Under this heading we offer news, views, and editorial content which might broaden discussion. The  pages which follow are the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position, policy or philosophy of the Small Farms Conservancy.

“Americans have for too long allowed space to solve their social problems.

It wasn’t just in the old West that one man might say to another, “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.” That attitude leads to two intolerable dead-ends-isolation and sprawl. We need to think more clearly about our value to one another, not just our nuisance value; we need to consciously decide who and what we want and need in our immediate vicinity.

We need to welcome and prove ourselves neighbors. A neighborhood is not just decorative, much less a homogeneity of skills and lifestyles. It is a local sufficiency fashioned by the coming together of many discrepancies, each one hopefully exceptional. For instance, artists and farmers both make smells and noises. Hammering, turpentine, the lowing of cattle, the chickens’ squabble. Which doesn’t mean both artists and farmers can’t be quiet, attentive, present as if absent. And when you need a hand or the loan of a pickup, the best of neighbors. “ Paul Hunter