AgroForestry Forum in Brattleboro 7/16/15

AgroForestry, Sustainable Agriculture and Permaculture Businesses to Meet in Brattleboro

The rural Northeast is one of a preciously small number of places on our planet where there is more forest now than there was 150 years ago. Despite our rich, forested landscape we derive economic benefit from a very small number of products, primarily wood, maple syrup and wildlife from hunting. The list of additional crops that could be grown and harvested in our forests is impressive: fruit like pawpaws, the culinary mushrooms shiitake and chanterelles, nut and oil crops like hazel and chestnut, and medicinal fungus such as chaga. On Wednesday, July 6th†entrepreneurs from throughout the region will gather in Brattleboro to present their business ideas in the areas of AgroForestry, Sustainable Agriculture and Permaculture. This meeting is affiliated with the Green Economy Innovation Hub, which is working to develop 'green' jobs and businesses throughout the region to replace those lost with the closure of the Vermont Yankee power plant. Other sectors in the GEIH initiative include green building, finance/insurance/real estate and international development. Several people presented ideas to developed business plans for using local agriculture and forests to sustainably grow and process cultured and harvested products.