The city of Fairfield has been selected by the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT), as the “pilot town” for a project to preserve local food farms.

This is the first step in SILT’s “Circle Our Cities” campaign. Their plan is to bring this program to 10 different cities and surround them with 10 farms whose sole purpose is local food production. Work is starting in Fairfield with a goal of preserving three local food farms close to town within a year. Fairfield was chosen because of its local heathy food system, management test-plot size properties and local SILT leadership. SILT Board President Stuart Valentine and advisors Francis Thicke and John Ikerd are all Fairfield residents.

In five years SILT has protected around 1,100 acres in the state across 12 farms. An operation can qualify by being verified by a third party. Once accepted into the program farmers can use the land for fruit and vegetable gardens, animal grazing, timber and more.