A preference for local food: is the small farmer a dying breed? The odds against him are growing, but CLF is an ally of the first order. And the fight goes on.

• Author: Grady, Mary
• Position: Conservation Law Foundation of New England

ON A SUNNY SATURDAY IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, when the breeze holds a hint of autumn but the deep green of summer abides, scores of folks, young and old, are queuing up in the community center in Shelburne Falls, Mass., for a buffet lunch. It includes butternut bisque, jambalaya, lamb sausage (sweet or spicy), curried chicken salad, and organic pickles; hard cider and cold soda, apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. Glowing colors and ambrosial aromas pervade. All the food is made from ingredients grown on local farms, prepared by local chefs, and served up fresh and delicious.

The lunch is organized by Communities Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), and it's part of the annual CISA farm tour--open to all. Besides enjoying the down-home food, guests travel the area's back roads and meet Angora goats, Jersey calves, and draft horses. They sample milk fresh from the source, tour a sawmill and woodlot, and tag their Christmas tree. It's all part of an effort to educate local residents about local products, and encourage them to support their neighbors' endeavors.

"We want to build bonds between farmers and consumers," says CISA board member Barry Steeves, as guests shoveled down their victuals and listened to his brief talk. "We want to support the supply of good, fresh food, build a stronger local economy, and preserve open space." CISA is striving toward those goals, as part of a growing, grassroots movement across New England.

But the forces arrayed against small farmers are formidable, says Steve Burrington, general counsel for the Conservation Law Foundation, in Boston: "The daunting economics of the market. Demographics ... many farmers are getting old. Sprawl, and development pressure. Galloping globalization." Activists, farmers, and consumers are forging strong alliances, but they face a tough struggle. CLF, says Burrington, is working to provide support and leadership for their efforts, as well as leading the campaign for the Food and Farmland Protection Act--now pending in the Massachusetts legislature.

Burrington says that to have a chance in today's bleak economic climate, the Farmland Act has been tailored to minimize its fiscal impact. The Act would provide an advantage for Massachusetts-grown products in state purchasing. It includes incentives to preserve farmland for future generations, and to help farmers succeed in the marketplace, rather than relying on subsidies. The bill has lots of support. Yet it remains stuck in a legislative logjam that, so far, has resisted efforts to move it along. "We need to create enough pressure to overcome the inertia," Burrington says. "There is essentially no opposition to it. This should be easy." But it isn't. Still, Burrington gives the Act a strong chance of passing in the upcoming session of the...