Lady Farmer is a Slow Living Community and Marketplace based in the Ag Reserve. Mother and Daughter team Emma and Mary focus on slow fashion, zero waste living and wellness. They have added to their offerings with a podcast called The Good Dirt. Our own executive Director Caroline Taylor joined them to discuss the promise of the Ag Reserve as a local food supply and regenerative climate solution. 
Listen to the episode here. 

MCA testified in a public hearing at the Council in support of Bill 16-21 that establishes Building Efficiency Performance Standards (BEPS).  The bill would compel existing buildings of over 25,00 square feet to cut their carbon emissions through a number of avenues from weatherization to installing onsite renewable energy. 

While the county, like many others across the country, has enacted efficiency requirements for new construction - this bill would make it the first county to enact requirements for existing buildings. Energy use in buildings makes up half of the County's total emissions - so to achieve the ambitious (but necessary) carbon reduction goals set forth by the county Climate Action Plan this bill is a logical step. 

MCA joined with Takoma Park Mobilization and many other groups in support of this bill. Video of our testimony below. 
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Post Coverage


-> Could you use help reducing the emissions of your own existing building? We hosted an informative webinar with the MoCo Green Bank about how residents and businesses can install solar of geothermal - and funding opportunities to help make it happen. 

The Thrive 2050 Plan is a sweeping update to the County's master plan that will guide growth, transportation and land use for the coming decades. In other words - a highly consequential document. (Scroll back through our many, many posts on this)

The plan seems to be speeding toward approval - with the record closing on 7/9. You would be forgiven for having just heard of this process - we have all had  a lot on our minds recently. Unfortunately, the draft that is up for a vote at the Council is woefully lacking. Not only it is a missed opportunity to meet our moment by laying out plans for climate resilience, forest protection and equity - it pales in comparison to the Thrive 2050 draft  that residents provided comment on in the public hearing. In fact, many of the specific action items from the earlier document were deleted or relegated to the appendix of the final plan - this includes forest and water protections, climate resiliency measures and strong support for the Ag Reserve. 
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(Ready to write to the council with our letter tool?)

A side by side comparison is instructive. Here is the Public Hearing Draft and the Current Final Draft. Because you likely don't have time to read through many hundreds of pages, we have done a word search for key terms that a plan guiding our county for the next decades should have.  (Important to note that both plans have the same number of pages) 

On June 29th, MCA, along with many other civic groups and concerned individuals testified the the Thrive 2050 plan (full testimony transcript and video below) - a sweeping update to the County's master plan that will guide growth, transportation and land use for the coming decades. In other words - a highly consequential document. (Full plan here) (We've written extensively on Thrive 2050, scroll back through the posts here)

MCA along with many others have serious concerns that this plan does not meet the moment in terms of climate challenges, water protection, and notably addressing the missing middle housing without gentrifying vulnerable residents out of established neighborhoods. As part of the Stormwater Partners Network, and as MCA individually, we made our concerns known - among them:
-Generally the plan as approved has taken out portions related to Environmental protection and relegated them to an appendix section, a section that is non-binding and not part of the plan to be implemented. Across the board - the October 2020 version parts that were relegated to the appendix need to come back to the main, implementable document. 
-Much effort went into developing the County's Climate Action Plan (CAP) - the Thrive 2050 plan needs to mirror these commitments in land use, transportation and environmental protection.
-The Thrive plan also needs to specifically state a "no net loss of forests" policy and adopt policies to increase forest canopy, particularly in underserved areas where studies are showing tree canopy is disproportionately lacking-with real impacts on public health. 

See the video of our testimony, and right after, Amanda Farber's call for "Trees and Truth". As our Executive Director Caroline Taylor says in her testimony (transcript below) " as the plan itself states, there is 'little room for error' to get this sweeping and consequential plan correct. 
You can take two minutes to send a letter to the Council (before 7/9) here. 

Good evening, I am Caroline Taylor testifying on behalf of Montgomery Countryside Alliance. The draft plan aspires to much but, as has been noted in comments from others, including our colleagues Stormwater Partners, the CAP coalition, Audubon Naturalist Society and the County Executive there is work needed to improve it.

The draft plan falls short in ways that significantly weaken its ability to guide our County toward resilience. Between December 2020 and March 2021 various revisions made to the public hearing draft erased content largely relegating environmental protection, climate change response and the role of the Agricultural Reserve to an appendix of suggested actions. The transmittal letter noted that the appendices are not part of the plan. We ask that that council review the previous draft and return to the plan those deleted sections that best help Montgomery County meet its goals, especially those related to climate change resilience.

Hear our plea for a necessary focus on the environment, with emphasis on water resources and forests, through the words of county resident Rachael Carson:
Of all our natural resources water has become the most precious. In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of indifference.   Rachael Carson from Silent Spring

In conclusion:
We applaud the plan’s focus on racial equity and social inclusion but caution that the focus on urbanism to the exclusion of or indifference to environmental stewardship, a robust local food system, and climate change response is deeply concerning. By what standard do we measure this plan’s success? If we employ only a short term focused economic lens… we fail and we agree with the Plan when it notes that there is “little room for error.”
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Other Civic Organizations are also expressing their concerns: 
- Audubon Naturalist Society 
-Darnestown Civic Association
-The Agricultural Advisory Committee

The pandemic has left all of us a little distracted to say the least. While we were all trying to adjust, Montgomery County has been planning sweeping changes to how our county lives, works, plays and gets around as the master plan gets an update through a planning process called Thrive 2050. This resulting plan will chart county growth for the coming decades (much more background here).

A letter this week came from County Executive Elrich to the County Council outlining how some sweeping rezoning proposals to radically alter neighborhoods that are part of the plan are going forward despite the fact that the full plan has not yet been approved by the Council (the draft of the plan went to the Council in May 2021)  Elrich also points out that  there are still equity and climate considerations that are not being taken into account in the plan. The full letter is here. 

At MCA we similarly want to see this process undertaken with more care and input from residents, particularly vulnerable residents - input that will be far easier to gather once the pandemic recedes. As the nation and world think of ways to build back better, Thrive 2050 is a way to carefully take stock and ensure that our goals are aligned with climate resilience, self sufficiency and equity.  

Among the highlights of the letter:
"I. INTRODUCTION— Montgomery County residents are confused and inadequately informed about Thrive Montgomery 2050 and know little, if anything, about the Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative’s complicated rezoning proposals that will make sweeping changes to their neighborhoods. I request that the Council separate the two projects and ask the Planning Board to stop work on elaborate rezoning proposals that would implement Thrive Montgomery before the plan has even been approved."

"The Executive objected to the county’s moving forward with Thrive Montgomery 2050 during an historic pandemic that overwhelmed government and residents with unceasing concerns about working and schooling while confined to home and experiencing economic hardship, business dislocations, and potential illness, and even death. These have not been circumstances in which our residents have had time to consider the first revision of the General Plan in 28 years, one that will shape the county’s future development over the next 30 years. "

"Montgomery County is already experiencing the impacts from climate change. These will only get worse. The General Plan should include specific recommendations related to enhancing resilience. "

"The county must reaffirm its unconditional support for the Agricultural Reserve and reject the Planning Board’s attempts to weaken the Reserve by no longer supporting farming as the preferred use in the Reserve. The Planning Board draft recommends that the county “...manage the areas designated within the footprint [of the Reserve] for a rural pattern of development for the benefit of the entire county.” The draft retreats from the support of farming as the preferred use in the Reserve, instead supporting the economic viability of farming and policies to “facilitate a broad range of outdoor recreation and tourism...” p. 20 15 Planning Board draft, p. 132. The General Plan must reaffirm the county’s commitment to the Agricultural Reserve, and to the 1980 Preservation of Agriculture and to the 1980 Preservation of Agriculture and Rural Open Space, Functional Master Plan as it did in the 1993 General Plan Refinement."

Our immense thanks to our board member and Climate Liaison Joyce Bailey for being our eyes, ears and voice on important legislation in Annapolis this session. Read on for Joyce's review of important wins and opportunities get more done for people and planet next session.  

Maryland counties are making plans to site solar in optimal locations - i.e - protecting farmland and forests. A round up of smart solar siting provisions from Chesapeake Conservation Partnership 

While we have to "green the grid" with renewable energy, some cite this urgency as a reason to skip over a siting survey that will guide solar to the right places. When we fail to plan, solar supplants the climate controlling work of farmland and forests. 
Teresa Moore, executive director of the Valleys Planning Council, who commissioned the Baltimore City and County study pointed out that “without siting guidance or incentives, farm and resource land would be the primary target for these land-intensive projects.” Moore added that “almost all the applications for the first three years of the community solar pilot program have been on prime farmland, and there’s little to no activity on optimal sites. Maryland could follow the example of states like New Jersey, where optimal solar sites have been mapped statewide and a ranking system has been incorporated into solar project reviews.”

But are there enough flat sunny surfaces to host the solar we need on these "optimal" sites that protect farms and forests - yes. In fact, a recent study in St Mary's county (where this geospatial analysis has been done) found that of all the sites found to be "optimal" (including degraded lands, rooftops, solar parking cover) only 8% of them would be needed to host arrays to achieve the County's portion of the state goal - all without siting solar on the County's rich farmland. 

Here in Montgomery County, recently passed ZTA 20-01 guides ground mounted solar away from the most productive farmland in the Ag Reserve. More needs to be done to proactively identify where solar can most optimally be sited. 

How do you start thinking about solar at your property? Check out our recorded webinar with the Montgomery County Green Bank.

Re-Leaf the Reserve started in 2019 with one acre on a sheep farm by the Little Monocacy River. 2 years later and the young trees have had endured biblical flooding, hungry deer and dry spells, 75% of the trees (which were overplanted to ensure survival) made it through the most tenuous stage in the life of a forest. 

Trees planted earlier this year are leafing out after surviving their first winter in the field at Shepherd's Hey Farm. 

This past spring saw the planting of 5 more acres, bringing the total new planted forest to 17 acres!

We want to thank board member and Re-Leaf coordinator Carole Bergmann, the properties hosting the forever forests and of course the expert tree wrangling of Garth and Amy Seely of Gardens by Garth who provide top notch care to these new trees at every stage. ​

If you would like to host a forest on your property in the Reserve or make a donation to get more acres planted - learn more here.  
​Volunteers will be needed for future plantings after a pause for the pandemic. If you'd like to be contacted when we start volunteer days again, get on our list here. 
No worries, down county residents, the Reforest Montgomery program through the county can help you host trees too.  

When you think of cattle, you probably picture cows in a field of grass. In truth, most cattle are raised not on pasture and instead fed a mostly grain diet and live indoors, not on grass. 

The products from grass-fed operations have a number of benefits for the consumer, the animal's health, the farmer and our shared environment:

The Farm and Farmer: When a farmer is not locked into buying or growing grain for their animals it benefits their bottom line. Rotational grazing, moving livestock from pasture to pasture as each field is allowed to rest between grazing, builds healthy soil that can then host healthy crops or more healthy pasture. It is a feedback loop - grazing done right creates even more nutritious pasture for healthier animals and a better farm operation. 

Our shared water, air and climate: Properly managed pastures with deep rooted vegetation growing year round keep soil in place, preventing runoff that degrades water quality and locks carbon in the soil. Rotational grazing is a key tenant of regenerative agriculture - a collection of farming practices that taken together are a powerful climate, water quality and farm profitability solution that has been gaining adherents in the past few years.

Laurie and Kevin Savage of Savage Acres raise grassfed cattle near the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain in Northern Montgomery County. 
Laurie explains why their farm is grassfed, "raising cattle on a grassfed diet is good for us and good for the planet. Cattle eat grass that we as humans cannot digest and turn it into high quality protein for our own diets. In addition to grass, our cattle are supplemented with distillers grains that we receive from a local distiller, which is a great way to recycle, and not waste, a byproduct of this process."

Much more about grassfed meat, dairy and eggs can be found in the Amazing Grazing directory from Future Harvest CASA. The following MoCo farms also offer grassfed items: 

With ZTA 20-01 passing earlier this year, new opportunities for solar have come to the Ag Reserve. Farmers and homeowners may be considering installing solar. MCA is here to help - check out our quick survey on solar and resources for farmers and homeowners. 

We are teaming up with the Montgomery County Green Bank to help MoCo residents navigate decisions on solar (or geothermal) installation - be it a large scale community solar array on a farm or a smaller roof-mounted array on a home or barn. The Green Bank is a publicly chartered non-profit dedicated to accelerating green energy implementation in the County, using funds from the Pepco/Exelon merger to leverage funding options for renewable energy projects. 

Please join us for a virtual solar installation info session on May 4th at 7pm on Zoom. 

Our partners at the Green Bank will explain how to begin seeking quotes for solar, finding reputable installation pros and, of course, financing a new solar system and getting all available tax benefits. If you have been considering installing solar, this session will demystify the process and set you on the right course. 

An Action Alert from our friends at Clean Water Action - a powerful partner in our successful push to balance farm protection and solar siting in the Ag Reserve with ZTA 20-01. With as much solar as will need to be built to reach our climate goals, the State does not have a comprehensive solar siting study. The lack of a study designating the smartest place for solar, forests and farms are attractive options to the solar industry - to the detriment of local food systems and water quality. Ramping up solar production needs to happen but forest and farmland loss can be minimized or eliminated and climate justice can be given the consideration it is currently lacking (powerful op-ed on this point from the youth MD Sunrise Movement) . 

Sign their action letter here (Takes 1 Minute) or read on for more info. 

For years, Clean Water Action and allies across Maryland have been advocating for the state to conduct a comprehensive study on siting solar power. Where the solar industry builds, and how the government policies put in place to incentivize  solar, has enormous impacts on how our local communities use and preserve their land. In the absence of policies to the contrary, farmland and forest will be attractive and profitable for the solar industry - and in the past several years, we've seen communities from Charles County to Montgomery County fight hard to save critical farmland and forests from large-scale solar projects. (Check out our testimony in Montgomery County for more on how siting too much solar on farmland and forests can cause environmental and economic problems.)
We do need to build a lot of solar power, quickly - and with smart policies and incentives guiding it, we can minimize damage to our farmland and forests, and maximize solar development on impervious surfaces and marginal land. A 2019 report by the Abell Foundation, "An Opportunity to get Solar Siting Right," found that Maryland could and should find ways to preserve the best agricultural lands for farming, while steering solar power toward contaminated lands, large rooftops, and sprawling parking lots through smart, proactive planning. A 2020 report by Chesapeake Conservancy, "Optimal Solar Siting for Maryland: A Pilot for Baltimore County and City," found that if just 8.6 % of such optimal sites proved viable for solar, it would be enough to meet Baltimore County and City’s share of solar energy needs. And smart solar siting policies, like the one just approved in Montgomery County, can allow some community solar projects on less-productive farmland while preserving the most productive farmland for agriculture.
On April 1, the House adopted many weakening amendments to the "Climate Solutions Now Act" - and one of them thrusts Maryland in the wrong direction on solar siting. It would create a "Blue Ribbon Solar Land Use Commission," tasked with determining how much solar each county in Maryland should build - based on how much agricultural land that county has, with a bias toward ground-mounted solar on farmland. And the composition of this work group is outrageously unbalanced, excluding land preservationists and environmentalists focused on land use, agricultural policy, and water quality. This commission is set up to move Maryland in a destructive direction on solar siting without a preference for marginal land first.
But it doesn't have to be this way. In 2019, the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would have created a "Commission on the Development of a Blueprint for Solar Energy in Maryland," with a truly balanced and holistic approach to siting solar projects to minimize their environmental and economic impacts; that year, the House never took it up. Unlike this year's eleventh-hour amendment, this bill went through an extensive stakeholder process and was heavily amended to ensure a balanced approach. (Read the bill here.) But time is short: tell your representatives to reject the House amendment on solar siting, and pass a balance solar siting study to fit Maryland's needs.

Tax changes in the past years have had an impact on cheritable deductions. MCA is a 501c3 organization and your generous gifts toward protecting our Ag Reserve and local farms are therefore tax deductible. Our Finance Committee has provided guidance to help you benefit from your generosity. 

For Everyone: 
 Last year, individuals were able to deduct donations up to $300 without itemizing their taxes. New for 2021 - couples filing jointly can deduct up to $600 while still getting the standard deduction. 

For Our Distinguished Elders:  If you have and IRA and have sowed 70 1/2 harvests or more, you can take advantage of a simple way to benefit MCA and the Ag Reserve and receive tax benefits. You can make gifts from your IRA directly to a qualified charity such as MCA without having to pay income tax on the gift. A detailed explanation of how these QCDs (Qualified Charitable Deductions) work from the WaPo here. Contact your IRA custodian to find out how you can transfer your gift directly to fuel our work (EIN 52-2294213)

Other Options: Our Finance Committee has prepared a brief primer on these strategies and more, including lumping donations and donor advised funds that may be right for you. 

​We hope that using one or more of these options can help you claim a deserved deduction for your generosity.  It is always advisable to check with your tax advisor to make sure your particular situation is amenable to the option you wish to choose.

ZTA 20-01, passed in February 2021 has opened the Ag Reserve for solar energy generation in a way that balances the zone's protection for farming. Opportunities to cover a farms energy needs have now been expanded (farms can now generate up to 200% of their needs and get a credit for the extra) and new large scale community solar projects up to 2 megawatts can now move forward on Class III and above soils. More Maryland Counites are releasing planning documents that prioritize the built environment and other optimal sites for solar arrays that keep farmland and forests protected - (from the Chesapeake Conservation Partnership.)

To assist Reserve residents and farmers with navigating these new opportunities and increasing renewable energy development, MCA has put together a survey to assess current renewable generation and identify the questions residents have about producing power for themselves and/or community solar projects. Please take the survey that applies to you below (The State defines "Farms" as a property where the owner can generate at least $2,500 per year in gross sales of agricultural products).  You can also browse the resources we have gathered below (one to add? - info@mocoalliance.org)
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A great video profile of our friends at Dodo Farms in Brookeville. MCA was proud to match Niyi and Tope with land through our Land Link program.
There are many, many more experienced farmers just like them still looking for land through the program.
Join us to learn more about leasing your land to a table crop producer at our
Virtual Land Link Landowner Info session - March 24 at 7:30pm 

Montgomery County has set ambitious but necessary climate action goals. The first step was climate experts gathering in county convened working groups to recommend steps toward this goal, then the Climate Action Plan (CAP) reflecting these goals was created and released for comment.  Productive comments have come in from all quarters to make this plan equitable, practical and effective. MCA has signed on in support of three different sets of comments meant to improve the plan. What other climate actions are we taking?

• Supporting climate bills in Annapolis
• Re-Foresting stream buffers through our Re-Leaf the Reserve Program
• Promoting Regenerative Agriculture and placing sustainable table crop producers through our Land Link program
• Conducting a survey (coming soon) and providing resources to landowners to help site solar under the newly passed ZTA 20-01. 

MCA signed on to recommendations as part of the Montgomery Coalition to Prevent Stream Destruction. 
The County’s current policy of using “stream restoration” projects to convert our forested natural stream valleys into engineered drainage channels for stormwater runoff is in direct contradiction to the CAP's goal. Every foot of “stream restoration” involves the loss of forested areas, and “To date, the County has completed stream restoration projects, restoring almost 30,000 linear feet of stream…” per the latest report on meeting the MS4 Permit. 
The CAP should strictly prohibit the practice of “stream restorations” until the re-examination of this issue has taken place via a dialog among all stakeholders. 

MCA also signed on to the recommendations of the Sequestration and Adaptation Technical Working Group - a group of climate experts who's recommendations formed the foundation of the CAP. The comments from this group include better acknowledging nature based solutions such as reforestation and regenerative agriculture - including specific recommendations for incentives for regenerative ag conversion.

Some members of the Clean Energy Working Group Technical Advisory Committee submitted comments on the CAP as individuals. MCA supports these comments. 

MCA Signed on to comments from the Stormwater Partners Network

Land Link Montgomery has been helping farmers find farmland since 2011. While the Ag Reserve is a successful 40 year experiment in farmland protection, high land prices make buying farmland in the county out of reach for many aspiring farmers. Land Link matches aspiring farmers with local landowners offering long term leases to give new farmers the stability to start new farm ventures.  With 500 acres matched so far, this program has allowed a number of new farmers get their start. 

However, many more farmers are looking for land. Currently on the site, land seekers outnumber landowners 2:1. These aspiring farmers come from all walks of life, represent many backgrounds and ethnicities, some are veterans, doctors, refugees, teachers and all have different plans for new farms. None of them can get started without land.  

The pandemic has put a fine point on the need for a stronger local food system, empty shelves last spring and continued long lines at food banks show that we need to grow more of our own food and distribute it equitably as neighbors continue to struggle with food insecurity. 

Landowners hold the key to growing more local farms that can in turn grow more local food. While large acreage is great, many land seekers are looking for a lease on just 1-5 acres. Some are seeking less than 1 acre. 

If you have land to lease and are interested in learning more, please join us for a virtual information session on March 24 at 7:30pm. 
​Full Press Release here. 

A farmer and landowner matched through the program will join us to share their experience in the program and any questions about leases, irrigation, etc will be answered. Though we focus on Montgomery County, residents from surrounding counties are most welcome. 
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Please RSVP below and the zoom link will be emailed to you.

​If you are interested in learning more about the program before the session: 
you can browse listings from the program here.  
Program FAQs here.  
Stories of matches here
See this Maryland Farm and Harvest video on Dodo Farms, matched with land through our Land Link program.

"The headline will be solar to be sited in the Ag Reserve, " said Councilmember Craig Rice.
​The amended ZTA 20-01 was passed 7-2 with Councilmembers Rice, Albornoz, Navarro, Katz, Friedson, Jawando and Glass For and Riemer and Hucker Against. The straw vote taken last month held with the addition of CM Glass supporting the amended ZTA to get some solar, rather than none, sited in the Reserve.

The Councilmembers who voted for the ZTA on why they support it, in their own words  (these are clips the full council meeting can be found here) : ​

The passed ZTA includes:

1) up to 200% accessory solar generation on farms (up from 120%) see the farms already taking advantage of on-farm solar.

2) conditional use designation for community or net aggregate metered facilities up to 2MW on no more than 1800 acres in the Reserve. The conditional use amendment was sponsored by CM Rice. 

3) exclusion of soil class I and II from solar siting (Soil Class II was added under CM Friedson's amendment. No farming really takes place on Class I soils as most are on Potomac Islands or stream buffers. Class II is where the bulk of current farms operate - check out the soil class chart. (New mapping from the county suggests that over 400 parcels remain for siting solar while avoiding productive class II soils.)

4) mandatory assessment/review provision with impact report by December 31, 2023 provided by Councilmember Jawando's amendment. 

Councilmember Rice opened the meeting by highlighting the fact that the ZTA as amended was a pathway for siting solar in the Ag Reserve. Despite the call from some solar industry supporters that wanted to see the amended ZTA pulled because of the perception that no solar would be constructed, Rice characterized the ZTA as opening the door to solar in the Reserve with the opportunity to revisit the provision in two years to see if a meaningful amount of solar is in fact sited under Councilmember Jawando's amendment creating an assessment point in two years. 

Other councilmembers chimed in with their feeling that opening the door to some solar with protections is still a big step forward toward the County's climate goals. 

Councilmember Albornoz said, "It's not a question of if we support solar in the Ag Reserve, it is a question of when and how. We have to take into account the nuances and complexities of this issue." 

Katz "I believe we will have more solar than less." He asked that the solar industry sit down with farmers to get started siting on the 4000+ available acres available under the ZTA. 

Councilmember Navarro called for an end to the divisive and binary tone that the issue had brought to discussions. "We have to be able to deliberate." 

MCA is deeply grateful to the thoughtful action of Councilmembers, our coalition partners including SCA, Clean Water Action, Montgomery County Farm Bureau and 58 other groups and our supporters who wrote,  called and spoke up for solar siting with care in the Ag Reserve. 

What's next?

• Our Board Member and Climate Liaison Joyce Bailey has been busy providing testimony in support of a number of climate and water quality bills in Annapolis. 
• Councilmembers discussing this ZTA spoke to the Reserve's importance primarily as a source of local food.  We are working to match aspiring farmers with land to strengthen our local food system. Land Link Montgomery will host an info session for Landowners on March 24. 

We've been hearing that the Friedson amendment to ZTA 20-01 that passed at the Council earlier this month protecting class II soils was a "poison pill" completely shutting out solar in the Ag Reserve - new mapping from the County shows there are in fact 4000+ acres available for solar in the Reserve with these the soil protections in place. The Council will take a final vote on the afternoon of 2/23. 

MCA, in partnership with the Montgomery County Office of Agriculture will host a farmer's winter gathering by zoom on February 24th at 7:30. This is an informal opportunity to build community and share successes and challenges before the coming growing season. To guide the conversation - we'd love to hear what is on your mind. Please let us know with the survey below. The zoom link will be emailed to registrants, please fill out the rsvp form below. 
We will be joined by Office of Ag staff and Carol Allen from the UMD school of Plan and Food Safety division to share GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification opportunities (the first of which is March 22 and 23rd)

Happy Black History Month. While we take time each February to highlight the many critical contributions of people of color, the innovations of Black and Indigenous people are used in sustainable agriculture through all seasons. It is important to understand and honor these contributions. 

It was Black agrarians that also brought about CSAs (Community Supported Ag). Another Tuskegee University Alum, Dr. Booker T Whatley returned from the Korean War and set up a 55 acre farm and offered a “clientele membership club” akin to the modern subscription style CSA. He saw these clubs not as just ways to feed people but also let them see farms up close - the beginnings of the Agrotourism movement. Dr. Whatley suggested that these farms offering clubs should be no more than 40 miles away from population centers to keep connections with club members. This of course reminds us of the Ag Reserve where residents can really know their farmer and participate in modern CSA programs (find your farmer here).  
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Much more about Drs. Carver and Whatley here. 

The roots of modern sustainable ag go back even further - the First Peoples of this country brought innovations to agriculture we still use today. The basis of Permaculture, another sustainable ag method, involve growing symbiotic crops in groups called "guilds". This echoes the "Three Sisters" plantings  of Indigenous Americans - corn, beans and squash are grown together - the beans fix nitrogen for the corn who's stalks are the support for the climbing bean and squash vines, the broad leaves of which deter any weeds. 

While we have Indigenous People and People of Color to thank for many of the practices that fall under "sustainable agriculture" today, the history we don't often learn involves the systemic removal of land from these same groups - sometimes by discrimination in allocation of resources, sometimes by force. 1.3% of farmers in 2017's Ag Census were Black, in 1920 14% of farmers were black. The intervening years included violence, and discrimination so rampant at the USDA it lead to the largest civil settlement in history - $2 Billion in the "Pigford" Case.  The story of what happened is captured in the excellent and hopeful book "Farming While Black," by NY state farmer Leah Penniman (and more briefly in this "How to Save a Planet" podcast episode about Regenerative Agriculture for the uninitiated). A great deep dive in this NY Times piece here. 

On the national scene, MCA supports the Justice for Black Farmers Act that would grant farmers of color land through the Land Grant program and provide training to get them growing. This bill was just re-introduced by Senators Booker, Warren and Gillibrand among others. 
Here closer to home - we are matching aspiring farmers of all types with land to get started through our Land Link program. There is particular interest from aspiring farmers of color and we are proud that two of the farms listed in the MoCo BIPOC-Owned Food Guide found their land through Land Link. Since 2011 we have connected over 500 acres of land with new and expanding farmers in Montgomery County. Farmers are looking for anywhere from 1/2-50 acres. To learn more about offering or leasing land visit our Land Link program.