“A thriving New England needs a thriving local food system,” said Scott Sanderson, Manager of CLF’s Farm and Food Program. “But we can’t achieve that if our small farmers and food business are left legally vulnerable. We help food businesses move beyond costly legal fees so they can focus on growing, thriving, and providing for their communities.”
CLF’s Legal Food celebrates a milestone – its 1,000 case helping connect small farmers, food entrepreneurs, and nonprofits with free legal help.
Myranda McGowan’s The Whole Almond is one of the New England food start-ups helped by CLF’s Legal Food Hub.
Eastie Farm is a community farm and educational center in East Boston that has been assisted by CLF’s Legal Food Hub.
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.”
