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Piglets are a sure sign of spring at farms throughout the Hudson Valley. To read more about the future of agriculture in the region, go to www.OurHudson.org.
^ Click image to download full size HUDSON VALLEY, New York --- The Agriculture and Food Task Force, organized by the Quadricentennial Commission, has released a draft agenda that states a vision and recommendations for the future of agriculture in the Hudson Valley. The full agenda is posted on www.OurHudson.org for public review and comment.
In announcing release of the draft agenda, Judith LaBelle, task force chair and president of Glynwood, an organization based in Cold Spring dedicated to helping families save farming in the northeast, said “Farming and agriculture are central to the identity of the Valley, but we tend to take them for granted. The Valley’s living heritage of family farms producing high quality food right in the midst of a major metropolitan market is a resource that many other regions of the country envy. We hope that this draft agenda will help encourage recognition of this ‘invisible economy’ and galvanize action to support and enhance it.”
In the draft agenda, the Agriculture and Food Task Force’s vision for how agriculture will be seen in the future states that “The Hudson Valley is universally recognized as a world-class landscape producing world-class food. The Hudson Valley and the Napa Valley are coastal brackets for a country that has rediscovered its respect for food and for the people, water and land that produce it.”
The vision sees agriculture as a robust element of the region’s economy, in which farmers are respected as businessmen and professionals. In the future, the vision continues, public officials at every level and residents in the entire metropolitan area will recognize the importance of agriculture to the region’s quality of life.
The vitality of the agricultural landscape and the Hudson River, and the value of the products being produced from both will provide opportunities for young people and families to make their living and spend their lives in the Valley, the report states.
In conclusion, the vision foresees that “The Valley stands as a national model for how the many and complex components of a major metropolitan region can work together to support a food and agricultural system that benefits all its residents.”
The Task Force agenda puts forward five propositions to preserve and enhance agriculture and food production in the Hudson Valley in the future:
1. Recognize and support food and farming as critical elements of the region’s economy and quality of life;
2. Preserve and grow the agricultural land base and encourage its productive use;
3. Increase public and private investment to support the region’s food and farming economy;
4. Cultivate a strong regional identity; and
5. Examine and revise policies on every level to encourage regional agriculture.
The draft agenda on agriculture and food emerged from a “Listening Tour” held in the Valley last fall. Task Forces led by regional experts in six different subject areas (Land Use, Transportation, Economic Development, Culture and Education, Agriculture and Food, and Mechanisms for Implementation) are publishing draft agendas for the future of the Valley over the next few weeks.
OurHudson.org, an interactive website, is designed to give residents and friends of the Valley an opportunity to join the online conversation, respond to draft agendas, and their comments and share their vision for the Hudson Valley.
For more information, or to read and comment on the full agenda for agriculture and food, go to
www.OurHudson.org.
Piglets are a sure sign of spring at farms throughout the Hudson Valley. To read more about the future of agriculture in the region, go to www.OurHudson.org.
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