Community Feedback Varies
Farm Hub creators listening to farmer and community concerns
By Anne
Pyburn Craig
Almost
three months have passed since the announcement that the NoVo Foundation had
purchased Gill’s farm in Hurley for 13 million dollars with the intention of
creating a Farm Hub dedicated to strengthening local agriculture, and
discussion of what that might mean just may be one of the hottest things
happening in this long, chilly winter.
“The
whole process so far has been great and, we think, very open,” says Brooke
Pickering-Cole, spokesperson for the Local Economies Project, the NoVo
affiliates who are managing the process. “We’ve been holding informational and
listening sessions with the Rondout Valley Growers Association, which has been
really helpful – in part getting feedback and ideas, but also just in helping
us articulate the Farm Hub concept and talk about LEP and what we do. Deborah
Dewan has done a great job creating an atmosphere of open communication so it
seems most people feel comfortable asking questions and talking about what is
on their minds.
“We are
headed into a master planning phase in the coming months. We’ll be working with
two planning firms, Terrapin Bright Green and Conservation Design Forum, doing
background analysis, natural resource inventory and mapping of the farm in addition
to the creation of a master plan which will encompass land use, programming,
organizational structure and environmental monitoring. Everything we are
hearing from growers is being catalogued and absorbed, and will be considered
as part of our process, so all of these conversations are incredibly valuable
to us right now. We feel very lucky that it’s winter right now and we’re able
to talk with farmers before the growing season kicks in and they get so
completely busy.
“Conversations with growers are always
lively around the Farm Hub as a topic – and varied,” she says. “Mostly people
are just asking questions because they are excited and curious. A few topics we
find we are exploring with regularity are organic production — the Farm Hub
land will be devoted in part to organic production, but we will also be doing
research within a range of methods as we see a great deal of opportunity for
learning here — property taxes (NoVo has committed to continuing to pay the
taxes), and how the Farm Incubator might impact existing local farm businesses.
We are very attuned to this and in every step we take will be examining
potential impact on the local economy.
“What’s
been the most exciting for us is the fact that everyone seems to want to be a
part of this in some way. There is a lot of expertise out there and we’re
really appreciative of everyone’s willingness to lend it to us. We’re excited
about moving forward with crafting plans and getting up and running – there
will be even more to talk about in the months ahead.”
John
Novi, chef/owner at the landmark DePuy Canal House in High Falls, sees the news
of the Farm Hub as a natural next step, and he’s excited about what the future
might hold. “I’ve got 44 years in this business as a Hudson Valley chef,” says
the man who’s been called the father of New American cuisine, “and I’ve been
involved in the Rondout Valley Growers Association all along. It’s a pleasure
to know the growers and deal with them intimately. And it just gets even more
exciting when new farmers come in trying to get a start.” With a half-dozen
value-added local products already designed, Novi – visions of salsify and
black currant cheese dancing in his head – hopes to take a very active role in
the post-production doings. “It’s the next stage for what’s happening here,
value-added products,” he says. “If I could work for the Hub, how beautiful
that would be! I hope to be involved in the field of product development – it’s
what I do – and it would be great to have my kitchen be a product development
space for them.”
At the
region’s primary food hub, Farm to Table Co-Packers, located at Kingston’s
onetime IBM plant Tech City, CEO Jim Hyland shares in the general excitement.
“The Farm Hub and the food hub are very intertwined; we’re just three miles apart,”
he points out. “We’ve been involved with the Local Economies project and
they’ve helped us out a lot. There’s huge potential, not just in training new
farmers but in helping the existing ones and helping open up new markets. The
idea that there will be, for example, research into better varieties of plum
tomatoes and better ways to harvest them – it’s going to be great to have this
kind of resource available.”
“We’ve
devoted a lot of energy to exploring hard-to-reach markets like institutions
and schools; there have been a lot of barriers, most of which we’ve broken down
by focusing on colleges and private schools in New York City, where there’s
more autonomy, and we’ve started to make really nice headway. I think,
ultimately, that market will come to us as we get more efficient.” (In
mid-February, news broke that the Local Economies Project/NoVo had granted
$200,000 to the American Farmland Trust to enhance the work of the Farm to
Institution New York State Initiative, and the opening of institutional markets
is also a focal point for the RVGA.)
Down
across the river in Cold Spring, Glynwood has been promoting local agriculture
since the 1990s on a number of fronts – the organization operates a working
farm and CSA as well as numerous educational, research and value-added
marketing initiatives, including a current push to establish Hudson
Valley-region hard cider as a signature product. "Glynwood and the Local
Economies Project are committed to realizing a shared vision for the Hudson
Valley,” says Kathleen Frith, Glynwood’s president, “and we are excited to work
together. Glynwood's own soon to be launched Hudson Valley Farm Business
Incubator project, based in New Paltz, will reduce the barriers to success for
new farm businesses, particularly for livestock enterprises, by providing
access to land, housing, shared equipment, infrastructure, low-interest
capital, business mentoring and training in sustainable agricultural
practices.
“By
supporting new sustainable food and farming businesses, these initiatives,
along with other organizations, farmers and projects working towards common
goals, are ushering in a new era of sustainable agriculture for our region. As
a result, we see the Hudson Valley becoming a model for fostering sustainable
agriculture for the rest of the country. Together, we have a momentous
opportunity to invest in the future of farming for the Hudson Valley, and we
are excited to work together to achieve this vision."
Frith is
absolutely right in pointing out that there are a great many organizations
coming together around the push for local eats on every level. Also very much
in the loop is Todd Erling, leader of both the Hudson Valley Agribusiness
Development Corporation and Hudson Valley Bounty. Erling is a very busy man:
besides those positions, he is heavily and directly involved in at least ten
other organizations working on every aspect of things from land preservation to
marketing value-added product. “We’re a collaborator on that,” he says of the
Farm Hub, “as well as one of the technical assistance collaborators for
individual farmers and related businesses. We’re excited to see what the Farm
Hub brings. Along with Glynwood’s business incubator, the 100 acres being
developed as an agricultural center out in Copake, and many other individual
projects, we can turn this into the critical mass that most other parts of the
country don’t have. This has the potential to be a rising tide that lifts all
boats…Three times a day we rely on a farmer, and that’s not ever gonna change –
in the end it all works together.”
The
Glynwood project ruffled some feathers when it displaced Brook Farm, a CSA that
had been renting the New Paltz farmland where the incubator will be. And if
there is a fear among some in the local ag community, it is that big investors
may – even unintentionally – trample some of the tender shoots of smaller
players as they struggle with the challenges of agriculture. Erling says
collaboration and communication are the antidote to that.
“We’ve
played a major behind the scenes role with the Farm Hub plan thus far,” he
says, “and we have a long term commitment to the LEP to collaborate, and part
of that is making sure communication is open on intentions and values and
expectations. We’re continuing to have that collaborative dialogue, and maybe
learning a little from that New Paltz project.”
Sean
Eldridge, president of investment firm Hudson River Ventures and a contender
for the 19th Congressional District seat currently held by
Republican Chris Gibson, sees serious economic development potential in the
Farm Hub. “It’s a very exciting project,” he says. “As an investor, I have seen
significant demand for training, access to capitol and land, and the chance to
get hands-on experience. It’s terrific and thrilling that it’s happening in
Ulster County. I’ve been working on a number of aspects of it in conversation
with (LEP president) Bob Dandrew and the Buffets. Investing in young farmers is
critical for our region and for agriculture in general. “ Eldridge too points
to the Copake project as another star in the constellation. “They have similar
goals, but they’ll be working more with mid-stage farmers – helping them with
land access, long term leasing, continuing education and training through the
Cornell Cooperative Extension. I can envision, down the road, someone
graduating from Gill farms and moving on to Copake.
“Obviously,
agriculture is one of the region’s greatest strengths – a lot of our investors
are involved in it, as well as in food and beverage. There’s a lot of opportunity
and a major tourism component as well. A lot of exciting things are happening-
we hope to partner with the LEP and help connect the dots a bit.”
Posted by Chris Hewitt
on 12:30 AM.
Filed under
Farming,
Feature,
Local Economy,
sustainability
.
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