Land: the foundation of a healthy food system
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- Wednesday, April 15th from 9:00 am – 1:30 pm, followed by MA Food Plan Listening Session from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
- Mill 1 in Open Square, 4 Open Square Way, Holyoke, MA
Program
8:30 – 9:00 Registration Opens: Coffee, Tea, Muffins, Networking
9:00 – 12:45 PVGrows Forum
Welcome & Overview
- Margaret Christie, CISA/PVGrows
- Javiera Benavente, PVGrows
- Rebecca Busansky, PVGrows Investment Fund
- Jamie Pottern and Kari Blood, Forever Farmland Initiative
Panel 1: Understanding Land Access
- Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust
- Kathy Ruhf, Land for Good
- Jim Oldham, Equity Trust
Panel 2: Case Studies
- Ibrahim Ali, Gardening The Community
- Ray Young, Next Barn Over Farm
- Caroline Pam, The Kitchen Garden
- Jamie Pottern, Quabbin Harvest/Mount Grace Conservation Land Trust
Small Groups with Featured Projects
- Gardening The Community with Ibrahim Ali
- The Northampton Community Farm with Clem Clay, Grow Food Northampton
- Nuestras Raices: exploring land access in Urban Holyoke with Jonathan Surrency
- Conserving your land with the help of land trusts with Warren Facey, Bree-Z-Knoll Farm, Michael Doctor, Winter Moon Farm, Jamie Pottern and Kari Blood, Forever Farmland Initiative
- Massachusetts Statewide Food Plan—Land Working Group with Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust
- Financing for Food and Farm Businesses with John Waite, Franklin County CDC/PVGrows Investment Fund and Rob Crowner, Equity Trust
- A Land Partnership: Simple Gifts Farm CSA and North Amherst Community Farm with Jim Oldham, Equity Trust, Dave Tepfer and Jeremy Barker Plotkin, Simple Gifts Farm CSA, and Bruce Coldham, North Amherst Community Farm
- Farm viability on protected farmland with Melissa Adams, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR)
- Food Bank Farm Partnership with Andrew Morehouse, Food Bank of Western Mass