According to the Young Farmers Coalition, the vast majority of the next generation of farmers want to use regenerative practices but face barriers to land access. Tennessee Local Food board member and co-executive director of The Farmers Land Trust, Kristina Villa, says that in addition to land access, farmers need land security.
“Typically when the movement talks about land access they’re talking about needing farmland to grow food. I feel like the conversation should shift to land access and tenure,” she said. “Most farmers in this country are paying too-high prices for short-term land access, which doesn’t allow farmers to practice regenerative methods that we know can build soil, heal earth and feed communities.”
