BriarPatch Food Co-op | Summer 2021
Forever Farms for the Future Special to The Vine by Bear Yuba Land Trust and Sierra Harvest
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onth-to-month leases, unaffordable housing and insufficient infrastructure are barriers to success to small, organic farmers, especially in Nevada County where the real estate market is highly competitive and land values are higher than many rural places throughout the country.
This was the impetus for creating Forever Farms, collaborative partnership between Sierra Harvest, Bear Yuba Land Trust (BYLT), Tahoe Food Hub, BriarPatch Food Co-op and Mountain Bounty Farm. The goal of the program is to protect local farmland and prime soils in order to provide farmers with a sense of permanence in our community through affordable land access.
In 2020, with community support, BYLT acquired 37-acres of land on Birchville Road on the San Juan Ridge, permanently saving an established site of Mountain Bounty Farm from the imminent threat of a land sale. With the first massive community-supported project under their belts, the partners are looking forward to their next project. “We heard the community loud and clear during our campaign to raise money for this first project. Nevada County believes in and relies on our farmers to provide us with healthy, local food. Providing land security for farmers is one way the Forever Farms program can ensure this legacy will continue,” says Land Trust Executive Director Erin Tarr. To ensure that future Forever Farms projects are relevant and serve the community equitably, the partners have created the Forever Farms Advisory Committee. Comprised of farmers, ranchers and community members, the Advisory Committee will meet regularly to help determine future projects and conservation strategies.
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“The Advisory Committee will meet regularly to provide critical feedback to the Forever Farms program,” says
Molly Nakahara, Farm Institute Director at Sierra Harvest. “We want to make sure that our future conservation projects are accessible to all of the farmers in our community, not just a select few.” What’s in store for Forever Farms? The partnership is currently pursuing some big-impact projects. “The hope is that by protecting some of the larger tracts of open farmland in the region, Forever Farms will both honor the commitment that generations of Nevada County farmers have made to growing food and not houses, and provide land-security to the beginning farmers
s raised orever Farm tical farmland F , 0 2 0 2 cri • In to protect $780,000 unty Co in Nevada the first Farm was ty n u o B gram in • Mounta protected by the pro local farm eds 950 nty Farm fe its CSA u o B in ta n ugh • Mou h week thro people eac s 40 Farm grow acres ty n u o B in ated • Mounta on 10 cultiv s p ro c t n differe nds is nt woodla nd e c ja d a f o s ar Yuba La s • 20 acre il cted by Be now prote itat restoration & tra b a h r Trust fo currently stewarding these working lands,” says Nakahara. “We always welcome any input from the community. If there is farmland under threat of development, we want to know about it. With continued community support, we can create a Forever Farm every year!” If you are interested in learning more about the Advisory Committee, or if you’ve got farmland at risk of conversion or are a farmer looking to buy land, reach out to Molly Nakahara, Farm Institute Director at Sierra Harvest or Erin Tarr, Executive Director at Bear Yuba Land Trust. Learn more: sierraharvest.org • bylt.org
