Farms and farmland face unprecedented challenges. Both Seal the Seasons and American Farmland Trust are working each day to help our farmers and farmland, after all: "No Farms, No Food."
Seal the Seasons believes that locally-grown products are better for our planet, our economy and our taste buds. Seal the Seasons is committed to using business as a force for good in the world. Its mission is to build local supply chains to change the food system. In addition to sourcing regionally-grown fruit from family farms, Seal the Seasons is launching a charitable partnership with American Farmland Trust - the only national conservation organization dedicated to protecting farmland, promoting environmentally sound farming practices and keeping farmers on the land.
We hope the stories of the challenges and solutions to farmers inspire you to join the "No Farms, No Food" movement. It takes all of us: consumers, businesses, and nonprofits to turn the tide and set a new course for agriculture across the country.
Seal the Seasons sources a variety of berries and cherries from Oregon and Washington family farms. The Pacific Northwest offers some of the most diverse agriculture regions in our country – from the Idaho valley where seeds are grown, to the fisheries and forestry of our coastal regions, to the thousands of producers of row crop, fruits and vegetables – Idaho, Oregon, and Washington lead in national productivity. Among the most challenging issues farmers are facing in the region is the rate of farmland loss.
In May 2018, American Farmland Trust (AFT) released our groundbreaking report: Farms Under Threat. AFT had long heard from concerned farmers and citizens across the nation who told us they saw farmland seemingly vanish in front of their eyes. There was a lot of anecdotal evidence. The release of "Farms Under Threat: The State of America's Farmland," was proof: Hard evidence that America's farmland is disappearing.
Between 1992 and 2012, we lost nearly 31 million acres of land. That's 175 acres an hour, or 3 acres every single minute.
Farms Under Threat: Pacific Northwest
As you can see, the Pacific Northwest has plenty of farmland loss ‘hot spots’. The primary cause of farmland loss and conversion is the expansion of urban areas and low-density residential development. We simply cannot continue down this path. AFT believes a bold and comprehensive national strategy is needed to save the land that sustains us, including:
- A dramatic increase in federal investments in agricultural land protection
- Supporting and fully funding the USDA agencies and their programs that provide information to help monitor changes to U.S. agricultural resources
- Enacting a 21st century federal agricultural land protection platform to more effectively address the interconnected threats to farmland from development, climate change, agricultural viability, and farm succession
As we face a growing global population and many new threats to our agricultural land base, it is ever more urgent that we all work together to protect farms and ranches. Join Seal the Seasons and American Farmland Trust in this mission.