Tag Archives: land speculation

Growing Land and Future Farmers

A short video on lack of access to land for farmers on Vancouver Island (where I’ve lived for the past four years), including interviews with farmers and policymakers.  Southern Vancouver Island is a popular retirement destination, and this has driven up the cost of farmland.  Numerous farmers are retiring, and new ones can’t afford to lease (let alone buy) farmland.  Recommendations call for a land bank, community land trusts, co-ops and infrastructure support for farmers, all of which has been on the lips of farmers and farmer-advocates for a number of years in Southern Vancouver Island.

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Growing Farmers – New Farmers and The Peconic Land Trust

This short video begins with a common story: land prices are skyrocketing due to speculation, farming is increasingly cost-prohibitive, and farmers can’t get access to the land and equipment they need.  The video focuses on new farmers and the Peconic Land Trust of Long Island, which helps provide land and equipment for farmers.  Land trusts are one of the only legal means to acquire land and protect it from the pressures of speculation and urbanization.  The video has interviews with new farmers who are starting out, and some older ones who mentor them.  It’s fairly romantic and celebratory of local farming, which they kinda acknowledge themselves.