With a deep background in not-for-profit community ventures and
community land trusts, I tried to nudge the committee toward considering
a community-based nonprofit model for stewardship of the 20-acre
riverside farmland. When the Vermont Foodbank submitted its proposal,
there was consensus that this charitable nonprofit would make the best
steward for the land and support the community-oriented purposes for
which local residents expressed support. In large part, this consensus
was based on the Foodbank's promise not to compete with established
local farmers, but rather to create opportunities for partnership with
them while serving the hungry residents of The Valley and the state.
However, and for reasons that are yet unclear to me, the Foodbank
quickly lost interest in the project, even considering selling it back
to the Vermont Land Trust for $1. One of their staff, without
institutional support, did what he could to make the project work. But,
rather than using the expertise of the Kingsbury Farm Committee to
create a community-based model of land use, he chose to find a
for-profit farm couple to "partner" with.
This required a considerable additional investment in infrastructure,
which not only dramatically increased the public subsidy in the project
but also became a direct subsidy to the two farmers. It is more than
ironic that the very large public and nonprofit investment made in the
property has gone to support an enterprise that not only competes with
the existing family farmers but also with established local bakeries and
other food production businesses. The non-competition promise made by
the Foodbank has been not only broken but turned upside down.
While I'm pleased to see the Kingsbury Farm land being used to grow
organic food for The Valley and for those who are food challenged, I'm
very disappointed that the community's efforts and funds have gone
towards an enterprise that is ideologically competitive and disdainful
of the very public resources that made their business possible.
Robert Riversong lives in Warren.
