Great Barrington — The current state of farming and agricultural issues was discussed at the 10th annual ThinkFOOD conference on Saturday, November 4. The event was held at the Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
The theme for this year’s conference was “Making Farming Work” and included several panels and workshops throughout the day. Panels included information about securing housing and land for local farmers, state and federal incentives, networking for local farmers and organizations, and a keynote address by state Commissioner for the Department of Agricultural Resources Ashley Randle. Representatives from organizations took part in the event, including representatives from the American Farmland Trust, Land for Good, Community Land Trust, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, and Berkshire Agricultural Ventures.
“We know that in Berkshire County there are quite a lot of food-oriented businesses and farms, and we wanted to give these people associated with them a chance to share what they do with other people,” Bard College at Simon’s Rock Center of Food Studies Director Maryann Tebben told The Berkshire Edge. “We also want to bring in experts in the agricultural and farming fields to talk for themselves. We have quite a lot of members of our community who are all interested in that kind of education. We also have students at the college who want to perhaps learn or go into farming. They are interested in the sustainability of agriculture, and they are interested in food.”
Tebben said that one of the many issues discussed at the event was the effects that climate change is having on agriculture. “We are seeing quite a lot of climate change effects in Berkshire County,” Tebben said. “It may not be as visible as other places, but it’s certainly quite visible in Berkshire County. We’ve had a lot more rain and destructive weather events. This has made the growth season for agriculture longer and later, and it’s made all kinds of changes to farming and food production.”
“I think it’s important to continue to raise public awareness of local agriculture, not just amongst young people, but amongst all the people in our community,” Patrick Grego, the Communications and Development Associate for Berkshire Agricultural Ventures. said. “We need to make sure that we are all supporting our communities of farmers and farmworkers. Because of the flooding in July and the late frost we had, the USDA declared Berkshire County a disaster zone. Because of that, I think that now more than ever people need to really think about where they’re getting their food, and also how we can make our food systems much more resilient.”
Grego said that one of the ways to make the state’s food systems more resilient is by getting more public support for agricultural programs, and local farmers. “We want to make sure that our farmers continue to thrive long into the future,” Grego said. “There are many ways you can support local farmers, not just by going to farmers markets and buying their produce, but also supporting them through local organizations.”
“It’s important to have events like these so we can connect people to the issues that are going on around agriculture and food,” American Farmland Trust New England Program Manager Jamie Pottern said. “We’re part of a national agricultural land trust, and we do land protection work across the country. I’ve seen a tremendous number of fabulous organizations working together to protect farmland and support farmers. But, unfortunately, we are losing farmland at a pretty rapid rate. Over 80 percent of Berkshire County’s farmland is not permanently protected. This is why it’s really important to have events like this to educate the community about the threats to the farmland, and to come to collaborate to help support the farmers.”
Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Patrick Grego’s comments were misattributed to another event attendee. The Berkshire Edge regrets the error.
