POST wants to protect 1,000 acres of farmland

The Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced Feb. 4 that the organization is working to conserve more than a thousand acres of farmland on the San Mateo County coastside over the coming decade, tripling the amount of protected farmland.

The $25 million program, Farmland Futures Initiative, seeks to stem the loss of local farmland that has threatened the future of Bay Area farming and the livelihood of local farmers. The program will use the funds to acquire land and agricultural conservation easements.

Since the 1980s, nearly 200,000 acres of Bay Area agricultural land have been converted to other uses, with San Mateo County losing 35 percent of its farmland, POST said.

“Protecting local working land matters to our environment, our farmers and our community,” said POST President Walter Moore. “Farms are vital to the health of our local ecosystems, waterways and the region’s overall food system, growing the farm-fresh foods that we as a society value and cherish.”

POST has raised $7.5 million toward the $25 million it wants to invest in the program, with lead support from Diane Greene and Mendel Rosenblum, the Leslie Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Sand Hill Foundation, Sandra and John Thompson and Karie and David Thomson.

Go to openspacetrust.org for more information.