2012 Ag Census – measuring the local food movement

As mentioned previously in this blog, both the National Restaurant Association and the National Grocers Association have identified the desire for local food as one of the strongest consumer trends. How is Maryland doing? The short answer is that we are making...

Put a cherry on it!

Vacationing here near Lake Michigan, it is easy to eat local. Grocery stores sell milk from local farms (grass fed and antibiotic free). Bread is locally sourced, some of it from organic grain farms. There are lots of greens in the local stores and farmers markets....

A Farmer Friendly Agricultural Law Conference!

Since the botched Hudson case, good things have been happening with ag law in Maryland. Over the decades,  farmers across the nation have seen a steady increase in regulatory requirements  pertaining to environmental protection, food safety, labor and so on. However,...

Organic farming in Maryland– is the trend going up or down?

The 2012 Ag Census gives us a blurry vision of trends in organic production. National media has been reporting steady increases in consumer demand for organic. Are producers as excited about growing food organically? As reported by the National Sustainable Agriculture...

Which states are doing well in the local food movement?

In the U.S., the local food movement still represents a tiny percentage of total agricultural sales. However, it has been growing rapidly and it has captured the attention of the media. The USDA Census of Agriculture has begun to track the trend. How do states...

The link between food security and land preservation

It had been 8 years since the last national land preservation conference. I was happy to attend the most recent one in Hershey, PA last week, entitled Saving America’s Farms and Farmland: celebrating 40 Years of Farmland Preservation. It was a chance to...