Never have we experienced this situation before- a shortage of farmers! In a 1787 letter to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will, in the end, contribute most to real wealth, good morals and...
When I grew up on our family farm in Southern Maryland in the 1950s and 1960’s, a large portion of our food was locally sourced. Our garden supplied vegetables. In the winter months, we ate the surplus goods canned the previous growing season. Most of our protein came...
It may come as little surprise to folks in Southern Maryland that most of our food is not grown locally. But does the number 99.76% surprise you? In the five county region that makes up the Southern Maryland Agriculture Development Commission (Anne Arundel, Calvert,...
When the Tobacco Buyout was initiated twelve years ago, many thought that would be the end of Southern Maryland agriculture. Farming classes in schools had ended several decades before that. Young farmer groups had stopped meeting in each of the counties after...