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Z a d �z The busy Dane County Farmers' Market thrives in it's down- town Madison location. mote the benefits of buying and eating local food. For most city residents across the U.S., food travels more than 1,500 miles before it reaches their tables, consuming energy, send- ing extra gases airborne and, in many cases, yielding produce picked hard and ripened in a truck. "After years and years of struggling, it's advantageous to know that someone nearby will buy your produce at a premi- um," says Bill Warner, a Dane County vegetable and flower producer who co- manages the thriving Madison market with his wife, Judy Hageman. "People are getting separated from their food, and this is bringing people back closer to it." Dane County planners and politicians made creating eco- nomic opportunities for farmers a major plank in their plan to protect farmland. They recently created a small grant pro- gram to fund farmers' good ideas to make their operations more profitable. Also, they are opening another farmers' mar- ket in an economically struggling neighborhood in Madison to connect a long list of farmers waiting for market booths with residents seeking a regular supply of fresh produce. Equally important, the Dane Farms and Neighborhoods program sets its sights on creating more livable urban com- munities in hopes that people will choose to live there rather than in sprawling "ranchettes" on large expanses of former farmland. The plan defines "healthy cities" as municipalities that use land efficiently, maintain their unique identities and avoid developing farmland. Planners hope to improve city neighborhoods and create places where people can walk, bike or take public transportation to work, shops or recreation. To make it happen, the county funded a new program that fosters community "in -fill" development (wherein gaps are filled in in urban areas) with planning grants. Community plans range from building a new downtown library and com- munity center to reconnecting struggling neighborhoods to the vibrant state capital area: The fledgling United Growth for Kent County (Mich.) program also seeks to elevate land use issues in the public consciousness to protect a unique fruit- growing region while rebuilding a strong urban core. . "Our idea was to preserve farmland, natural resources and promote urban revitalization at the same time," says Kendra Gunter, project coordinator for the program. "If we want to do this, we have to make it profitable. to farm:' The United Growth program is guided by two commit- tees, one focusing on rural issues, the other on Grand Rapids revitalization. On the rural side, county officials hired a new extension agent specializing in adding value to farm products. In the Grand Valley, the main farm product is apples, so the agent is working with farmers to produce and promote great - tasting applesauce and cider. Other county leaders have begun promoting the "Fruit Ridge" area as a tourist destina- tion, complete with biking trails and visits to buffalo farms. "We're working with growers to explore new product development or tourism to help increase their profitability and prevent them from selling their land," says Gunter, who sees huge potential in playing up the tourist opportunities in a picturesque area just 20 miles outside Michigan's second biggest city. The urban committee, on the other hand, is discussing ways to improve inner -city neighborhoods. Their efforts dovetail with a vision created by the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council in the early 1990s dubbed the "Blueprint" that makes smart growth a priority. The Blueprint calls for both livable centers in the city and green - way corridors outside that include working farms. "The city plan is starting to consider its relationship to the region; we benefit tremendously by being near this vegetable and fruit- growing area" says Jay Hoekstra, a senior planner with the Metro Council. "We need to retain population growth so we don't endanger our farmland" With the visioning complete, city and county leaders are trying to draft and enact a regional land use plan, a real chal- lenge in Michigan, a state with a strong township structure that doesn't emphasize regionalism. With collaboration among the three largest jurisdictions —Grand Rapids, Kent County and Ottawa County— planners hope to emerge with a regional framework for local planning that improves rural AMERICAN FARMLAND SUMMER 2001 19