I recently had the privilege to join Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Chris Pappas at the 2019 Climate Impacts Maple Breakfast hosted by the Union of Concerned Scientists at the University of New Hampshire. I was on the panel with Jennifer Wilhelm of the NH Food Alliance and Peter Whelan of Shoals Fly Fishing to discuss our observations and thoughts regarding the changes that we are witnessing and potential solutions. I was pleased to see how well attended the event was with highly engaged students, climate scientists, farmers and generally a lot of people who love maple syrup.
While there are many significant challenges ahead, I was encouraged to hear both Senator Shaheen’s and Representative Pappas’ strong commitment to support science, action and agriculture in our state. With the average age of NH farmers increasing, programs like ours at Willow Brook Farm & Art Center are more needed than ever to keep agriculture strong and sustainable.
My mom got a lot of surprise phone calls from folks that got a surprise peak at me on the news:
https://www.wmur.com/article/nh-maple-producers-struggle-as-climate-changes/26909973
https://www.nhpr.org/post/nh-enviros-mull-climate-change-over-pancakes-unh#stream/0
https://www.fosters.com/news/20190322/climate-change-hits-maple-syrup-fishing-industries