Building Better Alliances for Farmland Improvements and Protections: We’ve Got a Plan for That!
Learn from a successful alliance how you can cooperatively build and work together with local NGO, government, educational institution partners, tribes, salmon recovery, and flood planners to strengthen your farming position and farmland preservation through data, advocacy and planning. We’ve developed a model and plan that can boost efforts by other farmers to accomplish similar goals. In this plan, topics include soil health, water and irrigation, pest and weed management, advocacy and policy, farmland, and climate change as well as drainage, population growth, wildlife, and flooding strategies.
About the Speakers
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Patrice Barrentine
King County Agriculture ProgramPatrice Barrentine has worked in the farm and food business sector in Washington for 25 years. She has been a natural foods grocery buyer, worked for the Washington State Department of Agriculture, served on Governor Gregoire’s Job Creation and Economic Development Subcabinet, and on the Washington Beer Commission. Now with the King County Agriculture Program, she works on Agriculture Policy and Economic Development, staffing the King County Agriculture Commission, supporting custom and USDA meat processing, King County’s 40 farmers markets with partner WA State Farmers Market Association, and coordinating agriculture land resource strategic plans. She currently serves on the Pike Place Market PDA Council, and WA Meat Up.
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Lauren Silver
Snoqualmie Valley Preservation AllianceLauren Silver is the executive director of the Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance (SVPA), a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and improving the lives, livelihoods, lands, and waters of the beautiful Snoqualmie River Valley. The SVPA serves as a local voice and advocate for finding balanced, sustainable, and long-term solutions to challenges with land use planning, agricultural vitality, resource conservation, flooding impacts, and floodplain management. Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan and Master of Science in Conservation Ecology from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. Lauren has built a multidisciplinary skill set throughout her career, encompassing natural resource conservation, watershed management, agriscience and agricultural technical assistance, education and outreach, and community engagement.
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libby reed
Orange Star Farmlibby reed brings over 25 years of nonprofit work in program management to serve arts, environmental education, and advocacy organizations in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. libby has worked in agriculture as a farm worker and in food systems since 2011 and in 2016 started Orange Star Farm, an intensive, small farm growing specialty produce and poultry products for markets in Snohomish and King County. libby is passionate about food production, food systems, land access and building opportunities for people to connect to the land and each other. She is currently the Farm to Farmer Statewide Manager at Washington Farmland Trust.