I have questions about the purpose of this study. Farming takes large parcels of land to be successful and efficient. There are few large parcels inside the urban area. I can see value for demonstration and teaching gardens that teach people to garden in their own yards. I can also see value to having space near the urban area for pea-patch type gardens. However, it seems that a full-on study may not be needed to respond to the expressed need for support of agriculture. There are existing programs such as Master Gardener, DirtWorks, and GRUB.
The City should be engaged with the County to support preservation of agricultural land where it currently exists. Profitable farms near the urban area can supply food. We need to preserve large enough parcels in the rural areas to keep these farms profitable. If zoning allows these larger parcels to be cut into smaller and smaller pieces, we will lose our local farm production. I hope the Conservation District is also involved with this discussion.
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