| MARCH 27, 2011 -- The Last Green Valley has rolled a multifaceted plan for rural sustainability in the region into a 122-page report and is looking for the public’s input on its ideas.
Executive Director Charlene Perkins Cutler said the nonprofit organization unveiled its Rural Sustainability Plan earlier this month after more than two years of research.
“It was really born out of frustration,” Perkins Cutler said of the plan. “Every time someone would say, ‘We need to do something to save our farming economy,’ and someone would make a suggestion, there was always a roadblock.”
Perkins Cutler said these roadblocks made for a very long list, including everything from a lack of interest in purchasing local food to a lack of understanding of the importance of or facts about nutrition.
The plan, she said, aims to address all of these roadblocks. Goals of the plan include: achieve rural sustainability through responsible use of environmental assets; enhance the rural economy through economic development; advocate for rural economic innovation; and facilitate communication and sharing of knowledge.
Within each of the larger goals are several smaller visions for change and improvement. Agritourism is one of the smaller visions within the economic development goal. The plan calls for working more closely with tourism groups and marketing new promotions, such as “adopt” a animal or tree on a farm or become a “farmer for a day,” according to the plan.
‘Destination farm’
Peter Orr, owner of Fort Hill Farms in Thompson, said focusing more on tourism could help farms in the region, especially his, which already aims to be a “destination farm.”
He said many farms already blend agriculture and tourism through efforts such as Fort Hill’s educational corn maze, which has its own curriculum each year. Orr said he’d like to see more tourism efforts to bring more people to the Quiet Corner.
“There’s a lot of hidden gems within the woods,” Orr said.
Ideas for improvement and change are plentiful in the plan. One of the hundreds of suggestions is to develop an AgInfo website for farmers in the region. The website could include opportunities for networking as well as information on financing, grants and continuing education opportunities. It also could have a classified section for farmers to advertise resale of equipment and apprenticeship opportunities, according to the plan.
But with such a far-reaching plan and so many different ideas, Perkins Cutler said a lot of input and work from the community will be needed to put it into action.
The organization is holding public meetings now to gather input and reaction to the plan, and Perkins Cutler said the organization plans to hold a symposium in the fall. |
