November 3, 2020
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Rachel Keidan
There’s a lot to pay attention to in the news these days, and sometimes it seems like food and farm issues are sidelined for more urgent and pressing issues. Yet food, farming and land are inextricably linked to the issues that hold the spotlight -- the pandemic, politics, climate change, inequity... This month’s crop of links shines a light on stories big and small, local and national that remind us just how interconnected food and farms are with everything else we’re digesting these days.
Drop us a line to share what you’re reading, watching and listening to: rkeidan@mainefarmlandtrust.org
READ:
Maine Grains continues to cultivate the local food economy in Skowhegan. - Morning Sentinel
These new climate maps show a transformed United States, and agriculture moving northward. - ProPublica
“As wild blueberry barrens change from lush green to deep red, growers and processors can reflect on the recent season. This year, the state experienced two weather related extremes: frosts in May and June followed by the statewide drought. As a result, it has been a difficult year for the wild blueberry, with a significantly lower crop yield to show for it.” - Ellsworth American
A burgeoning solar industry in Maine could offer landowners a financial boost, but industry leaders are cautious to protect the state’s prime farmland. Solar energy generation and agriculture can coexist in Maine in a mutually beneficial way, but siting solar development to preserve the land is vital to the long term viability of the state’s farmland. - Energy News Network
Dual-use solar projects could help retain agricultural value, but need to be executed thoughtfully in order to work for farmers and the land. Here’s one example of a dual-use effort underway in New Jersey- NPR
The land currently known as Maine is land of the Wabanaki Confederacy: the Penobscot, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Micmac and Abenaki, all of whom are still in Maine today. Learn whose land you’re on by exploring this interactive Native land map. - Native-Land.ca
On the heels of garlic planting time, read Singing to Garlic: Maine’s farmer musicians, a sweet story from our 2020 Maine Farms Annual Journal. Words by Carrie Braman and photos by Molly Haley, featuring Johanna Davis and Adam Nordell of Songbird Farm, Bennett Konesni, Rachel Bell of Long Lost Farm, and Sara Trunzo.
WATCH:
This video from Sunlight Media Collective about the recent restoration of land stewardship to the Penobscot people with the transfer of 735 acres from Elliotsville Foundation to the tribe.
Amanda Little’s TED Talk: Climate Change is becoming a problem you can taste
LISTEN:
FoodXDesign is a great new podcast, and this episode dives into the decades of intentional policies that have created today’s inequitable food system, and why agency is key when creating new systems that work for Black, Indigenous, and people of color.