Sustainable Agriculture In Project 2025

Potter County, Pennsylvania has been my home for most of my life. Arthur and I returned to Potter County in the late 1970s, found ways to make a living, established our places in community life, raised two children and step-by-step brought new life to an old family farm.
Our children, while they both appreciate their small-town upbringing, are building their lives, families and careers far from Crandall Hill.
That's one of the reasons I am watching with great interest, the launch of Potter County's Project 2025. 

Project 2025 is being developed by the Potter County Commissioners to address continuing population loss and the out-migration of our young people. The Project aims to "assemble stakeholders, conduct intensive research and implement a strategy to reverse population loss and median age growth by the end of 2025."

Those are admirable and lofty goals. Commissioner Barry Hayman made the following comment on a Facebook post:

Let's not forget our farmers in all this. Agri-tourism, small unique local products and producers could also be big in the mix. Potter County Pure could mean something, especially for those looking for 'clean' alternative to products made by factory farms.

I agree with Mr. Hayman and, further, I think continuing to work toward a vital, strong local foodshed is one of the key ways young people can be attracted to the kind of rural lifestyle Potter County offers.

Click here to access a recent document compiled by the Young Farmers Coalition "Growing Pennsylvania's Future:  Challenges Facing Young Farmers and Recommendations to Address Them."