From the agriculture project.

• Author: Burrington, Stephen
• Position: Conservation Law Foundation of New England

Rural New England--and its lovely landscape--is a national icon. But the brush growing on too many farm fields is a not-so-distant relative of the weeds filling vacant lots in cities we've neglected. CLF created its Agriculture Project to preserve what New England farms are left. And the project aims to help sustainably run farms to expand, and multiply.

A grassroots movement to sustain local farms is emerging. People such as those featured in this issue of CM are building new business relationships that are not only sustaining farms, but are even bringing land back to agricultural production. They're doing the tough, day-to-day work of creating healthy rural economies and communities.

CLF's role is to make the voice of this new movement heard, in state houses, in Washington, D.C., and occasionally in the courts. New England has some of the best "buy-local" organizations anywhere. It also has--thanks in large part to recent CLF efforts--some of the most promising coalitions anywhere, of community groups, conservationists, and farmers, working together for farm-friendly public policies.

But much work remains to be done. Too few consumer dollars flow to local agriculture. Too many farms are run down, too many farmers near retirement age. Globalization has...