Post by Logan on Feb 14, 2016 3:55:59 GMT -6
GRANVILLE, Ohio – We may love our fresh, local food, but the dreams of young farmers who want to grow it are too easily dashed, says Lindsey Lusher Shute.
The rising cost of land, lingering student loans and a declining amount of money dedicated to preserving farmland are getting in the way of a new generation of growers, the farmer and activist told her audience at Saturday's annual meeting of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. The event drew 1,200 farmers and consumers to educational workshops this year.
The struggles of young farmers are "muddying the heroic glow cast around our food producers," she said. "The average small farmer is barely surviving. And if we want to get young people involved in agriculture, we'll have to fix the major hurdle that is land access."
Shute said the U.S. Department of Agriculture's goal of fostering the careers of 1,000 new farmers with the last Farm Bill is not going well.
Read more: www.cleveland.com/cooking/index.ssf/2016/02/young_farmers_endangered_says.html
The rising cost of land, lingering student loans and a declining amount of money dedicated to preserving farmland are getting in the way of a new generation of growers, the farmer and activist told her audience at Saturday's annual meeting of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. The event drew 1,200 farmers and consumers to educational workshops this year.
The struggles of young farmers are "muddying the heroic glow cast around our food producers," she said. "The average small farmer is barely surviving. And if we want to get young people involved in agriculture, we'll have to fix the major hurdle that is land access."
Shute said the U.S. Department of Agriculture's goal of fostering the careers of 1,000 new farmers with the last Farm Bill is not going well.
Read more: www.cleveland.com/cooking/index.ssf/2016/02/young_farmers_endangered_says.html