Make it a local holiday season
 
Cranston's Tree Farm, Ashfield
Christmas trees!

Planning to put up a Christmas tree, wreath, or other holiday greenery? Support a local farm when you do!





Austin Brothers Valley Farm Roast
Elizabeth Solaka photo
Holiday meats!

Pick up a local rib roast, ham, or other special meat for your holiday meals. 





Elizabeth Solaka photo
Local gifts!

As you eat, drink, and celebrate your way through the winter holidays, we encourage you to think local for your gifts, holiday decorations, and feasts.
 
Check out the CISA gift guide

Note: CISA t-shirts are on sale this month! Choose a classic design or one of our limited-edition, artist-designed tees: either way, they make great gifts!
 

Eat local all winter

CISA's searchable online guide to local food and farms can help you find local veggies, fruit, cheese, drinks, gifts, and everything else you need for a local fall and winter. 

Need seasonal inspiration?
Valley Bounty, CISA's weekly column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, gives a peek behind the scenes at local farms and shares farmers' favorite recipes.

Donate today

Barstow's Dairy Store and Bakery,
Leslie Lynn Lucio photo
Your gift helps CISA stay proactive in supporting over 250 farms, helping them to stay viable. Please consider making a gift today to help us continue this work and to keep the Valley a place you want to call home.

Give.

Local Hero profile: Roaming Farm

Just west of South Deerfield, forty-seven furry, long-horned creatures roam in Julie Chalfant's backyard. The creatures are Highland cattle, a breed originating in Scotland. CISA intern Talia Brown took a walk around the farm with Julie on a crisp October afternoon.

Hunger and local farms
 
Even as hunger has increased in the United States in recent decades, food spending as a percentage of income has fallen. While falling food prices have not solved the problem of hunger, they've exacerbated the challenges of farm viability.

Read more about these complex issues in CISA's column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Thanks for another amazing Field Notes!

Elodie Chicoine at Field Notes Jason Threlfall photo
Jason Threlfall photo 
What an amazing afternoon of storytelling at CISA's second annual Field Notes in November! We are so grateful to all the storytellers for the hard work and courage they put into developing and sharing their stories, and to everyone who came out to hear them! 
 
Quick Links

Check out our press page for news stories about local farms and local agriculture, along with our weekly interview series on WRSI, monthly column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, and more!
Go to press page

Farm tours, film screenings, workshops, special local meals -- there's always something happening in the Valley!
Go to events listing

Job opportunities, land, equipment.
Go to classifieds
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