Equity Trust Inc

Equity Trust is a small national non-profit that promotes alternative forms of land ownership—for farms, housing, local businesses and services—that balance the needs of individuals with the needs of their communities, the earth, and future generations. For twenty years, Equity Trust has provided technical assistance to projects creating new ways of owning, using, and stewarding property.

We have pioneered the permanent protection of working farms, using innovative farm protection strategies that preserve farm infrastructure as well as land, and keep the farm affordable to farmers. While many farmland protection programs have focused solely on removing development rights, Equity Trust has guided community-organizing efforts to preserve affordable whole farms. These projects— Caretaker Farm in Williamstown, MA, (caretakerfarm.org), Live Power Community Farm in Covelo, CA, (livepower.org), Roxbury Farm in Kinderhook, NY (roxburyfarm.com), Dimond Hill Farm in Concord, NH (dimondhillfarm.com), and others—use shared ownership to meet community and farmer needs. Combining conservation easements with affirmative farming requirements, or using long-term leases where nonprofits own the land and farmers own the buildings, each project has protected rich agricultural land and infrastructure, guaranteed food production for local consumption, and ensured that these farms will remain affordable to future generations of working farmers.

Equity Trust also runs a revolving loan fund that enables lenders and donors around the country to support sustainable community-based projects and provides a successful model for investing in local food systems, housing and other critical resources.