People who do not want to see our Ag Reserve chipped away by encroaching development will be asking for a building moratorium at the County Commission’s March 24 workshop on the Ag Reserve.
The voice for grassroots protection of the Ag Reserve – Roni Freedman and STAR (Save The Ag Reserve) organization have made a compelling case for why the moratorium is essential to the Reserve and our resouces right now.
So the arrival next week of National Agriculture Day on March 18 couldn’t be timlier.
Jenny Lundberg, Monroe County Farm Bureau Vice President in Monroe County, N.Y. echoes sentiments of residents who care about our Ag Reserve here. She writes in the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., :
“We are especially blessed to have such diversity. Farms of every size and style produce the highest quality food that we could ask for. . .
“Our family farms make vital contributions to our way of life. They feed our families and provide open space free from development. They work to preserve the land and natural resources for the next generation to take over the essential work. And last year alone, they donated more than 10 million pounds of food to regional food banks across the state.”
We in Palm Beach County are incredibly blessed with our Ag Reserve as well. It’s one of the most unique agricultural treasures anywhere, and just as vital to our economy. It is the largest source of winter vegetables for the entire Eastern Seaboard.
Right now, this land is being slowly poached in pieces by encroaching development from a very wealthy and powerful homebuilder, with the help of our government in its accommodation of swapping Transer of Development Rights and giving away conservation easements.
Please Attend the March 24, 2015 BCC Workshop Hearing.
Please set aside time to attend the March 24, 2015, Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners workshop on the Ag Reserve. If you haven’t been to hearings where the fate of the Reserve is debated piece by piece at the county level, it will be a real eye-opener. And the Ag Reserve as never before needs residents throughout the county who may never see the Ag Reserve in their daily lives testify to what a loss it would be.
You never know what you have, as they say, until you lose it. We cannot afford to lose it.
Here’s more information on National Agriculture Day
– C.Z.