Project
Global Growers Network
When an organization that supports more than 300 refugee and immigrant farmers needed a new home, we were there to help.
One in eight U.S. residents will experience food insecurity this year, and we’re headed straight to the source to address that — our local farms. By working with farmers to build a healthy and resilient food system, we help ensure sustainable food production now and in the future for local communities.
Taking action for local food is more urgent than ever. Every hour, 40 acres of farmland is lost to development. The losses are especially serious near cities. Many of today’s farmers are reaching retirement age, and while a new diverse, entrepreneurial generation is eager to step in and get to work, land in metro areas is often just too expensive. Farmland frequently ends up being sold to developers and is lost forever.
The Conservation Fund is working nationwide to keep America’s local farms working, protecting farmland and advancing a new generation of farmers who are growing fresh, nutritious food for their communities and beyond.
Through our Farms Fund initiative, we secure farmland on the edge of major metro areas and match that farmland to the ideal farmer who leases and stewards the land until TCF protects it forever with an agricultural conservation easement. Permanently protecting the farm means the land is more affordable for new and growing farm businesses, while keeping it a farm forever.
This patient pathway to affordable land ownership for a new generation of visionary farmers helps make communities healthier with stronger food systems, access to fresh food, cleaner air and water and more resilience against the effects of climate change.
Are you a farmer who’s ready to meet local demand in your community? Are you looking to scale up your operations and take the next step toward farm ownership?
With partners, we are building a more resilient food system through long-term investments in the next generation. Investment in one farm will roll forward into new projects every three to five years, multiplying the impact.
Insights | October 16, 2024
Farming has sustained Americans since the nation’s founding. But today agriculture in the United States is at a turning p...
Insights | June 17, 2024
Join us for a tour through a few of the special places where our hardworking conservation experts have sprung into action...
Photo credits (from top of page): Addison Hill