Commons Land Community Farmland Trust is a circle of farmers, land stewards and organizers who have worked together since 2020, building a community and a Land Trust, to support a Commons vision that provides healing for land and people.
As a 501c3 Land Trust, Commons Land Community offers services for the development and protection of community-based land tenure.
Our Goals:
1. Provide secure, affordable access to community-held, community-stewarded land for farmers seeking to grow healthy food for their communities;
2. Support, advise and advocate for partner organizations in our region seeking to create their own networks of community-held, community-stewarded farmland commons. Our definition of a farmland commons is to hold land in trust for community benefit, with community self-governance, and long-term leases for Farmers.
3. Educate and support the capacity of communities, nonprofits, and other partners to build community wealth, cross-cultural competency with farmland commons practices, and provide communities with relevant technical assistance.
Our Vision:
Is for rural and urban communities across our bioregion to reimagine farmland, farmers, and farming in a way that all residents can enjoy a healthy, nutritious diet of fresh, local food grown in harmony with healthy ecosystems, and support farmers in securing long-term tenure without debt.
Our Mission:
To Co-create and steward community farm commons in communities supporting equitable, healthy food systems across Minnesota and neighboring states. Commons Land serves as a regional conservation land trust with a unique purpose and focus on a commons-based approach to acquiring, stewarding and permanently protecting clusters of farmland. We focus on addressing structural inequities in agriculture by ensuring that good farmland is available and affordable to farmers of all backgrounds, prioritizing Black, Indigenous, Latinx/e, Asian, queer, and low-income white emerging farmers who have traditionally been marginalized from owning their own farms.
