Free Legal Help Empowers Mainer to Protect Farmland for Future Generations
With help from the Legal Food Hub, Mainer secures conservation easement that will permanently protect her farmland from development.

With help from the Legal Food Hub, Mainer secures conservation easement that will permanently protect her farmland from development.
Providing more access to land for farming in our cities will help accelerate urban agriculture and support low-income, people of color, immigrant, and New American farmers in search of land on which to grow.
“Local farmers and food businesses are essential pieces of a healthy and thriving community,” Sara Dewey, Director of CLF’s Farm and Food Initiative. “Too often, high fees and complicated legal issues are a barrier to entrepreneurs and farmers getting their businesses off the ground. Communities, residents, and our climate benefit when these businesses prosper, and it’s time they are given the tools they need.”
Even as we mourn the lives lost to COVID-19 and absorb the heavy toll it has taken on our economy, we must recognize that the old “normal” left too many communities unhealthy and especially vulnerable to the pandemic. Replicating that old “normal” will squander an opportunity to reduce climate danger while building healthier and more just communities for all.
Legal Food Hub launches in Connecticut to support local food economy
“We saw a trend and a growing need in the farming and food entrepreneur community for affordable legal services,” says Phelps Turner, a staff attorney who manages the Maine hub. “So we leveraged our connections in the legal community throughout New England to create this program. We identified attorneys and law firms willing to volunteer their time and provide free legal services to farmers and food entrepreneurs.”
CLF succeeds because we have people like you by our side. In this special annual report issue of Conservation Matters, we are honoring just a few of our many local heroes, people who have devoted their time, energy, and passion to defending our homes, protecting our children’s health, and supporting the vibrancy of our communities.
CLF connects food producers with pro bono legal services.
Sarah Turkus knows firsthand how difficult it can be to navigate complex legal issues while running a busy small farm. Sarah has been a farmer and youth educator since 2010 and, in her latest endeavor, manages a nonprofit cooperative farm that opened in 2018. In preparing for the farm’s launch, Sarah wanted to ensure that… Continue reading Free Guide Takes Guesswork Out of Hiring for Rhode Island Farmers
Our elected officials in Washington, D.C., are currently making big decisions about the future of farm and food policy in our country – and it matters for all of us. We need you to speak up for the Farm Bill to ensure that it helps, rather than harms, New England’s farmers.