Relentless Inquiry

I think that a goal of MoveOn should be to support land preservation for agriculture and family farms. The phrase 'food security' is drifting out of the sustainability press and into the mainstream– and it's a real concern. A nation of backyard gardeners, small farmers, 50-cow dairies, and the like has been systematically transformed into an agribiz empire that has a responsibility to its shareholders rather than to US citizens.

Planning for the long-long term future is going to require not only a place for people to live, but ways to prevent this country from becoming wholly dependent on petro-agriculture and on food imports. Some specific action items:

– Tax credits for sustainable agricultural practices, rather like the ones for solar or wind power
– Well-oiled legal machinery to create living farm trusts that will take farmland out of suburban expansion by protecting it from development (and from usurious property taxes that force farmers to sell out).
– Tax credits and paperwork streamlining to create a regionalized food network
– Agricultural small business loan programs to create family farms and plant nurseries on a small scale
– Tax, loan, and zoning initiatives supporting the installation of greenhouses: gaining greenhouse experience as a buffer against unstable climate change is vital for regional food security
– Restore sharply cut funding for USDA Cooperative Extension presences, and protect land used for research and demonstration from prohibitive property taxes
– Create urban and suburban zoning and legislation templates that specifically allow gardening, especially rooftop gardening (using lightweight soil mixes); streamline building inspection & permit process for same
– Create tax & planning initiatives that encourage or require gardening space, as well as parking space, for high-density housing
– Fund a nationwide community gardening initiative, with a central clearinghouse to assist in creating community gardens (ACGA's fine efforts notwithstanding)
– Develop matching-funding plans for communities which dedicate some portion of public greenspace to food-producing perennials, such as fruit & nut trees, berry bushes, etc. Funds used to pay for extra expenses of maintainance and for harvesting and distributing to public assistance.