This document summarizes a presentation on farm to table, food justice, and the evolution of land use for food systems. It discusses: - The decline of farming in New England and vision to increase local food production. - Examples of organizations increasing urban agriculture through food forests and mentor farms for immigrant farmers. - Challenges for new farmers including land access and developing markets for ethnic crops. - Opportunities for planners to support agriculture through relationships with farmers and policies promoting farmland preservation and urban farming.

1. Farm to Table, Food Justice, and the Evolution of
Food System Land Use:
How Community Planners and Developers are
Moving Markets and Growing the Sharing
Economy
Presentation at the Southern New England American Planning Association (SNEAPA) Conference
October 21, 2016

2. Introductions
• James Stevens, ConsultEcon, Inc., Moderator
• Orion Kriegman, Boston Food Forests
• Jessie Banhazl, Green City Growers
• Maria Moreira, World Farmers / Flats Mentor Farm
• Thomas J. Martin, ConsultEcon, Inc., Respondent
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference2

3. Farm to Table
• Food chain
from
agricultural
production
to
consumption
http://www.dirtyandthirty.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/farm-to-table2.jpg
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference3

4. Food Justice
• Food Justice is communities exercising their right to grow, sell, and eat healthy
food. Healthy food is fresh, nutritious, affordable, culturally-appropriate, and
grown locally with care for the well-being of the land, workers, and animals.
People practicing food justice leads to a strong local food system, self-reliant
communities, and a healthy environment.
Definition from http://www.justfood.org
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference4

5. Evolution of Land Use: Forests
Source: New England Food VisionSource: http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/65757
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference5

6. Decline in New England Farming
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference6

7. Evolution of Land Use: Decline in New England
Farming
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference7

8. Evolution of Land Use: Decline in New England
Farming
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference8

9. Evolution of Land Use: Decline in New England
Farming
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference9

10. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference10

11. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference11

12. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference12

13. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference13

14. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference14

15. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference15

16. New England Food Vision
• Today, 90% of food consumed in New England is externally sourced from outside New England
• Vision for more land devoted to farming food in the region consumed in the region
• To achieve 50% of food consumed sourced from New England, vision identifies the need to change the
amount of land area devoted to farming / food production from 5% to 15% of total land area
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference16

17. Farmland in New England and other nearby states, New York and New Jersey
Changes in Land in Farms
(Acres)
State
Land in
Farms
2007
Land in
Farms
2012
Net
Change
2007 to
2012
Percent
Change
2007 to
2012
Total Land Area
(in thousands of
acres)
2007 Farmland
to Total Land
Area
2012 Farmland
to Total Land
Area
Connecticut 405,616 436,539 30,923 7.62% 4,842.36 8.38% 9.02%
Maine 1,347,566 1,454,104 106,538 7.91% 30,842.92 4.37% 4.71%
Massachusetts 517,879 523,517 5,638 1.09% 7,800.06 6.64% 6.71%
New Hampshire 471,911 474,065 2,154 0.46% 8,952.65 5.27% 5.30%
New Jersey 733,450 715,057 -18,393 -2.51% 7,354.22 9.97% 9.72%
New York 7,174,743 7,183,576 8,833 0.12% 47,126.40 15.22% 15.24%
Rhode Island 67,819 69,589 1,770 2.61% 1,033.81 6.56% 6.73%
Vermont 1,233,313 1,251,713 18,400 1.49% 9,216.66 13.38% 13.58%
Source: Census of Agriculture (Land in Farms) and Census 2010 (Land Area)
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference17

18. Boston Food Forest Coalition
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference18

19. Our mission: to build nourishing relationships
between neighbors, land, and food in the city.
Our strategy: to help neighbors and community partners transform empty lots
and urban wilds into highly productive and community run food forest gardens.

20. What is a Forest
Garden?October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference20

22. Food forest gardens support the urban environment by:
• sequestering carbon in large trees and soil
• reducing urban heat-island effect
• retaining water and reducing runoff
• remediating toxic soil
• working with existing site elements
• providing community green space
BEFORE AFTER

23. Egleston Community Orchard’s annual harvest festival brings out
the entire neighborhood!

24. Food forest gardens provide numerous benefits:
• Require fewer annual inputs (e.g. water, fertilizer), making maintenance easier.
• Well-suited for intensive production on small urban lots.
• Polyculture design anchored by highly productive perennials (berries, grapes, fruit and nut trees,
rhubarb, herbs and many other edible but not commonly marketed plants like paw paw).
• Among perennials are intercropped annual vegetables (squash, cucumbers, beans, potatoes,
onions, hardy and tender greens, tomatoes, tomatillos, melons, corn, carrots, beets, radishes
and peas).

25. Food forest gardens foster community participation and collective stewardship:
•BFFC provides facilitation and technical assistance.
•Neighbors and community groups provide sweat equity.
•More neighbors can participate per area than in a community garden.
•We provide site ownership through a non-profit land trust.

26. Fruit Trees Fruit Shrubs/Vines Perennials Annuals
Donner Pear, Medlar Pear Raspberry Dasheen Bush Marigold
Sweetheart Apricot Blueberry Mint Kale
Cherry (Cornelian, Korean Bush) Gooseberry Ginger
Paw Paw Currants Chards
Beach Plum Elderberry (Nova, York) Strawberry Tomato
Apple (Golden Sentinel, Scarlet Sentinel) Arctic Kiwi Celery
Russian Favorite Pomegranate Grape Cilantro
Hardy Fig Seaberry, Sea Buckthorn Basil
Quince (dwarf Japanese) Goumi Sunflowers
Persimmon Serviceberry Dill
Juneberry Cucumber
Pumpkins
Example Plant List
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference26

27. Good Design: Meets Articulated Goals

28. Good Design: Stacking Functions

29. Good Design: A Wide Range of Options

30. Reclaiming Food
Perennial Vegetables and Fruit:
Familiar Annuals:
Expanding Our Palettes:
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference30

31. Kids Mental and Physical Health
These images are from
2015 BFFC events

32. Food forest gardens are living classrooms:
•We engage youth leaders and school groups on site.
•Workshops teach neighbors new gardening skills they can use at home.
•Neighbors learn to grow, harvest, and prepare fresh, nutritious foods that supplement
strained food budgets.

33. How Walking In Nature Changes the Brain 7.22.2015
Here's Proof Going Outside Makes You Healthier 6.22.2014
New research suggests nature walks are good for your brain 7.29.2015
If children lose contact with nature they won't fight for it 11.19.2012
Tending the Forest Garden: Youth and Adults
Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv documents impacts on mental and
physical wellbeing of our new “screen” culture and growing
disconnection from nature - what he terms “Nature Deficit Disorder”

34. Garden Raising
Network
Advisory Board
Staff & Interns
Egleston Community
Orchard
Old West
Church
Eastie Farm
Boston Nature
Center
Italian Home
for Children
Jones Hill
Ellington Street
Leland Street
“Community
of Practice”
(Members)
“Forest Gardens”
(Sites)
Board of Directors
Greater Boston
Permaculture
Meetup
Speakers Series
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference34

35. Our third annual apple harvest walk - gleaning from
legacy fruit trees in the city.

36. Our first neighbor-to-neighbor “garden raising”

39. New England Food Vision:
Equity & Sustainability

40. BAU => Omnivore’s Delight => Regional Resilience

41. Green City Growers
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference41

42. Build Install Maintain
Produce Educate
WHAT WE DO
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference42

43. To date, Green City
Growers has grown over
150,000 pounds of
organic produce and
worked hands-on with
more than 6,000
individuals, all in under 2
acres of growing space.
Distance traveled
measured in feet, not
miles.
BY THE NUMBERS
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference43

44. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference44

45. CORPORATE WELLNESS
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference45

46.  athenahealth
 Mapfre
 Abt Associates
 Verizon
 National Grid
 Google
 Akamai
 Sasaki Associates
 Massachusetts Medical Society
 Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
CORPORATE WELLNESS SITES
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference46

47.  Central location
 Supplies produce to
multiple on-site
restaurants
 Corporate wellness
program with
SmartBear
 Community program
ASSEMBLY ROW
MIXED USE GARDENS
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference47

48.  Adaptable beds allow for
ease of access for
residents
SENIOR LIVING FACILITIES
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference48

49. BEVERLY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM CAMP HARBOR VIEW
NOTABLE EDUCATION PROJECTS
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference49

50. “The residents have been out
there a lot to talk and sing to
the chickens. They have
been talking back!”
Cindy Allard,
Olmstead Memory Support
Program Director, Goddard
House
CHICKEN COOPS
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference50

51. “Our Boylston location’s
indoor garden has generated
more attention and buzz than
any sign or anything else
we’ve done to connect people
with what we do and our
mission.”
John Olinto, Founder/Owner
of b.good
INDOOR GROWING SYSTEMS
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference51

52. CREATIVE GROWING SYSTEMS
KIDDIE POOL GARDENS AT B.GOOD
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference52

53. WHOLE FOODS MARKET
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference53

54. WHOLE FOODS MARKET
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference54

55. FENWAY FARMS
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference55

56. VISIBILITY & PUBLICITY
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference56

57. www.GREENCITYGROWERS.com
Green CityGrowers, LLC | 600 WindsorPlace, Somerville,MA02143 | (617)776-1400 | info@greencitygrowers.com
YOUR FARM. ANYWHERE.

58. World Farmers / Flats Mentor Farm
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference58

59. Farm to Table, Food Justice, and the
Evolution of Food System Land Use
World Farmers
Lancaster, MA
Maria Moreira
Co-Founder and Executive Director

60. World Farmers
• World Farmers advocates for and supports beginning farmers
from farm to market both in the US and Internationally
• Flats Mentor Farm is a key program. FMF provides a space for
mentorship among new and beginning immigrant and refugee
farmers in the United States who seek land space and
production and marketing assistance in a new climate and
culture
– Started in 1984 and supported over 190 Hmong families by mid 1990s.
Currently supports over 250 refugee farmers
– Cultivates an honest model of collaboration and cooperation
– Training and support is grounded in respect and cross-cultural
mentorship among farmers and World Farmers staff
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference60

61. Flats Mentor Farm is located on a
70-acre parcel of land adjacent to a
Fish & Wildlife Management Reserve
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference61

62. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference62

63. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference63

64. Farmers at Flats Mentor Farm
The 250 farmers at Flats Mentor Farm are refugees and
immigrants from many parts of the globe who have come to New
England to make it their own.
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference64

65. Fabiola
standing in
front of her
High Tunnel,
she grows
specialty
African crops,
participated in
USDA EQIP
program High
Tunnel project.
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference65

66. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference66

67. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference67

68. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference68

69. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference69

70. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference70

71. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference71

72. Production
• World Farmers provides training and
mentorship in the following areas:
– Tilling and Land Prep
– Integrated Pest Management
– Pollinator Health
– Soil Health and Conservation
– Irrigation Systems
– Season Extension and High Tunnel Use
– Successful Growing Techniques for Ethnic Crops
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference72

73. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference73

74. • FMF Farmers sell their produce at over 40 Farmers’ Markets:
Farmers’ Markets
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference74

75. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference75

76. Cooperative Sales
• Flats Mentor farmers sell to four wholesale buyers in
the Boston and Worcester areas
• All crops sold through the Cooperative are distributed
in low-income communities, providing culturally
relevant crops to those who need it most
• The Cooperative sold a peak of over 100 boxes per
week this summer
• Wholesale purchasing and sales is a stepping stone for
farmers to as they self-assess their interest and ability
to move toward commercial farmers
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference76

77. October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference77

78. Challenges
• Land Access – Collaborative and Individual
• Farm Infrastructure Payments (e.g. Equip, Irrig)
• Marketing Contracts for Farmers
– Grocery Stores need large year-round supply
– Corner Stores needs smaller more infrequent
• Ethnic Crops: market and seed access
– Therefore food access for the community
• Group Food Safety Certifications (e.g. GAP)
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference78

79. Opportunities
• USDA Programs for farmers and organizations supporting
farmers
• Mentorship model and farmer-led support and solutions
• Cooperatives
• Food Hub Partnerships
• Access and Develop niche marketing opportunities that serves
the community and the producers
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference79

80. What Can Planners Do…
• PRIORITY: take the time to build trusted relationships with the
town, the local farmers, and the community
– With these relationships will come the solutions you are looking for
• Some positive examples….
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference80

81. Policies and Practices that Work
• 61 A (MA) – tax break models for supporting
agricultural land use
• Partnering with agencies to create long term ag
leases (Fish and Wildlife)
– Suggestion: Include an option to break up large tracts
of land (100+) to 10-20 acres -- this supports small and
beginning farmers growing a variety of crops
• Land Trusts and Environmental Councils building
trusted relationships with farmers
• Right to Farm Ordinances - both rural and urban
• City-staffed positions to support access to land for
agricultural purposes
• Inclusion of farmers on local councils and boards
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference81

82. Stay in Touch
World Farmers
769 Main Street, Box 112
Lancaster, MA 01523
www.worldfarmers.org
Maria Moreira
Executive Director
mmoreira@worldfarmers.org
(978) 706-7935

83. Discussion/Questions
• James Stevens, ConsultEcon, Inc., Moderator, jstevens@consultecon.com
• Orion Kriegman, Boston Food Forests, orion@bostonfoodforest.org
• Jessie Banhazl, Green City Growers, Jessie@greencitygrowers.com
• Maria Moreira, World Farmers / Flats Mentor Farm, mmoreira@worldfarmers.org
• Thomas J. Martin, ConsultEcon, Inc., Respondent, tmartin@consultecon.com
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference83

84. Summary
October 21, 2016 SNEAPA Conference84