Food security has quickly emerged as a priority for our community during this challenging pandemic. The Kingston Land Trust has always taken a holistic approach to creating access to land that has included engaging residents in local food production.
- In 2010 we established the South Pine Street City Farm, which is still active today, to make land available to farmers to grow food for the community
- In 2017 we launched Comida y tierra, conversations in Spanish where we offer free meals, support local restaurants and farms, and partner with organizations associated with local food
- In 2018 we planted community fruit trees and medicinal shrubs on our land in the Town of Ulster and this year we are working with new partners to plant public fruit trees throughout the City of Kingston
- In 2019 we created our land matching portal to facilitate making underutilized land available for growing food
With your help, we will deepen and expand our efforts to support food access in the following ways:
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Make more land available for community members to grow their own food (through land matching and protection)
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Continue to support affordable food being grown for the community at our land-matched South Pine Street Farm
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Plant public fruit trees and medicinal plants in and around Kingston
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Start native flower gardens to support pollinators like bees and butterflies that are crucial to food production
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Continue to offer free meals and support local restaurants and farms through Comida y tierra
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Offer instruction through our new Land & Resilience series on how to grow food and steward the land
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Expand and steward our nursery of edible and medicinal plants for trades with community members
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Provide seeds, starts and other support to folks who want to grow their own food
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Partner with and support local food and farming organizations including the Kingston YMCA Farm Project, Seed Shed, Soul Fire Farm, Hudson Valley Bee Habitat, Hudson Valley Farm Hub, Kingston Food Coop, The Edge Project, Seed Song Farm and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County
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Explore a new role in farmland access and protection
