PLEASE READ: An Urgent Message from Halley Stillman of Still Life Farm in Hardwick, MA
Our Massachusetts Farm Land is Under Attack
There is an extremely dangerous situation unfolding for a pristine farming community that will quite literally impact the food on your plate. Please read the message below.
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Hello Still Life Farm Customers and Friends,
Our Farm has a BIG favor to ask.
I want to take a second to share what is happening in our small farming community of Hardwick, MA, where our farm is located and where Curtis, Kip and I live. Our farmland and our right-to-farm community is under attack.
Here’s the problem:
One of the most iconic and idyllic farms in Hardwick, and most likely all of Massachusetts, went up for sale about a year ago. The Goodfield Farm is about 350-acres of pristine hay fields, wood lots, and wetland. It has a gorgeous barn and many painstakingly crafted stone walls. This property is held in an agricultural protected covenant with APR (the Agricultural Preservation Restriction for MA), meaning that it can only be used for agriculturally related uses. These APR covenants protect vital farmland in the state, offer wildlife habitat and provide some stability to the business and financial aspect of producing local food in Massachusetts among many other positives. The Stillman Family Farms (Stillman’s Farm, Stillman Quality Meats, and Still Life Farm) are all held in covenant with land trusts, making it affordable for us to grow your local food here in Massachusetts. More importantly, as a taxpayer you have directly funded these.
This Goodfield farm sale came with a substantial price tag that made it unaffordable to the local Hardwick farmers. So, it was sold to a group of investors that initially wanted to put a marijuana grow facility on it. Our town made it clear that they would not allow that to happen and our Selectboard voted it down. Now, this forementioned group of investors is looking to flip this sale.
The potential buyers are Commonwealth Racing, LLC, also known as Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center (CEAC). This is an investment group headed by Richard Fields of defunct Suffolk Downs. This is a complicated venture, but the basic proposal is to purchase the farm and put a thoroughbred racetrack on it and make our small town of Hardwick the epicenter for Sports Betting in New England. Commonwealth Racing has proposed this to four other much larger towns (including Plymouth and Sturbridge) who are much better suited to host a business of this scale. They have been rejected in all of these towns.
This venture was advertised to our townspeople as a bill of goods. The initial promotional material that Commonwealth Racing put forward to the town claimed they would be a thoroughbred breeding and retirement facility, that included a racetrack. They would host a few “festival days” per year and would work to better our community through community outreach, the creation of a farm-to-table restaurant, a quaint B&B, etc. Initially this all sounded like a perfect use for the property, and we were thrilled about it. Then Curtis and I started to hear some chatter about the real intent of this business.
On Commonwealth Racing’s website, they have listed as public record their 218-page application to MA Gaming Commission. This is their business plan for viability and basically states that the thoroughbred farm as it stands will hemorrhage money, the only chance at viability is to add sports betting. What this basically means is that they are exploiting a loophole in our APR land (Agricultural Preservation Restriction) to put in a gambling facility. This sets an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PRECEDENT that will allow agriculturally restricted land to be exploited for non-ag use and outcompete local farmers. Commonwealth Racing has committed to investing $20M dollars into the infrastructure of Hardwick. That, in itself, will ruin our small, idyllic, right-to-farm community. This will also bring a huge influx of out-of-town gamblers, horse racers and staffers, and a transient workforce to our town, a town of 3000, with NO INFRASTRUCTURE to support them. We don’t even have a traffic light. Not to mention how this will affect life in our right-to-farm community and outprice us from available farmland THAT WE NEED IN ORDER TO KEEP FARMING.
Through a very frustrating sequence of events, our Town Selectboard, who had initially voted this down, reversed their vote and now the matter is up for a Special Town Vote on Jan. 7th. Because of this expedited timeframe, many people in our town don’t even understand the ramifications of what is happening. A core group of volunteers is working to get as much accurate information as possible about the scope of this project out to voters, but a lot has to happen in a small window of time.
So why should you care?
Because quite literally this will impact the food on your plate! It’s hard for me to put into words the specialness of the community we have built in Hardwick. The Stillman Family has witnessed firsthand the loss of farms and the snuffing out of farm communities. We moved all the way out to Hardwick and New Braintree because we realized it truly was one of the last special farm-focused communities left in the state and New England. If the YES folks have their way, our farm community will forever be changed and our farm, along with countless other farms in town, will be at risk. Some of our neighbors are already looking to leave the state and close their farm operations.
We need your help.
This is a busy time of year, and we all have other things calling us today. What I am asking of you is two things: FINANCIAL SUPPORT and PUBLIC RELATIONS.
Curtis and I have joined with a group of folks that are working round the clock to organize and stop this. We’re going door to door. Posting signs and organizing rallies and huge town-wide mailers to name a few things. But we need funds. I have shared a donation link below. It’s all secure and easy. I just made my donation moments ago!
Donate here:
Home | Save Goodfield Farm (hardwickisourhome.wixsite.com)
If any of you know anyone in the world of PUBLIC RELATIONS that could help us get the word out about this, please help us make those connections.
THIS IS AN ATTACK ON MASSACHUSETTS FARMLAND.
We need to make this a Massachusetts issue, not just a Hardwick issue.
For more info I am also sharing the website that has been created by our group to share info and keep folks informed. It has the link to a very informative podcast + a great blog.
Find more information here:
Home | Save Goodfield Farm (hardwickisourhome.wixsite.com)
I know this is a heavy subject for what should be a joyful time of year, but I must bring it up. Your farms are literally in the fight of their lives to stay farming. And we need you to make it happen.
This will be the first of a few emails with calls to action. Please stay tuned and reach out to me with any questions or concerns: StillLifeFarm@aol.com.
From the bottoms of our hearts, Curtis, Kip, myself, and the entire farm family of Stillmans thanks you for your consideration. Please help us keep MA farming viable!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you.
Love your food,
Halley Stillman
StillLifeFarm@aol.com
(413) 477-8268
