Tag: sustainable agriculture

Berkshire Grown has given our local farms someone to rely on for help when it seems as though community support has waned.

In his letter to the editor Mickey Friedman writes: “Those of us lucky enough to know him know how extraordinarily generous he is.”

“I believe in a regional food system. In a perfect system, we’d have a little bottling plant here in South County and the milk wouldn’t leave the county.” -- Balsam Hill Farm owner Morven Allen

For those who would like to start a farm of their own, Steve offers sound advice: “Start small, and work on someone else’s farm.”

The land will appreciate a break and chance to rejuvenate and so will I.

Woven Roots Farm in Tyringham is a model for landowners with arable land, and for farmers who could not otherwise afford prime land.

Stanton is not just a successful farmer. He credits his interest in serving on town boards to the model set by his parents, who have always taken into their home people who need help in various ways.

Farming in Columbia County has changed remarkably in the last 25 years. When we got started, there was just Ted Dobson, Hawthorne Valley, and us. Today? Every little town has a farmers market.” -- Martin Stosiek of Markristo Farm

"The veterans of the 'back to the land' movement who are now in their 70s didn't even know what a business plan looked like when they started out. But younger people today have way more business acumen. We sold the idea of using climate friendly biomass fuels for heating greenhouses by demonstrating that it would help their bottom line." -- UVM Extension Prof. Vern Grubinger

“There is a generation of young people eager to farm; however, they do not know where to turn.” -- Lisa MacDougall of Mighty Food Farm, a 2009 Microloan recipient