Open Letter to the Community: Florence Fields

4/5/14

An Open Letter to the Community:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

Grow Food Northampton is thrilled to learn that Northampton’s Mayor, David Narkewicz, has included in his municipal budget for FY 2015 the resources to organically manage the Florence Fields Recreation Area (next to our organic community garden and farmland). We are extremely proud of Mayor Narkewicz for prioritizing our community health, for considering the economic impact of pesticide use on neighboring organic farmers, and for making Northampton a model of environmental stewardship. We are grateful, too, to the Departments of Public Works and Recreation for supporting this new method of turf care. Finally, we are indebted to hundreds of citizens who shared opinions and research with their elected officials to help move our City toward greater pesticide reduction.  Grow Food Northampton is an enthusiastic partner with the City of Northampton in stewarding the Bean/Allard farmland. We look especially forward to working with the City’s Conservation Commission to improve the ecological health of our shared Mill River Greenway, and with the Recreation Commission to enhance exciting connectivity between the future sports fields and our community farm and garden. Meanwhile, the work toward broader, citywide pesticide reduction continues as GFN meets with the Board of Health on Thursday, April 17, requesting its leadership in helping Northampton adopt a formal Pesticide Reduction Policy. All citizens are encouraged to attend the public meeting at 5:30pm in City Hall’s Second Floor Hearing Room. Our sincere thanks to all of the partners who work to create a vibrant, healthy, and enviable city!

 

Lilly Lombard

Executive Director, Grow Food Northampton

RESOURCES

• April 2014: Information about the application of GrowStar Turf Fertilizerto the Florence Fields site
• Oct 2013: Information about the application of Hydroseed Fertilizer to the Florence Fields site
• Beyond Pesticides  and the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) websites list many communities across the US that are kicking pesticide dependency in the management of their municipal property.   Northampton, let’s join them!
• Massachusetts’ Pesticide Reduction Resource Guide
• Dutch city of Rotterdam banned Monsanto’s herbicide, Roundup
• How Roundup devastates the monarch butterfly population