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LettersCSA coalition responds to Hillsboro Mayor Jerry WilleyPortland Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition December 8th, 2009
Washington County Board of Commissioners Dear Washington County Board of Commissioners, The Portland Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (PACSAC) is a group of farmers growing fresh sustainable local food and selling it directly to families in the north Willamette Valley. The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model is a way for family farmers to produce a wide variety of high quality vegetables in a sustainable way. CSAs foster responsible relationships between the grower, the consumer, the food, and the land on which the food is grown. Our coalition includes more than 40 local farms and hundreds of families who are CSA members. We share a desire to promote, support and strengthen a healthy regional food system. At a recent City Club of Portland Friday Forum, Hillsboro Mayor Jerry Willey voiced a common misperception about Urban Reserves. “There's no down side to having too much Urban Reserves because if it's not needed we won't use it.” We have too often heard this excuse for making Urban Reserves larger than necessary. Farmers can technically continue to farm after their land is brought into the Urban Reserve. The real question is not CAN they farm, it is whether farmers actually WILL keep farming if their land is designated Urban Reserve. Planners know from years of experience at the edge of the UGB that speculation alone has reduced the number, size and viability of farms on the urban edge. If we loose farms now just due to proximity to the UGB, then we will only loose more farms with an Urban Reserves designation. This reduction in farming will happen based on the designation alone, regardless of whether the land is actually ever urbanized or not! The knowledge that their land may eventually be urbanized, regardless of the timeline, discourages farmers from making the long term capital investments that are necessary to sustain a viable farming operation. It also discourages land owners from offering the long term leases to farmers that are necessary to sustain a viable farming operation. We also know from past experience along the edge of the UGB that speculation raises the price of land so even farmers who want to keep farming can't afford to expand their operations. As reported in a recent Hillsboro Argus article entitled Betting the Farm, local farmers are already questioning their ability to continue in areas being considered for Urban Reserves. We know that people in the Portland Metro region care deeply about protecting farmland. In a recent Metro survey, 70% said that protecting farm and forest lands should be the most important consideration for choosing between Urban and Rural designation. As Farmers, we face extraordinary challenges working on the current urban edge. Robust Rural Reserves will make it easier for us to farm. Unnecessary Urban Reserves will make it much harder for us to farm. So please, in Washington County and throughout the region, be extremely judicious with your use of Urban Reserves. Remember there is definitely a down side to having too much Urban Reserve – we'll lose the farms!
Sincerely, Help us save this unique and priceless area by submitting your own testimony! |
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