When I read ARC (Agricultural Resources Committee) Farmland Preservation Coordinator Tim Clark’s article “Mapping our Foodshed” in last July’s Project Home, it was busy mid-summer so I put the article aside. Still, the idea of making maps that tell us what is grown in San Juan County, where it’s grown, and how much farmland is left intrigued me, so this winter I called Tim to find out more. He arrived with maps and data and optimism for what the project can contribute to preserving farmland and sustaining our farmers and food supply.

Tim explained that there are actually two projects that tie into each other: the foodshed mapping project that is using surveys of producers and home gardeners “to see what is being grown on the islands and if possible where” and his current mapping project in which he’s “trying to figure out all the agricultural land we have in the county and what is grown on it.”

To make his maps, Tim identified thirty-three thousand acres of agricultural soil on all the islands in addition to the fourteen thousand acres the county has already designated as agricultural resource land, divided them into two-acre or larger parcels that contain at least one acre of agricultural soil and is now using aerial photos to figure out what is being grown on each parcel. “I feel a little like I’m peeping into back yards,” he added, “but the finished maps will be totally anonymous.

“My main focus is farmland preservation,” he said, emphasizing the purpose of his project. “I’m worried that we won’t have enough farmland in—I used to think thirty years—and now I think fifteen. In fifteen years we’ll want that farmland.”

Two years ago the ARC introduced the idea of no net loss of farmland to the county council. Last year Tim and Eliza Buck, ARC Coordinator, brought the idea back to the council and the council agreed that it was worth looking into. “These maps might be the tool they need,” Tim said.

Turning to foodshed mapping, Tim explained: “Eliza has taken the other side of it, saying, ‘well yes, we need farmland, but we also need farmers.’” As Tim wrote in his July article, if you think of a watershed as the area that feeds a certain stream, then a foodshed is the farms and farmers that feed a local population. The challenge of sustaining the San Juan County foodshed is finding ways to support local farmers. Eliza’s job is “a lot more difficult than mine,” he added: “She’s working on ways to make it profitable to farm here.”

As one marketing strategy, the ARC has created the Islands Certified Local (ICL) program to promote local agricultural products, and they’re working on agritourism opportunities. The ARC also facilitated the creation of the San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild, which is working hard to secure a place to have an indoor, year-round farmers’ market. The ARC is also developing a FarmLink type program to match farmers with farmland. And there’s renewed interest in developing local food processing facilities on each island. Like the Island Grown Farmers Cooperative Mobile Processing Unit that allows local farmers to process and sell locally raised meat, these food-processing facilities would make it possible for local fruit and vegetable growers to process and sell products here. Finally, the ARC grapples with regulatory issues affecting these and other agricultural projects.

Reflecting on the goals of these projects, Tim said, “We need to keep the farmers around and we also need to keep consumers interested. If we have these, I think we’ll be OK.”

To read more about farmland and farming in San Juan County, including Tim’s article “Mapping our Foodshed,” and a list of ICL participants, visit the ARC website: http://www.sjcarc.org. To read more about the Ag Guild, visit http://www.sjiagguild.com/