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Of the twenty-six people I’ve asked in the last day and a half “Where does your food come from?” twenty-three of them listed a specific grocery store. When I followed that up with, “But where do you think they get it?” Of the twenty-three, sixteen gave me some form of larger market or transportation system. Think about it – where does your food come from?
Colchester is a rural community, a farming community. We’ve grown over the years, but our heart and culture is still in our farms, our open spaces, and our history. I’ve talked in this column about the importance of business development; equally, if not more important, is keeping our farms. How do we do that?
We all know that farming is changing. Gone for the most part are the hundred acres of dairy farms. They’re being replaced in many cases by smaller “niche” farms – wine growing, cheese making, herbs, Christmas trees, beef, jams, eggs, firewood, horses, hay, vegetables, and plants are just a few. Today a farm can exist on less than two acres of land! Just this past week, the Town of Colchester partnered with the Colchester Land Trust to bring together more than twenty-five of Colchester’s farmers to talk about the issues they’re facing – many of them economic like everyone else. Never do we want any of our businesses to fail, but think about what happens if our farmers go out of business. What do we eat or drink? What happens to our open space? Our
culture? Colchester’s charm?
We recently received our final report from the “Agricultural Viability Grant” received in 2007 through the CT Department of Agriculture. The report is a study of farming in Colchester and recommendations for keeping that farming viable with the ultimate purpose of preserving farmland. Why preserve farmland? Why should we ALL care? Farms keep the town attractive and contribute to our charm and character. Farmland is self-funded open space and they pay taxes. They preserve the environment, including natural habitats, wetlands, and our water systems. As costs rise, food recalls appear daily in the news media, and crops are lost from natural disasters, our working farms farms serve as “land banks” – providing local foods and preserving the systems needed to grow food
and keep our environment healthy for our children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren.
At this past week’s meeting, farmers and those interested in maintaining Colchester’s farms came together to review and prioritize from their perspective recommendations made in the study. Adam Turner, your town planner, and I will be working with the Land Trust, our farmers, and our boards and commissions to address those recommendations. Farms are one of our greatest resources – a resource that once it’s gone cannot be reclaimed. Our farms of yesterday are gone; we need to come together to ensure that today’s farms are successful and viable enterprises.
The following is an excerpt from the report: “The list of farm products grown and manufactured in Colchester is very impressive.” It goes on to say, “The high quality of items produced here, combined with the growing trend toward purchasing local foods from sources that can be visited and trusted, gives Colchester the potential to become a destination for people who subscribe to the wholesome food, ‘green’ living, and ‘slow food’ movements.” The bottom line is that farming is not just about farmers – it’s about what’s good for the entire community.
The full 69-page report can be found at www.colchesterct.gov, Town Departments, Planning & Zoning Department, I want to highlight a few specific points made.
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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