Local Futures

  • Home
  • Media Room
  • Blog
  • Store
  • Contact

The Economics of Happiness

Donate Now
Menu
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • History
    • Who We Are
    • Close
  • Our Projects
    • Global to Local
      • Insane Trade Short Film and Factsheet
        • Insane Trade! & Factsheet Translated
      • Going Local: The Solution-Multiplier
      • International Alliance for Localization
        • Join the IAL
        • IAL Members
          • IAL Members Organizations
          • IAL Listserv
      • Planet Local
        • Culture
        • Eco Communities
        • Ecology
        • Health
        • Local Business & Finance
        • Local Energy
        • Local Food, Farming & Fisheries
        • Local Policy & Community Rights
        • Place-based Education
        • Sharing & Repairing
        • Planet Local Short Film Series
          • 1 – Introduction: The New Local Food Movement
          • 2 – Diverse Farming Systems
          • 3 – Local Food Webs: Exploring Systems of Distribution
          • 4 – Local Food Processors: AKA Making Delicious Food
          • 5 – Challenges & Solutions
          • 6 – Ecovillages & Networks for New Farmers
          • 7 – And Finally… Here’s a Little More Inspiration
      • Global to Local Webinar Series
        • All Recordings of Past Global to Local Webinars
        • Sacred Activism in a Post-Trump World
        • Talking Climate with Bill McKibben
        • People Power: Democracy and the Economy
        • Beyond Trump: The Path to Real Change
        • Bringing the Food Economy Home
        • A World Without ‘Free’ Trade: What it would look like and how to get there
        • Beyond ‘Free Trade’ – Alternatives to Corporate Rule
        • Education: Promises, Myths and Realities
        • Debt and Speculation in the Global Economy
        • A New Activism
        • Climate Change or System Change: Pathways Beyond Paris
        • Going Local
      • Local Bites Podcast
        • Food Sovereignty in the Global Economy
        • Transition, Tradition, and Trade
        • Not-for-Profit Businesses
        • Love, Values, and Wellbeing Economies
        • Growing a Farmers Market from the Ground Up
        • Beautiful Places: A Conversation with Wendell Berry
        • Creating the Framework for a New Economy
        • From GDP to GNH
        • Rebuilding Healthy Communities: The Growing Ecovillage Movement
        • Seeds of Resilience, Seeds of Sovereignty
        • Why Local Ownership Matters
        • Local Alternatives to Globalized Development: A View from India
        • How to Feed the World? A Political Agroecological Approach
        • Helena Norberg-Hodge on how corporate ‘free trade’ deals threaten local communities and economies worldwide
      • Roots of Change
        • Starting a Study Circle
    • Our Work in Ladakh
      • Experiences in Ladakh 2019
      • Experiences in Ladakh 2018
      • Learning from Ladakh Materials
      • Local Futures’ History in Ladakh
        • Women’s Alliance of Ladakh
      • Mindful Travel & Tourist Education Program
        • Mindful Trekking
    • The Economics of Happiness
      • The Film
        • About the Filmmakers
        • Voices from the Film
        • Awards and Film Festivals
        • Reviews
      • The Film Translated
      • Host a Community Screening
      • Economics of Happiness Conferences
      • DIY Economics of Happiness Workshop
    • Close
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
      • March 20th-22nd, 2020, Australia – Going Local: Hope in a Time of Crisis Festival
      • Full Events Calendar
    • Economics of Happiness Conferences
      • Past International Conferences
      • Other Past Events
    • Calendar
        • « December 2019 » loading...
          MTWTFSS
          25
          26
          27
          28
          29
          30
          1
          2
          3
          4
          5
          6
          7
          8
          9
          10
          11
          12
          13
          14
          15
          16
          17
          18
          19
          20
          21
          22
          23
          24
          25
          26
          27
          28
          29
          30
          31
          1
          2
          3
          4
          5
    • Close
  • Learn & Take Action
    • Learn about the Problems and the Solutions
      • Learn about Globalization
      • Learn about Localization
      • Learn about Big Picture Activism
    • Get Involved
      • How to donate
      • Share the Film
      • Join email list
      • Come to an Event
      • Organize a Screening
      • Volunteer or Intern
    • Activist Tools
      • Links: Organizations for Change
      • Generate Alternatives
      • Become a Policy Changer
      • Films for Change
      • Recommended Readings
      • Independent Media Sources
    • Close
  • Publications
    • NEW BOOK: Local is Our Future
      • Endorsements for Local is Our Future
      • Local is Our Future Translated
    • Ancient Futures (Book & Film)
    • The Economics of Happiness (Film)
    • Translated Resources
    • Free Reading Materials
    • Films
    • Books & Other Publications
    • Newsletters & Annual Reports
    • Close
You are here: Home / Our Projects / Global to Local / Planet Local / Local Business & Finance, Local Food, Farming & Fisheries / Planet Local Initiatives

Agrarian Trust

USA

Across the United States, a new generation of farmers is emerging — young people hoping to live lightly, sustainably and well, as responsible stewards of land and members of thriving rural communities. That’s the good news. The bad news is that for most farmers of this generation, the chances of gaining affordable and secure land tenure are very slim. Land prices are rising almost everywhere, mostly as a consequence of development: according to Agrarian Trust, one acre of US farmland is lost to development every minute.

Photo by Loren Kerns, (CC BY 2.0)

Development pressures are particularly high near urban centers, where land prices are skyrocketing. At the same time, demand for local organic food in these urban areas is also growing, providing opportunities for numerous small diversified farms nearby — if the farmers can find affordable land. Resolving this dilemma is one reason why The Agrarian Trust was created. Originally launched in 2013 as a project of the Schumacher Center for New Economics, Agrarian Trust works in many ways to connect young farmers with the land they need. They have called attention to the problem by convening thought leaders for conferences and talks, producing films and publishing articles on land transition and other related topics. They support stakeholders by providing information and resources, land and job listings, and through The Agrarian Lawyers Network. Importantly, Agrarian Trust also owns farmland, which they lease to young farmers: “By owning farmland outright, Agrarian Trust is able to permanently preserve farmland and enter into long-term leases with farmers who can’t afford the increasingly high cost of entry into the agricultural economy. Through lease restrictions and agricultural easements on the land it owns, Agrarian Trust can remove these barriers while requiring organic farming practices, maintaining affordability for future farmers, and ensuring that sensitive ecosystems are protected.” “In the next two decades,” Agrarian Trust points out, “400 million acres of U.S. farmland will change hands, and the question of what will happen to that land when it reaches the market is crucial to the future of our food system.” Learn more at www.agrariantrust.org.

Related


Agrarian Trust

Category: Local Business & Finance, Local Food, Farming & Fisheries

Related

Sign up for our email updates

Helena Norberg-Hodge on the importance of localization

New Book Available Now!

LIOF book cover

How Insane is Global Trade?

Watch our 3-minute film and
read more on our website here

Latest Blogs

  • We Can’t Do It Ourselves

    December 10, 20194 Comments
  • Dammed Good Questions about the Green New Deal

    November 27, 20192 Comments
  • Thinking Outside the Grid

    November 6, 20193 Comments

Global to Local Newsfeed

Scroll down for more
Local Futures / Economics of Happiness
  • About
  • Contact
  • The Economics of Happiness
  • Learn & Take Action

Sign up for our email updates

Join the
International Alliance for Localization

Donate Now

International Society for Ecology and Culture © Copyright 2019 | site by digiflip