We think of farms as always being there. Food will always be grown. Our countryside will be full of cows and crops just like it always has been. The fact is that this may not be true. Farmers are faced with the growing costs to run their farms. These costs include taxes, insurance, and regular farm costs. When we visited a farm, the farmer said that this was one of his main concerns.... and not the weather conditions like we thought. Farmers are being offered big money to sell their farms. Companies that are building lots of houses and condominiums buy up farm land so that city people can move into the country. They break up the farm land into smaller pieces of land. In the picture on the right, you will see an example of how housing developments are gradually taking over valuable farm land. With more people traveling and moving into the country, more roads need to be built. Roads take up land, too. Many times the land is farmland. So, the farmer is offered lots of money to sell their land. The high taxes and farm costs make this look good to farmers. Another big threat is roads that go around cities. These are called loops or bypasses. These use up farm land, parks, and green spaces edging our cities. This has had a terrible track record over the past few years, although many mayors and members of Congress now want to build more. As a nation, we should stop giant highways and promote new transportation that helps the economy and the environment. We interviewed former Congressman and former head of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority Neil Gallagher who said, "New Jersey used to make awful smells that would spread across the area from a major pig farm in Secaucus. A plan then was made by Governor Al Driscoll to run a highway through New York State to the crossing of the Delaware River to take out the traffic on Highway Number 1. In order to build these roadways, all the roads
We think of farms as always being there. Food will always be grown. Our countryside will be full of cows and crops just like it always has been. The fact is that this may not be true. Farmers are faced with the growing costs to run their farms. These costs include taxes, insurance, and regular farm costs. When we visited a farm, the farmer said that this was one of his main concerns.... and not the weather conditions like we thought. Farmers are being offered big money to sell their farms. Companies that are building lots of houses and condominiums buy up farm land so that city people can move into the country. They break up the farm land into smaller pieces of land. In the picture on the right, you will see an example of how housing developments are gradually taking over valuable farm land. With more people traveling and moving into the country, more roads need to be built. Roads take up land, too. Many times the land is farmland. So, the farmer is offered lots of money to sell their land. The high taxes and farm costs make this look good to farmers. Another big threat is roads that go around cities. These are called loops or bypasses. These use up farm land, parks, and green spaces edging our cities. This has had a terrible track record over the past few years, although many mayors and members of Congress now want to build more. As a nation, we should stop giant highways and promote new transportation that helps the economy and the environment. We interviewed former Congressman and former head of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority Neil Gallagher who said, "New Jersey used to make awful smells that would spread across the area from a major pig farm in Secaucus. A plan then was made by Governor Al Driscoll to run a highway through New York State to the crossing of the Delaware River to take out the traffic on Highway Number 1. In order to build these roadways, all the roads