Exploring Situations of the Community-Based Multifunctional Agriculture in the New England Region

The purpose of this paper is to report preliminary findings of a comprehensive study of multifunctional farming operations in New England. The study shows that small farmers are involved in multifunctional activities that allow them to use existing resources to supplement their farming operations. The study clearly shows that small farmers are involved in broadening, deepening and re-grounding activities including direct sales, value added, agritourism and off farm income endeavors. The study provides much needed insight and specification into these actitives and provides important new implications for academics, practitioners and policy makers locally, regionally and nationally.