The Agricultural Core

Much like the interior plains of the Agricultural Core of America, Long Island has farming. There is a long history of farming, relegated however to the eastern portion of the Island due to urban expansion, in days past most of Long Island was used for farming. It is a three century old tradition on the Island and of vital economic importance to the area. Here is a great hour long program on farming on Long Island, link only, embedding is not possible.

http://www.wliw.org/productions/local-focus/farming-the-future-farm-life-on-long-island/325/

Of course over the course of time farming has changed. Some of the many crops grown on Long Island include, Corn (personnaly Long Island sweet summer corn rocks any other corn ever), flowers, vegetables like squash, bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes, cabbage, cranberries, many vinyards dot the eastern portion of Long Island. Unlike the core the crop variety is in greater abundance and in recent years many farms have chosen to specialize into niche markets to survive. Many directly supply restaurants and businesses on Long Island and in NYC.

My own family history is steeped in farming tradtions on Long Island, my grandmother and her family were farmers in the town I grew up in. On one of the prominent corners in town was Joseph Arata's produce market, the family lived upstairs and the downstairs was where they sold all the vegetables and dairy from the farms back in 1912, of course now it is retail storespace.

Unlike the core however most Long Island farms are like New England farms, and small and family run. Not as expansive as farms of the core, but still having impressive crop yields. A clip from the America's Heartland Series talks about farming on Long Island, and if you didn't catch it the oldest farm in New York state is featured, going on the 12th generation of the family running it dating back to 1661. Back when the current agricultural core was nothing but French fur trappers and Native Americans.



As you can see there is a long tradition of farming on the Island, and it has been able to adapt and stay alive, although shrinking, despite the urban encroachment of the suburban population.