As a result of these pressures and an aging population of farmers, huge amounts of acres are succumbing to what the Environmental Protection Agency calls “sprawl development.” Its effects are changing the landscape more rapidly than most people could have imagined.

An EPA press release contained this sobering statistic: “Unplanned and unchecked development is eating up more than 1,200 acres of open space, farmland, and wetlands each week in New England—including nearly two acres an hour in Massachusetts alone….” Two acres an hour?

This is not just the result of population growth. In fact, even in states like Rhode Island, where the population has remained relatively constant, thousands of acres of land continue to be developed.

Most experts believe that the long-term solution lies in regional as opposed to local planning. In the meantime, though, something interesting has happened. Slowly, quietly, and almost imperceptibly, farms in some areas are staging a comeback.