This New York Times article describes a familiar dilemma for farming regions near booming urban areas. Marin County – immediately north of San Francisco – dealt with this threat in part by forming the Marin Agricultural Land Trust. The Trust helped keep two-thirds of the county open space and in agriculture such as ranching, dairy, wine and some crop production. (It was so successful that it recently disbanded, as its mission was accomplished.) Activists are gearing up to do the same in the Hudson River area. I’m betting they’ll have success, as people treasure that beautiful region. I visited it two years ago, and loved the local farmers markets.

Here is the first graph of the article – click the link above to read it in full:

Elizabeth Ryan, the owner of Stone Ridge Orchard.
Preston Schlebusch for The New York Times

STONE RIDGE, N.Y. — Apple trees have blossomed, and soon fruit will begin emerging at Elizabeth Ryan’s orchard in the Hudson Valley. Before long, her harvest will head south to Manhattan, where Miro Uskokovic, the pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, will use it to create an apple and carob cake, while Michael Anthony, the executive chef at the Studio Cafe inside the Whitney Museum of American Art, will turn it into an apple compote spread over pie dough and covered with a streusel.