Bring farming community into 21st century
Connecticut’s leaders continue to fall short in reforming the state’s policies to reflect new era of agriculture
Since the turn of the century, we have seen huge changes and improvements to the way farmers — and their consumers — do business. From a farmers’ market in every town, to aquaponics producing food in once-abandoned factories, to our ocean and city farmers, agriculture has a new face.
While it isn’t always easy for federal and state governments to keep up with this new wave of farming, it’s not impossible, either. The new era of agriculture and the farmers who are driving it are hungry for policies that respond to issues important to all of us: climate change, farmland protection and access, and the need to attract younger farmers to cope with an aging population.
Have the programs and policies coming out of Hartford kept up with an agricultural community on the move? The answer is a resounding “no.” Our state continues to fall short each year in reforming policies to reflect an agricultural community that is inclusive of all and supportive of small farms — and supportive of new and beginning farmers.
It was just in 2017 that Connecticut legislators introduced a bill that would abolish our Department of Agriculture completely, reducing and merging the existing programs with other agencies. While our state has made massive improvements in protecting farmland, what good is farmland without farmers?
Our state is lagging behind other states in its role of supporting a vibrant food system. In Massachusetts, the Matching Enterprise Grant helps emerging farmers start their new business, while the Agricultural Climate Resiliency and Efficiencies program issues reimbursements to farms using practices that reduce climate impact. In New York, the FreshConnect program provides subsidies to farmers selling community supported agriculture shares (produce boxes) to low-income individuals, while farmers in Vermont can apply for state funding to help get their products in out-of-state markets like Connecticut.
Some newly elected governors across the country have embraced these changes and thoughtfully picked people to lead their state’s agriculture community into the future.
In Colorado, Kate Greenberg, a former farmer, conservationist and Western Program Director for the National Young Farmers Coalition, was named the new agriculture commissioner. Meanwhile, protecting farmland was on the mind of Maine’s new governor when Amanda Beal, former executive director of the Maine Farmland Trust, was named their new agriculture commissioner.
Even the always-controversial federal farm bill passed in Washington, D.C., last December had wins for beginning farmers and conservationists. The new bill increases funding for farmer training programs, establishes the first federal office for urban agriculture and increases funding for programs supporting farmers of color, veterans, and indigenous people.
Connecticut agriculture is at a crossroads, and the time is ripe for change. With a new administration at the Capitol, we have the opportunity to lift our state up into the innovative, diverse and socially responsible 21st century farming community we see being built all around us. Customers at our farmers markets never shy away from sharing their love and appreciation for the work we do.
But I do have to ask: Hartford, where is the love from you?