Forging Forward: Home is Where the Heart(land) Is
Forging Forward is a series of eight articles about our region’s recovery and resiliency in the time of COVID, presented with the generous support of the Pittsburgh Foundation. Read about their upcoming 2020 Critical Needs campaign, which culminates in a day of donations on August 19, 2020.
Jake Kristophel found his love of nature in working with the wildlife all around him growing up in Harmony, PA. “My parents were self-sustaining. We gardened, hunted and enjoyed nature,” he said. After meeting his partner, Desiree Sirois, and building a tiny house on his family’s land, they wanted to start their own backyard garden. “We started with a few acres of vegetables, 300 laying chickens and 100 laying ducks for eggs. From there we moved onto meat birds like chicken and turkeys and just fell in love with it,” he added.
Sirois, who was vegan when they met, agreed to eat meat as long as they humanely raised the livestock themselves. Their vision of ethical farming hasn’t changed over the years. But what has changed is that he’s no longer on his family’s land. He has since graduated to his own small farm, Fallen Aspen Farm, due to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s vision for farmland access and conservation.
Action is needed. Pennsylvania is among the top twelve states in the country with the most threatened farmland according to a report by the American Farmland Trust. In addition, agricultural production is one of Pennsylvania’s top industries. It yields $74 billion annually for the local economy, and one in seven Pennsylvania jobs is in agriculture.
Rooted in land and water conservation, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy protects lands all across Western PA, now including farms. “It turned out to be clear that there was a lot of potential in terms of properties and a lot of enthusiasm and interest from supporters of the conservancy to turn our attention to farmland,” said Shaun Fenlon, Vice President of Land Conservation at Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Having worked with the organization since 2009, he notes that it’s amazing to see how much of a solid scientific ground the Conservancy places on everything that it does. This group protects properties through purchases and donations of land, as well as through conservation easements that are voluntary protection agreements between a landowner and the Conservancy. The organization also manages the beloved Frank Lloyd Wright architectural masterpiece, Fallingwater, as well as the surrounding greenspaces.
The Conservancy also has a community gardens and greening program, participates in tree vitalization and a watershed conservation program primarily located in Indiana, PA. The program works on restoration of streams for water quality throughout the region. “We feel that along with our volunteers, beautifying our communities with flower and vegetable gardens allows these spaces to be more inviting,” said Cynthia Carrow, vice president of government and community relations. “We have seen that it frequently spurs additional neighborhood improvement. Once the neighborhood begins to revitalize, small businesses appear next, so the gardens are one way to help communities become more viable.”
“We also have a natural heritage program for the whole state,” added Fenlon. “Our staff works with scientists who study rare animals, plants and habitats. “It really makes us unique among these types of conservationists. Being able to walk over from the land group and talk to a botanist or bird expert… it’s wonderful to be spoiled,” he said.
“It seemed natural that our attention would turn to farmlands,” he added.
Carrow agrees. “I’ve been at conservancy for 45 years and farmland conservancy is not new to us. Recently, however, we have recognized the need to have access to fresh food in all the areas where we work both in the city and in the countryside. We felt not only would we be conserving farmland, but we would be leasing these properties to farmers, thus providing fresh foods to our surrounding communities,” she added.
But this process just doesn’t happen overnight. It takes effort, determination and resources, as well as time. “The first gift we received was in 2016 to start this work. Although we obtained most of the funding earlier in the initiative, our last gift was in early 2020,” said Fenlon. “You look back and suddenly it’s like you realize that we’ve accomplished something very special,” he said.
Throughout its history, the Conservancy has protected more than 262,000 acres of land, much of which was conveyed to state parks, state forest, state game lands and the Allegheny National Forest. “What happened next was that the Conservancy purchased lands or had parcels donated that included protected farmland in Ligonier Valley, for example,” said Fenlon. This land included 10,000 acres in the valley over years of conservation work.
Land preservation and stopping the over development of land is vital to protecting delicate ecosystems as well as providing people access to recreational green spaces and farm fresh produce. Put simply, protected lands benefit all forms of life.
“We have to fundraise for our land conservation work and the effort to find the right farms was an effort over a few years,” he added.
Once the Conservancy acquired these lands, the organization realized it needed to work with farmers to encourage the health of these spaces. “We are working with four farms and their foods will go back into the local Pittsburgh food market. We wanted to really give this a try,” Fenlon said. There is a backlog of 1,900 farms that are waiting to be preserved across the state, and the Conservancy’s effort has just scratched the surface of lands in need of protection.
“It’s been really interesting working with the Conservancy on this,” said Kristophel. “Being a young farmer, I wouldn’t have been able to afford 60 acres with a barn and a house on it. Of course, we’ve put in money of our own, but it’s been a good partnership,” he added. Kristophel’s farm focuses on livestock, in particular pigs, noting that animals can help to rehabilitate poor soils and poor land.
“People have become really disconnected from their food sources. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, everyone had their own gardens. People bought dairy and meat locally. There was a butcher in every town. You knew where your food came from. Now people have lost that touch,” he added.
He hopes that the Conservancy’s push for farmland conservation will reignite people’s interest in where their foods come from as well as deepen their understanding for the importance of land preservation. After seeing the effects of Covid-19 and the breakdown of our food supply chain, Kristophel believes we are in the midst of a food revolution in Pennsylvania.
“Now with this pandemic, you are seeing people returning to the idea of being self-sustainable and move back towards green spaces and rural surroundings. I’m hoping that people will recognize the passion of providing food for others and support local farms,” he said.
Knowing who grows your food, protecting lands right in your backyard that become safe from developers, and the quality of product that you receive from local farming are just a few of the many reasons that supporting local farms means supporting the health and wealth of communities.
For more on the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s farmland access program: https://waterlandlife.org/land-conservation/farmland-access-program/
To support the organization’s work: https://waterlandlife.org/donate/make-monthly-donation/
Other articles in the Forging Forward series:
STORY BY NATALIE BENCIVENGA
Don’t miss a single forward-looking thing!