Here is a complete blip.tv video of a forum on agriculture in Northampton held on 9/22/10. The announcement for the meeting stated: “At this meeting we will consider undertaking a program of the Glynwood Center, a not-for-profit organization that specializes in helping communities plan for their agricultural futures. Glynwood is offering to help Northampton engage in a community-wide assessment and planning effort through its program called ‘Keep Farming’. The Northampton Agricultural Commission has endorsed this program and is sponsoring the September 22 meeting.“
The Glynwood Keep Farming program helps communities improve their agricultural systems by gathering important information about what agricultural assets they already have, analyzing the results, and engaging in informed discussions aimed at setting priorities for how to strengthen farmers and the local food system.
More detailed information about Glynwood and the Keep Farming program may be found at the website, www.glynwood.org. (Click on Programs, then on Keep Farming.) There is also a ten-minute video that describes the purposes of the Keep Farming program and Glynwood’s work in the Hudson Valley. Here’s the link:
http://www.glynwood.org/publications-multimedia/video-projects/glynwood-because-farming-food-and-community-matter/The purpose of the September 22 meeting is to present and discuss the Keep Farming program and determine community interest in bringing the program here.
This video is 1 hour 18 minutes long and was recorded by Lachlan Ziegler.
See also:
Gazette: “Agricultural ‘census’ for city draws support at forum” (9/23/10)
Approximately 40 residents gathered at the Senior Center on Conz Street to listen to a presentation from the Glynwood Center, a Cold Spring, N.Y.-based nonprofit, about its Keep Farming initiative. At the meeting’s conclusion, residents, through a show of hands, voted to endorse moving ahead with the project…
Keep Farming, the program’s supporters said, will conduct what is essentially an agricultural census of Northampton, documenting how much and what types of food are being grown in the city, where that food is being sold and who is buying it.
“Bringing Agriculture Back to Water – A Sustainable Solution for the 21st Century” (PDF)
Based on the past, present and gloomy outlook to the future, we believe that the more natural and sustainable agricultural system for the U.S. is irrigated assisted rain-fed agriculture in the east and not desert irrigated agriculture in the west. Because of natural rainfall in the south only 6-9″ of irrigated water are needed for crops rather than the four feet needed in Arizona and California…
Gazette: “Northampton council approves $990,000 for farms” (2/5/10)
The city took a big step forward Thursday in its quest to buy a pair of neighboring farms near downtown Florence for future use as an athletic complex, farmland, open space and possibly community gardens.
August 7: Ward 3 Neighborhood Association to Sponsor Ward 3 Vegetable Garden Tour
Springfield Republican: “Victory gardens fight price wars” (6/24/08)
Gazette: “As food, other costs rise, more stake hopes on home gardens” (6/14/08)
Video: Best Practices Forum Studies Evolution of Meadows Plan