PORT TOWNSEND – Food-producing farmland is gradually slipping away in Jefferson County, a phenomenon exacerbated by growing development pressures, say conservation groups.
Added to that is the soaring cost of land that threatens to price new farmers out of the food-growing market.
Enter Jefferson LandWorks Collaborative, a partnership of established county organizations, business interests and educators, headed up by the Jefferson Land Trust.
The LandWorks Collaborative was formed this year in an effort to reverse the trend that the partners say threatens the county’s agricultural future.
Jefferson County acreage devoted to farmland has decreased since 1997, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service.
In 1997, 13,091 acres were farmland. In 2002, 12,274 acres were farmed.
In the same time period, the number of farms increased, from 144 to 207.
The underlying concern, says Briar Kolp, manager of The Food Co-op in Port Townsend, is that without productive land, there are no farms.
And without farms, there are no locally grown foods and products, a vital part of the county’s rural economy.
“We want to make sure that a certain amount of production stays here . . . and be sure that we can offer Co-op members the highest- quality products locally,” said Kolp.
The Food Co-op, which has more than 4,000 owner-members, has worked for years with local farmers, ordering and buying organic produce and value-added products from them.
Most recently, The Co-op has urged members to “buy local,” a marketing campaign that has not only promoted local foods and products, but has shown how little is really grown locally.
The Co-op is one of seven partners in the LandWorks Collaborative.
Others who have joined in the partnership with The Jefferson Land Trust and The Co-op are Jefferson County Farmers Market Association, Northwest Natural Resource Group, Washington State University, Sunfield Farm and School and ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia.
Denise Pranger, Northwest Natural Resource Group executive director, spearheaded the LandWorks project, initially financed through a $33,000 grant from the Bullitt Foundation and a $10,000 grant from the Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation.
The Fergusons were instrumental in establishing the Goodwill store in Port Townsend.
The Bullitt Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation providing funding to nonprofit organizations working to protect, restore, and maintain the natural physical environment of the Pacific Northwest.
Founded in 1988, Jefferson Land Trust is entrusted with more than 1,200 acres now protected from future development in Port Townsend and Jefferson County.
It is land now set aside under the Land Trust’s management and stewardship to conserved in perpetuity for farming, timber production, and fish and wildlife habitat.
