Help a farming community thrive
The Agrihood Collective (TAC) is a 501c3 nonprofit founded by neighboring farmers and food business owners in Shelburne and South Burlington, Vermont.
The Collective is creating a land stewardship model that addresses the needs of farmers, land-based educators, food entrepreneurs, communities, and the ecosystems they’re embedded in.
The mission of TAC is to strengthen local foodsheds through nonprofit-owned shared farmland, and shared farm and food production infrastructure.
The Collective is working with us to raise $315,000 to acquire 360 acres of agricultural land to provide low-cost land leases to farmers. This land will support regenerative farming methods for food production, agroforestry, ecological restoration, wetland conservation, and 14 miles of public recreational trails.
Another 13-acre parcel will be acquired to develop a farm infrastructure center to include a market, food preparation center, classroom space, and housing the farming community can afford.
Don't let farmland disappear
Farming is an integral part of Vermont’s communities and economy. But unfortunately, farms are under increasing pressures such as:
- Lack of access to affordable farmland
- Unaffordable infrastructure and soaring equipment costs
- Workforce retention due to high housing costs and low farmer wages
- Extreme weather events that have short- and long-term detrimental effects on farm viability.
The Agrihood Collective offers a model for farmland access and community collaboration to protect the positive impacts of farming in Vermont and beyond.
What sets this apart
TAC holds a vision of a resilient local food economies. It is working on the following solutions for modern-day farmers:
- Eliminate legacy land debt: Non-profit land-access model to break the farmland real estate debt cycle.
- Secure favorable long-term lease agreements: TAC’s debt-free land ownership enables equitable lease agreements for regenerative farming practices.
- Shared resources and infrastructure: TAC nonprofit-owned land supports the development of affordable farm workforce housing and shared comprehensive farm infrastructure.
- Permanent regenerative stewardship: Farmers contractually commit to agroforestry and regenerative farm management that continuously improves food production and land resiliency in this time of extreme weather events.
- Custom collaborative model: TAC collaborates with farmers to support custom agrihood solutions to address the unique issues farmers are working to overcome.
Learn more about Regenerative Farming
Community benefits
There are myriad benefits to the community and beyond. They include:
- Restoring ecosystems and creating vibrant, interactive landscapes that promote habitat diversification, clean water, air, and soil.
- Increasing local food production and diversification of agricultural products for our communities, making high-quality food more accessible.
- Creating more land-based educational programs that are available to the community.
- Demonstrating climate resilience through regenerative farming practices.
- Strengthening the community’s health through events, public-access trails, and outdoor engagement.
- Bolstering local economic activity through multi-generational job creation.
Join the Agrihood Collective email list
Sustain our farms
This year, the Collective will purchase 373 acres in South Burlington to support regenerative agriculture and build comprehensive shared farm infrastructure.
What your money will support
- 360 acres (of the 373 total acres) of farmland managed regeneratively in perpetuity
- Future housing that farmers can afford
- Shared infrastructure and resources for farmers
You can conveniently donate online. If you prefer to donate by mail, please make your check payable to “Vermont Land Trust” with “Agrihood Collective” in the memo line and mail to:
Vermont Land Trust
8 Bailey Ave
Montpelier, VT 05602
Gifts are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Join the Agrihood Collective email list
Nurture something new by making an online gift now.
Donate now“Let’s deepen our connection to the land, to live in harmony with the environment for future generations.”
– Corie Pearce, Bread and Butter Farm
More information about this campaign
Nuture something new Support the Agrihood Collective
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