Want To Build a Stronger Community? Start by Supporting Local Farmers.

Not only does supporting local farms help with your place’s local economy, but it also has the potential to create a flourishing and connected culture of people—as seen in these stories from Brattleboro, VT.

Community Stories, Top StorySeairra JonesOctober 6, 2023rural, Farming, resilience, local food, strongest town contest

Top of the Bottom-Up: Growing Food, Growing Resilience

Alfred Melbourne sees farming as a chance to bring back land into productive use, feed neighbors, and help guide young people down a supportive path.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsOctober 27, 2022The Bottom-Up Revolution, local food, Farming, taking action

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Helping Neighbors Grow (and Sell!) Their Own Food

In San Elizario, TX, these local leaders are spearheading an agricultural renaissance.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 5, 2022taking action, success stories, Farming, local food, podcast

The Bottom-Up Revolution Is...Small-Scale Rural Farming

Christa Theilen and Seairra Shepherd both work at Strong Towns and also serve at local farms in the rural Midwest.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 14, 2022taking action, The Bottom-Up Revolution, success stories, Farming, podcast

A Love Letter to the Farm Share

Our Neighborhood Storyteller’s local farm share has given her access not only to great food, but to great friends, as well.

The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Getting Real About the Cost—and Value—of Farming

Farmer and author, Beth Hoffman, does the math on U.S. agriculture in her new book.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsDecember 2, 2021The Bottom-Up Revolution, local conversations, taking action, local food, Farming

Sharing the Pie: How Farmers Are Using Cooperatives to Stay Profitable and Grow Local Economies

This excerpt from Beth Hoffman’s Bet the Farm tells how both local economies and farms can benefit from co-ops.

Top StoryBeth HoffmanOctober 15, 2021Farming, local food, books, rural, local economy, resilience, agriculture

The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Improving Food Access Through Mobile Markets

Strong Towns member Nathan Chung and farmer Ryan Karb are helping bring fresh local food for sale to neighborhoods that don’t have much access to it.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsJune 10, 2021The Bottom-Up Revolution, food deserts, Farming, farmer's market, taking action

The Bottom-Up Revolution is... a Strong Towns Advocate on her City Council

A passion for food access and community change led Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick to run for city council in her hometown of Rochester, MN.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 25, 2021The Bottom-Up Revolution, local food, local government, Farming, taking action, minnesota

The Bottom-Up Revolution is... Growing Food, Growing Resilience

Alfred Melbourne sees farming as a chance to bring back land into productive use, feed neighbors and help guide young people down a supportive path.

Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 18, 2021The Bottom-Up Revolution, local food, Farming, taking action

An Essential Writer for Strong Towns Advocates

People working to build stronger and more resilient communities will find, in the work of this Kentucky farmer, a voice of clarity and sanity.

Top StoryJohn PattisonAugust 14, 2020Food Week, Farming, books

This Texas Town Is Growing Stronger By Thinking *Inside* the Box

San Elizario’s creative “City In a Box” program is spurring entrepreneurship, while also addressing food scarcity and helping the town weather the coronavirus storm.

Top StoryRachel QuednauAugust 13, 2020Food Week, local food, Farming, texas

To Promote Local Food Resilience: Get Social

With global supply lines disrupted, people are getting “social” again to buy local food. To build lasting resilience, we’re going to need to keep it up.

Lauren RonnanderJuly 9, 2020local food, agriculture, Farming, wisconsin, covid

What happens when an entire region of rural communities buys into the same bad approach to development?

Rural communities across the Midwest are careening toward collapse, and all at the same time. What this means for the region as a whole. Small towns need Strong Towns too.

Strong America Tour, Top StoryJohn PattisonNovember 11, 2019small towns, midwest, growth, Farming, iowa, member week, strong america

When a Farm Isn’t Really a Farm

Now, the story of a wealthy family who sold their farm and the developer who exploited an agricultural tax subsidy to keep it all together.

Top StoryConnor NielsenJuly 9, 2018Land Use, Farming, value per acre

What's Wrong with the American Food System

Our unceasing desire for cheap and efficient production has squeezed out family farmers across the nation.

Top StoryRachel QuednauApril 3, 2018local food, Farming

Stop the Leakage: How food-centered urban design solves economic challenges

What if our towns saw urban farming as an opportunity for economic growth and employment?

Top StoryNathan PickardNovember 7, 2017Farming, local food

We just released a new webcast about local food and farming.

A recording of our recent webcast with farmer Molly Rockamann is now available. Check it out!

Top Story, PodcastStrong TownsSeptember 27, 2017local food, Farming

Farming Nuns Create Community in Western New York

Along a quiet stretch of the Allegheny River in Western New York, a small farm run by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany strives to change how the surrounding community feeds itself.

Top StoryDavid GoodwinAugust 28, 2017Farming, local food