By the White River Land Collaborative
Photo credit: The White River Land Collaborative
The White River Land Collaborative, in Partnership with Sustainable Woodstock, is excited to bring you an evening of discovery and discussion October 11th at 7 PM on zoom. Join us for a virtual screening of A Seed for the Future, a 15-minute documentary about the achievements, challenges, and aspirations of the White River Land Collaborative, a community-driven initiative for farmland access. The project and film address not just local concerns but land access challenges echoing far beyond the Green Mountain State. After the screening, a Q&A session with the Land Collaborative’s key land stewards will allow participants to engage with those who are driving this change and gain insights into the Land Collaborative’s mission.
The story of the White River Land Collaborative (WRLC) is part of a broader legacy that traces its roots back to New Communities, a pioneering Community Land Trust (CLT) established in Albany, Georgia in the 1960s. New Communities was born out of the Civil Rights Movement and sought to address racial and economic inequalities by acquiring and collectively managing land to strengthen farmland access and security among Black farmers. The history of CLTs, rooted in principles of communal land stewardship and social justice, serves as the foundation upon which the WRLC stands.
The Land Collaborative is forming a community land trust to own and manage the farm it is currently leasing from Vermont Land Trust, a 200-acre parcel in Tunbridge. It will enter into long term leases with local farmers and land-based businesses, taking away the difficulty of accessing land, and the insecurity of not owning one’s land. The farm is currently transforming into a community hub that is supporting sustainable agricultural enterprises, forest stewardship, and community activities while reducing barriers to land access for young farmers and local Abenaki land stewards. Attend the screening and find out more!
The journey does not end here. WRLC is diligently working on expanding our land access initiatives, ensuring that even more Vermonters have the opportunity to pursue their agricultural dreams. We are in the beginning stages of formalizing a process for engaging with additional collaborators, land-based entrepreneurs or food businesses, who can work on the Tunbridge farm. In consultation with community members, we have begun identifying community needs that could be addressed through farm infrastructure, including: agricultural processing or storage, culinary or other value-added enterprises, and ongoing educational workshops and events.
Join Sustainable Woodstock and WRLC for this eye-opening evening on October 11th to learn more about this important work focused on land access and farm viability, and be part of a movement that is sowing the seeds of a brighter, more sustainable future for Vermont and beyond. Together, we can ensure that Vermont remains a living testament to the power of community, farm viability, and collaboration.
Join us on October 11th, 7 PM by registering at: https://seedforthefuture.eventbrite.com
