The Next Agriculture Economy - Chris Newman

2021 Future Harvest Conference Keynote

CHRIS NEWMAN
Farmer, Writer, Activist Sylvanaqua Farms

The future of farming in America faces broad, systemic challenges, including access to land, markets, and capital; processing infrastructure; distribution; farm succession; farmworker exploitation and quality of life; land-use change; and environmental degradation. Our settler/colonial culture, unfortunately, with its reverence of the individual, has largely atomized the discussion to be about farms and consumer behavior rather than systemic change. This has led to a sustainable agriculture movement that's big on cultural capital but small on impact. In this keynote, Chris will discuss an emerging design for an integrated, BIPOC-led food system in the Chesapeake Bay region that creates the necessary conditions for truly thriving farms, communities, and the environment.