Keep Your Friends Close...
The Delmarva Farmer
Hey, guess what?
The farmer has some friends.
Lots of them. More than 1,000.
And there may be more on the way.
A wondrously diverse, decade-old organization known as 1000 Friends of Maryland is holding a party on Oct. 1 in Reisterstown — that’s over in Baltimore County — to kick off a campaign initiative entitled “For the Love of the Farm.”
That initiative has a single goal — “to keep farmers farming.”
Wow!
How’d that happen?
It was not a casual process.
Dru Schmidt Perkins, executive director of 1000 Friends, said the organization, which fully took shape in 1998, had focused on land-use issues and smart growth — “really smart” she emphasized — and such things as strengthening local communities, local tax issues, transportation systems and the like.
But something was missing. There was a gap.
“We kept hearing about agriculture, and farmers having to sell their lands for development,” Schmidt Perkins said.
An intensive research effort by Kelly Carneal, who came aboard as director of rural lands, suggested strongly that the focus of 1000 Friends should be “how can we help to keep farmers farming.”
“This is not a one shot deal.” Schmidt Perkins said. “This is a whole new program.”
Nor is this just another instance of preaching to the choir. 1000 Friends is attempting to bring together, for meaningful conversation, people who often don’t bother talking to each other.
“In our conference room downstairs,” Schmidt Perkins said, “we gather what I call unholy alliances.”
On. Oct.1, at Green Spring Valley Hounds, a preserved and working farm near Reisterstown, there will be urban dwellers who admittedly know little about agriculture, environmentalists (think riverkeepers and the Waterkeeper Alliance), political and civic leaders, land preservationists, ag lenders and farmers.
That’s important. Farmers are being especially invited and encouraged to attend.
“The moment is now,” the 1000 Friends declare in a statement regarding the new initiative, “because Maryland is losing farmland at an alarming rate, land that is not replaceable. … What would Maryland look like without farms? Tackling agricultural viability is at the core of farmland preservation.”
To that end, 1000 Friends is attempting to bridge the gap between environmentalists, land preservation groups, farmers, local authorities and elected officials, and bringing them to the same table in hopes of producing meaningful policy reform.
Want to witness the kick-off of the”Keep Farmers Farming” initiative?
It’s from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1. There will be food and refreshments and lots of talk. Go to www.friendsofmd.org for directions and details.
There’s always a sense of history in the birth of a movement. Be there.
