In 2002, in response to pressure from the environmental community, Brentwood adopted an agricultural mitigation program which requires developers who convert agricultural land to urban use to pay $5,500 an acre into a fund to be used to conserve farmland.  Brentwood has since collected over $12 million of agricultural mitigation funds, which are held and controlled by the city.  BALT was created and funded out of the mitigation fund to implement the program and developed independent, pro-active land conservation, as well as a grant funded agricultural marketing program.  In November 2005, Brentwood placed a developer-funded initiative on the ballot asking the voters to move the urban limit line to allow additional development on the valuable farmland to the east of Brentwood. The initiative, which was actively supported by city, was narrowly defeated by only 148 votes. Then, in 2007, Brentwood stopped funding BALT.

Now that the economy has been devastated by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, rising fuel prices and resulting economic downturn, home values in Brentwood have dropped by 50 percent. According to BALT, Brentwood has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the Bay Area.  The only silver lining of the failing economy is the reduced development pressure, which, according to Lyddan, provides significant opportunities to preserve agricultural land and build momentum for agricultural preservation.

Lyddan’s work supports farms like Frog Hollow, 133 organic acres of Eden in the middle of Brentwood’s sprawl. Run by farmer Al Courchesne, and his wife and business partner, pastry chef Rebecca, the farm is a prime example of the importance of preserving land and connecting to community through food. Farmer Al, who planted his first peach orchard in 1976, now grows 25 varieties of peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, pluots, table grapes, plums, pears, as well as olives. The farm has a 400-member weekly CSA and runs a wildly popular urban farm stand at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Marketplace, where they sell their fruit, along side Rebecca’s outstanding sweet and savory pastries, as well as a Frog Hollow line of conserves, chutneys and marmalades.

Lyddan points out that farms like Frog Hollow and others create the components of a local food system: an extraordinary producing area that’s close to Bay Area populations and institutional purchasers seeking local food. What’s missing, she says, is a source-identified distribution system which would tell the story of Brentwood farmers to consumers, especially as more urbanites search for local connections to their food.  Doing so, says Lyddan, would provide Brentwood farmers with new markets that could offer economic advantages over wholesale markets, provide urban residents with fresh, healthy food, and reduce food miles and while keeping food dollars in the community.

BALT is working hard to create these connections, while continuing is efforts to preserve family farms and fertile soils. Without BALT, vital farmland in East Contra Costa will continue to disappear. You can support their important work by becoming a member and/or volunteering. In addition, join BALT for their fifth annual harvest celebration September 20 at Taylor Ranch.