Our food supply is threatened by development. Fully 86 percent of our fruits and vegetables and 63 percent of our dairy products are produced on the edge of urban areas.
The United States is losing two acres of farmland every minute, according to the American Farmland Trust. The rate of loss was 51 percent faster in the 1990s than in the 1980s.
Washington State lost nearly 10,000 prime acres a year between 1992 and 1997 at a rate 30 percent faster than during the previous five years. We're losing the most fertile and productive land most quickly.
The PCC Farmland Trust
In 1999 PCC created the PCC Farmland Trust as an independent, community-supported 501(c)3 non-profit land trust. The Trust saves threatened farmland in Washington state and moves it into organic production — for the sake of the land, those who work it, and those of us who eat what they produce.
PCC continues to be the Fund's primary corporate sponsor, but contributions from more than 1,400 individuals, families, businesses and foundations make it a broad-based effort. The PCC Farmland Trust is a supporting member of the Cascade Harvest Coalition, and a partner in the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.
The Trust uses contributions to buy valuable farmland. protect it with conservation easements, and then lease it to organic farmers.
What you can do
Buy organically produced food and whenever possible, buy it from local, organic farmers - whether at PCC or at regional farmers' markets.
Let your elected officials know you support organic agriculture and want our farmland protected.
Live near your workplace, in an already-established community.
If you own land, protect it from development with a conservation easement.
Vote for candidates who support farmland preservation.
Looking for a CSA farm or farmer's market near you? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way to invest in a farmer, and get a fresh basket of produce each week during the growing season.
