Vermont is losing its essential "Vermontness"

[cali]

Vermont is losing its working landscape at dizzying speed. And a working landscape has shaped not only the landscape but the people, culture and politics. We are set to lose over 200 dairy farms this year. And that's not our only problem. We have the second oldest population in the country and tourism is our chief industry.

Vermont is on the way to becoming a precious little place for rich people.

[movonne]

1. Why are you losing over 200 dairy farms...is milk being imported or

are they not making the money to stay in business??? are there big commercial dairies doing it cheaper??

[cali]

8. no, it's the collapse in milk prices

when I moved here almost 30 years ago, there were more cows than people, so it's been going on for some time this loss of the farming community, but over the last decade, we're really seeing it die off.

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Vermont's agriculture secretary, describing a "worst-case" scenario, said as many as 200 dairy farms in the state could be forced out of business by the end of the year.

Roger Allbee said that's the result of the collapse of milk prices last year.

The Burlington Free Press reported the state said there were 1,017 dairy farms in Vermont on April 1. Under the worst-case scenario, that would fall to 817 dairy farms in less than eight months.

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Diane Bothfeld said some farms could start folding this spring because they don't have the money to buy seeds to grow crops to feed cows.

http://www.wptz.com/news/23254540/detail.html

[Gormy Cuss]

12. Vermont isn't losing its Vermontness, it's losing a dominant livelihood.

That was bound to happen just as it happened in Maine with potatoes and in most New England states with logging, paper and textile mills.

Northern New England has had significant out-migration of natives and in-migration from other states for decades. In some states the in-migration includes many immigrants from abroad (Maine has significant populations of Sudanese and Somalis, for example.) Has Maine lost its "Maineness" because of it? Some would say so. As a Mainiac who left I'd say that it hasn't lost its Maineness, it's just adapted what that means a bit.

[cali]

13. no, you're wrong. with the demise of the family farm

an essential driver of what has forged this state for hundreds of years is gone. About the only really Vermont part of Vermont that's left is the Kingdom.

[Gormy Cuss]

15. You're a transplant. You contributed to the change whether you see it or not.

You and everyone else from away.

[cali]

16. I'm not arguing against change or people moving here- far from it

my community- which is now nationally known for its localvore/slow money agricultural endeavors- owes its increasing viability to outsiders who moved here. That represents the positive aspect of change.

[MellowDem]

2. From what I've heard...

New England is becoming older, and it is pretty darn expensive and rural, so it's not a big draw for young people. Not a lot of jobs and high cost of living compared to other places.

[cali]

9. the young people I know, love the hell out of Vermont- and many leave it

oh they always say they'll come back, but most don't.

[MellowDem]

19. I was thinking of young people outside the state too...

but I'm sure there is a drain from within as well. It's a great state, but probably does not have a lot of opportunity for young people.

[Gormy Cuss]

10. It's extremely popular for second homes for urbanites.

Any postcard perfect area with mountains, lakes, etc. is a magnet for part-time residents.

[NotThisTime]

21. Something like 50% of the homes are not owned by Vermonter's, we were part of that stat

Now we've moved up here, have the same vacation home and have our regular home here as well... What I've noticed is the lower paying wages versus the more expensive housing in the Burlington area. There are definitely good paying jobs, but not enough to sustain entire communities.

[proudohioan]

3. Sad to hear that.

As a kid, my parents drove us up to Vermont for a weekend to view the Autumn foliage. We visited the Sturbridge(?) Village Museum in Burlington. It was just so beautiful and peaceful up there; far from the maddening crowds in NY.

And with such a wonderful Senator; I just love Bernie Sanders!

[Tesha]

11. Old Sturbridge Village is in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. In Vermont, you can find...

...the Shelburne Museum (in Shelburne, VT, a bit south of Burlington).

http://www.osv.org/

http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/

Tesha

[proudohioan]

14. There you go, that's the right one!

Anyhow, I did love visiting it! And I remember all those cows all over Vermont!

[maxsolomon]

4. @ 1st i thought this was an Arizona parody

bemoaning a quebecois "invasion"!

[Odin2005]

5. That's so sad.

:(

[KittyWampus]

6. East Hampton went that way long ago with the 80's being the nail in the coffin & the last several

decades being the dirt being thrown on top of the coffin.

BIg old farmhouses and even the big old weekend houses just weren't big enough- so up went McMansions way too big for what are fairly large plots.

Family farms?

DU'ers will not listen, but to inherit a family farm means splitting off a couple of back acres for development due to skyrocketed value of real estate. Southampton is a hideous place now.

Wainscott- used to be Polish potato farmers. No one wanted to live there except maybe a few artist types who appreciated the light for painting. Now it's one of THE most expensive real estate places in the country.

Bridgehampton- has a section of land where the soil is very good for planting> now developed.

This place has become like a movie set. A thin veneer or rural character with not much heart left in it.

Our volunteer fire departments & ambulance corps don't have enough year-rounders.

And with all that wealth- the locals struggle. Fisherman who never finished school cause they had a good living through multiple generations harvesting the sea are screwed over cause they can't haul seine anymore and the bays are polluted.

I could go on but it gets depressing.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. We here in Maine sympathize. :^(

[asdjrocky]

17. Vermont is a state I've nver been to, but it's on my list.

I've seen pictures and it looks wonderful. It's hard to see the things you love become different things all together, be it neighborhoods, cities, industries or even whole states.

Buy local!

[SPedigrees]

18. Yes there were more cows in vermont than people when we moved here

in the early 70s. And definitely more cows than people in the 1950s when I spent summers with my grandparents at their place in Vermont.

One encouraging thing about the loss of dairy farming is the rise in the population of horses. Many horse farms near us now, so much of the landscape is preserved, with the only change being that equines have replaced the bovines, but hoof prints still criss cross the same green fields. (Also our national forest land remains unspoiled.)

It has been funny to watch the slow shift in priorities and attitudes in the veterinary community over time. Vets used to recommend treatments of economic feasibility, in other words not offer treatments that cost more than an animal was worth at auction. Now they realize the market possibilities in treating a horse as a valued pet. No more coaxing needed to get them to preform expensive tests.

Cattle used to have dibs on the best hay though. If you said you were a horse owner, they'd try to sell you 3rd quality hay. It was almost easier to lie and claim you were feeding cattle if you wanted to buy really good hay for your horse.

Also the political landscape has moved increasingly left since we've lived here.
That is the most positive change for sure. Sanders, Leahy, and Welch... Now if we could just lose our republican governor...

Of course the route cause of all this spoiled landscape in all states and all countries is overpopulation. If the population could be pared back to what it was in the 1950s, polution and urbanization would not have advanced to the state we're in now.

[Vinca]

20. It also drives me nuts that you now drive down the street of a small town

and it looks just like the last small town with a Dunkin Donuts, a McDonald's, a Wendy's, a Pizza Hut, a Burger King or any of the other miserable chains.