http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Betsy/Where%20We%20Live%2009-07-2012.mp3
After years of decline, Connecticut farms are on the rise, and they’re smaller, more diverse, and more self-sufficient than ever before.
It seemed for a long while that Connecticut farms were going out with the 20th century as more and more farms were being plowed under to make way for new suburban housing and commercial development.
The cost of cultivating big tracts of land dedicated to tobacco and dairy was just too high to resist the big cash offers from developers and towns in need of tax revenue. And our few bigger producers just couldn’t compete with the international agribusiness that stocks supermarket shelves with food trucked in from all over.
But thanks to a rising demand for local, fresh, and healthy, a new crop of Connecticut farms are sprouting up. They’re small, their crops are diverse, and they’re even profitable.
Today, we’ll talk to people excited by the new face of farming in CT and what they’re doing to keep it growing. Have you ever tried Jilo or Calabaza Squash? Have you visited a farmers market or local farm stand this summer?