PCC Sound Consumer archive — October 2007
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PCC Sound Consumer

Saving farmland: Fresh possibilities for change

by Kelly Sanderbeck

October 2007

Welcome to autumn and all its changes! The harvest winds down, CSA boxes start to dwindle, and colors in your market move from bright to golden. Luckily, the presence of pumpkins eases us away from summer gracefully.

Special thanks

Thank you to Portage Bay Café and Catering for its gracious donation of food and venue for the Trust’s October 4 fundraising event!

The café uses the best available local and organic ingredients in its delightful dishes.

We also thank Powers Winery for its donation of wine. The Wine Enthusiast magazine recently named Powers as one of the “50 Great U.S. Cabernet Producers.”

Here at the Trust we’re facing the culmination of the Ames Creek Challenge on November 1. By raising $40,000, we’ll receive an additional $20,000 from major donors to pay down our loan on our fourth farm. With your support, we can make our fifth farm a reality!

As you celebrate the bounty of the new season, please consider sending us a gift to ensure that we can continue to preserve threatened farmland and create living models of sustainability. (See the challenge grant donor page for a list of friends and neighbors who have already donated!)

To some of us, fall always feels like a new beginning, a true new year of fresh possibilities. For others, it’s an opportunity to wind down after a busy summer.

Before you find yourself yearning for cozy days indoors, I encourage you to talk with unfamiliar vendors on the final days of the farmers markets or to volunteer for a fun day out at a farm.

When you get to know a farm not only by the food but also by the people who grow it, you demonstrate your commitment to organic farming in a more dynamic and personal way. Plus, while food tastes best when it’s fresh from the farm, it tastes even better when it’s fresh from a farm and farmer that you know!

Here’s to two “resolutions” for this fall season: contribute to our Ames Creek Challenge before November 1 and get acquainted with a local farm. (You can start at Ames Creek if you like!)

As my new bumper sticker reads: No Farms. No Food. It’s just that simple.