Community Harvest Project orchard in Harvard secured as agricultural preservation land
PHOTO | Courtesy of Community Harvest Project
Apples from Community Harvest Project's orchards
Grafton food insecurity nonprofit Community Harvest Project has secured an Agricultural Preservation Restriction for its 75-acre apple and peach orchard in Harvard.
The restriction means the nonprofit’s land will be protected farmland and the organization will pay the land’s owners a sum determined to be the difference between the fair market value and the agricultural value of the property.
The APR secured for the Prospect Hill Community Orchard was in partnership with Sudbury Valley Trustees, the Town of Harvard, the Harvard Conservation Trust, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, according to a Monday press release from CHP. Some 70 of the orchard’s 75 acres are included in the preservation, which is a program intended to offer a non-development alternative.
The APR is jointly held by the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources and the Town of Harvard. The Harvard Conservation Trust will hold an easement for a trail at the edge of the orchard, according to the release.
“Through collective effort and dedication, we have safeguarded the future of this orchard and, with it, the ability to continue to feed those experiencing hunger in our community," Tori Buerschaper, CHP executive director, said in the press release. "We are grateful to all who contributed to this milestone we celebrate today."
CHP hosts hundreds of volunteers each week in the summer who help the organization harvest and donate more than 300,000 pounds of fresh, local produce per year from the orchard and its Grafton farm to community food pantries in order to help feed people who suffer from food insecurity.
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