We Need a Different Word

Yesterday, Gossips attended the CEDC Strategic Planning Public Session. It was an information gathering session with the end goal being the formation of an action plan for the Columbia Economic Development Corporation, which will be presented to the public on April 19. Based on yesterday's session, it seems that the restructured CEDC may be taking a more primum non nocere approach to economic development, recognizing what makes Columbia County and Hudson appealing both to its residents and to the outside world and is the basis of its economy--open space, natural resources, historic architecture, heritage sites, farmland, rural and scenic vistas--and seeking to protect and enhance those characteristics rather than putting them at risk.

In the information sharing portion of the meeting, which preceded the information gathering part, four "industries of focus" for Columbia County were identified: agribusiness, the creative economy, technology, and tourism. Obviously, the word agribusiness is used because it embraces more than just growing crops and raising livestock--such things as wineries, goat farms producing cheeses, distilleries making spirits from locally grown fruit. Unfortunately, for many, the word agribusiness conjures up images of mega farms growing homogeneous crops for national corporations and factory farms raising chickens and pigs in unnatural and inhumane conditions. What's happening in Columbia County, both on family farms that have been here for generations and on new farms being established by young people committed to producing real food humanely and sustainably, is something quite different.

Clockwise from top left: Little Seed Gardens|Jason Houston; Letter Box Farm; 
Stewardship Farm; Letter Box Farm

For the agricultural enterprises happening in Columbia County, we need a different word--a better word than agribusiness.
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