Affordable Access to Farming Land

Ann Russell is the special projects coordinator for Kulshan Community Land Trust.

Kulshan Community Land Trust and Sustainable Connections Launch Project

Perhaps the motivating question is no longer how do we produce a landscape that is worthy of our culture, but how do we produce a culture that is worthy of our landscape?
— Peter Forbes, 2007, Center For Whole Communities

The board and staff of Kulshan Community Land Trust (KulshanCLT) recently finished an update to our five-year strategic plan. In those discussions and work groups, it was decided that KulshanCLT would move forward with exploring options for creating affordable access to land for farming.

“CLTs create access to land. At KulshanCLT, we started with homeownership; now we’re getting busy with the bigger picture that our founding members envisioned: access to land for community needs,” said Paul Schissler, KulshanCLT executive director.

Creating opportunities for farmers to grow and maintain strong, diverse farm businesses while addressing the rising land prices and development pressure is not new to the community land trust world. A few resources we are looking to for guidance and examples include:

• The Equity Trust, http://www.equitytrust.org

• Lopez Community Land Trust, http://www.lopezclt.org and

• Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, http://www.vhcb.org.

To kick off our work on affordable access to land for growing farm businesses, KulshanCLT and Sustainable Connections are teaming up to launch what, for now, is being called the Whatcom Farm Incubator Project (WFIP). The WFIP is a land-based project dedicated to the promotion and growth of local, sustainable and socially responsible farm businesses.

The farmers of the WFIP will learn from each other, generate healthy food and draw together diverse farming communities while protecting and nurturing the land. Those of us involved in the WFIP believe that food connects people to each other and to the land.

“Creating a land base — a home — dedicated to developing the next generation of Whatcom County farmers will pay off by providing more nutritious, locally grown food, diversify and strengthen our agricultural economy, foster cultural diversity in the industry and help protect our natural environment,” said Derek Long, program and development director of Sustainable Connections. “This model has proven extremely effective in several communities across North America. We’re next.”

As Whatcom County faces the challenges of a growing future, the need to maintain a safe, sustainable and economically viable agricultural foundation becomes increasingly clear. The economic and social challenges of building and maintaining our agricultural foundation grow as development pressure on agriculture lands increases.

The WFIP will expand markets and opportunities for local farmers while raising awareness for protection of agricultural lands. This project will strengthen community among farmers and their urban allies and will work to raise awareness for food justice and food-shed issues.

The WFIP is modeled after other programs around the country that not only support and help economically viable and sustainable farm-based enterprises but also work with communities on issues of food and social justice and natural resource protection. Some of the models we have turned to for ideas, guidance and advice include:

• Intervale — Burlington, Vt. (http://www.intervale.org)

• FarmStart — Guelph, Ontario (http://www.farmstart.ca) and

• ALBA (Agricultural and Land-Based Training Association) — Salinas, Calif. (http://www.albafarmers.org.)

Whatcom County is at a unique place in our agricultural history. Whatcom County’s Comprehensive Plan mandates a minimum of 100,000 acres in agricultural production. Currently there are only 88,000 acres zoned for agricultural use in Whatcom County.

Valuable farmland is constantly under threat of development due to sprawl and poorly planned growth. It is generally agreed that protection of agricultural land is a priority. In addition, farmers’ markets continue to expand throughout the county. New and inclusive strategies are needed to make farming in Whatcom County more economically viable, diverse and environmentally sensitive.

The WFIP is led by a steering committee of diverse and hardworking group of farmers, farmworker rights activists, farm agency personnel, community members and KulshanCLT and Sustainable Connections staff.

The steering committee has met many times over the last several months to discuss the direction and needs of the WFIP. The details are still being ironed out and the direction the project takes will largely grow out of the land and the participating farmers. Focus will be on shared resources, affordable lease rates, farmer-to-farmer education, community education and preparing new farmers for the challenges of running their own farm businesses.

The WFIP is now looking for land that fits some or all of the criteria we’ve been discussing. We would appreciate your help in this effort.

These are merely guidelines for moving forward. If you have ideas or thoughts on land that is available that may not fit these criteria please feel free to contact us with your thoughts. The WFIP will need 100-plus acres of agricultural land with:

• Good soils

• Water rights

• Willing seller with flexibility

• Close proximity to Ferndale or Bellingham

• Some infrastructure and/or ability to build and add infrastructure (eg. barn, storage, machine shed, housing)

We see this project as a catalyst, a project to bring all the various facets of farmland and farm business protection, food justice and food-shed protection together. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, feedback or would like more information about the WFIP.

If you have questions about KulshanCLT’s commitment to creating affordable access to land for farming or their part in the Whatcom Farm Incubator Project, please contact Ann Russell at (360) 671-5600 ext. 3, or annrussell@kclt.org. You can keep track of our work on creating affordable access to land for farming on our Web site, http://www.kulshanclt.org.

If you have questions about Sustainable Connections’ Food and Farming Program or their part in the Whatcom Farm Incubator Project, please contact Eva Agudelo at, (360) 647-7093 ext. 109, or eva@sconnect.org. You can learn more about Sustainable Connections and all of their great programs at: http://www.sconnect.org. §