No Farms, No Food
Uniting Farmers and Environmentalists to Transform American Agriculture
By Don Stuart
Island Press
America’s farms are key to the preservation of vital ecosystems and a stable climate. Yet farmers and environmentalists have not always seen eye-to-eye about the best ways to manage agricultural landscapes. Since 1980, American Farmland Trust (AFT) has been bringing people together to work for healthy land and a healthy food system.
No Farms, No Food traces the development of this powerful coalition responsible for landmark achievements in farmland preservation and conservation practices. It all began with Peggy Rockefeller’s determination to stop the inexorable urban sprawl that was threatening the nation’s agriculture. From this humble start grew a small but astute organization, and more importantly, a formidable constituency of farmers and environmentalists united around a common cause.
With leadership from AFT, that constituency drove through Congress the first “Conservation Title” in the history of the U.S. Farm Bill; oversaw the development of agriculture conservation easement programs throughout the country; and continues to develop innovative approaches to sustainable agriculture.
No Farms, No Food takes readers inside the political and policy battles that determine the fate of our nation’s farmland. And it illustrates the tactics needed to unify fractured interest groups for the common good. No Farms, No Food is both an inspiring history of agricultural conservation and a practical guide to creating an effective advocacy organization. This is an essential read for everyone who cares about the future of our food, farms, and environment.
No Farms, No Food traces the development of this powerful coalition responsible for landmark achievements in farmland preservation and conservation practices. It all began with Peggy Rockefeller’s determination to stop the inexorable urban sprawl that was threatening the nation’s agriculture. From this humble start grew a small but astute organization, and more importantly, a formidable constituency of farmers and environmentalists united around a common cause.
With leadership from AFT, that constituency drove through Congress the first “Conservation Title” in the history of the U.S. Farm Bill; oversaw the development of agriculture conservation easement programs throughout the country; and continues to develop innovative approaches to sustainable agriculture.
No Farms, No Food takes readers inside the political and policy battles that determine the fate of our nation’s farmland. And it illustrates the tactics needed to unify fractured interest groups for the common good. No Farms, No Food is both an inspiring history of agricultural conservation and a practical guide to creating an effective advocacy organization. This is an essential read for everyone who cares about the future of our food, farms, and environment.
AFT’s focus on farmland, farming practices, and farmers is essential. At stake is no less than our food and water security in the face of dramatic, potentially catastrophic weather patterns. We can and must rise to the occasion—as agriculture and its transformation must be central to America’s future. As it has for forty-plus years now, the American Farmland Trust has an outsized role to play in driving this transformation.
American Farmland Trust was at one time the only group that viewed agriculture and the environment as two sides of the same coin. AFT’s enduring legacy is that traditional farm groups now embrace conservation, and environmental groups now see farming as part of the solution. Don Stuart shows how far we’ve come.
Don Stuart is a former director for AFT’s Pacific Northwest Regional Office and has also served as executive director for the Washington Association of Conservation Districts and executive director for Salmon for Washington, a nonprofit trade association. Stuart is the author of Barnyards and Birkenstocks: Why Farmers and Environmentalists Need Each Other.
Foreword
Chapter 1. A Quiet Revolutionary
Chapter 2. A Changing Landscape
Chapter 3. An Idea Whose Time Had Come
Chapter 4. The Big Ask
Chapter 5. Beginning the Journey
Chapter 6. A New Voice in American Farm Policy
Chapter 7. The 1981 Farm Bill: An Early Policy Victory
Chapter 8. The 1985 Farm Bill: A Transformation in American Farm Policy
Chapter 9. The IRS Finally Acts, and a Land Trust Phenomenon
Chapter 10. Power at the Center
Chapter 11. Helping Farmers Protect the Environment: An Emerging AFT Mission
Chapter 12. Launching a New Farm Policy Vision
Chapter 13. The 2008 Farm Bill: Strategic Research
Chapter 14. The Power of Research
Chapter 15. Institutional Efforts
Chapter 16. Local Food, Local Farms, and Local Farm Communities
Chapter 17. A New Regional Presence
Chapter 18. Individual Land Projects: Getting the Job Done, One Farm at a Time
Chapter 19. Communicating the Message
Chapter 20. Fertile Fields for Development
Chapter 21. New Leadership and New Ideas
Chapter 22. A New Vision for the Future
Acknowledgments
Appendices
Notes
About the Author
Index
Chapter 1. A Quiet Revolutionary
Chapter 2. A Changing Landscape
Chapter 3. An Idea Whose Time Had Come
Chapter 4. The Big Ask
Chapter 5. Beginning the Journey
Chapter 6. A New Voice in American Farm Policy
Chapter 7. The 1981 Farm Bill: An Early Policy Victory
Chapter 8. The 1985 Farm Bill: A Transformation in American Farm Policy
Chapter 9. The IRS Finally Acts, and a Land Trust Phenomenon
Chapter 10. Power at the Center
Chapter 11. Helping Farmers Protect the Environment: An Emerging AFT Mission
Chapter 12. Launching a New Farm Policy Vision
Chapter 13. The 2008 Farm Bill: Strategic Research
Chapter 14. The Power of Research
Chapter 15. Institutional Efforts
Chapter 16. Local Food, Local Farms, and Local Farm Communities
Chapter 17. A New Regional Presence
Chapter 18. Individual Land Projects: Getting the Job Done, One Farm at a Time
Chapter 19. Communicating the Message
Chapter 20. Fertile Fields for Development
Chapter 21. New Leadership and New Ideas
Chapter 22. A New Vision for the Future
Acknowledgments
Appendices
Notes
About the Author
Index
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