The New World Foundation & the Seeds of Local Vitality

  |  February 19, 2015
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Photo source: http://www.localeconomiesproject.org

The main office of the Local Economies Project, located in Uptown Kingston, links the Hudson Valley to Manhattan, where the team at New World Foundation works to support and strengthen community-based organizations and local leadership. Driven by the NWF, the Local Economies Project operates on the premise that food and farming are the cornerstones of our region. In order to help our area play to its strengths, the project has established a “Farm Hub” on highly productive, prime Esopus Valley farmland at the former 1,255-acre Gill Farm. This locale will serve as a regional center for farmer training and agricultural research.

On a more strategic level, the Local Economies Project supports vibrant, interconnected communities with a commitment to sustainable agriculture, environmental renewal, and economic vitality. Their major initiatives revolve around food hubs (infrastructure and marketing), farm hubs (farmer training and services), and education.

That’s all well and good, but how will this affect the City of Kingston?

There is already interest brewing in urban agricultural and methods of using open spaces to engage citizens within our city.

The Kingston Greenline, a program of the Kingston Land Trust, is taking shape as a new network of linear parks.

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Hikers on the “Greenline Tour.” Photo source: http://www.hudsonvalleyalmanacweekly.com

As organizations like Cornell Cooperative Extension expand their Live Well Kingston initiative, wholesome local foods will appear more frequently in local corner stores and farmers’ markets. New marketplaces will be established in areas like Midtown. The farms of the Mid-Hudson region will cater increasingly to local needs (e.g. fresh produce for schools, or specialty foods to answer the demand of the growing Hispanic population).

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Photo source: http://www.localeconomiesproject.org

Recently, a three-year $150,000 grant was awarded to the Kingston City School District. The funds will enable the district to provide dinners for students and families in need through Caring Hands Soup Kitchen, a food pantry based in Kingston’s Clinton Avenue Methodist Church.

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Photo source: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-clinton-ave-united-church-caring-hands-soup-kitchen-warming-center

Think globally, but act regionally. Regional economies that engage citizens, provide training, and create jobs are ones that thrive. We are thrilled to have partners like the New World Foundation and its Local Economies Project actively at work here.

About Gregg Swanzey

Gregg Swanzey, a longtime advocate for the Hudson River and the Mid-Hudson Region, first moved to the Rondout neighborhood in Kingston with his family in 1986 fresh off several years as Captain of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Since then, he has crossed the Atlantic three times, served as Executive Director for a gubernatorially appointed Commission in Massachusetts, and traveled to far-flung places such as St. Petersburg, Russia; Reykjavik, Iceland; and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. After four years in City Hall as Director of Economic Development and Strategic Partnerships for the City of Kingston, he has recently come aboard as Executive Director for the Winnakee Land Trust based in Rhinebeck in Northern Dutchess County. On any given day you might see him out jogging on one of several rail trails that converge in Kingston, kayaking the Hudson over to Rhinecliff, biking Uptown to the Farmer’s Market, climbing to the top of Burger Hill in Winnakee's Drayton Grant Park, or hanging out at home in a classic 1920's Dutch Colonial overlooking the Hudson with his wife, Emma. His two daughters live and work in New York City but are regularly up the River for the weekend.

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