned to The Food Project as the Boston Urban Grower. Following a maternity leave in 2008, she returned to The Food Project to head up the Dudley Greenhouse. In her current position, she enjoys working with and supporting neighbors and neighborhood organizations that are working in partnership with The Food Project to strengthen our neighborhood food system. Danielle loves to grow, cook, and appreciate vegetables; ride bikes; and explore Boston’s free events, pools, and skating rinks.

Travis Marcotte, Executive Director, Intervale Centre Vermont

Louise Crabtree-Hayes

Associate Professor Louise Crabtree-Hayes is the leading Australian researcher on the subject of CLTs, having been the lead author on the Australian Community Land Trust Manual and Enabling Community Land Trusts in Australia in order to create practical guides for organisations wishing to implement this model in Australia.