CHRIS BEAN RESPONSE TO THE RECENT PROPAGANDA VIDEO SHARED ON FACEBOOK BY THE WESTWOOD LAND TRUST

I have lived in Westwood for 22 years adjacent to and now directly across the street from Clapboardtree “meadow” (the old Prout Farm) for all but the first 8 years of my life. I spent much of my time on The Bean Farm, alongside my late grandfather, and for the last 15 years have been running it on my own, first part time starting in high school and college, and now full time, working to slowly revive the farm and with it my family’s farming history dating back several decades.

I have been at the farm almost every day during this time and, given our location right next to the “meadow” can easily see any comings and goings at the field. Not once have I ever seen adults or children enjoying the field. They can’t. The field is landlocked – it has no parking, fronts a busy road, and is inaccessible to the public. I was at The Bean Farm on September 22, 2025, and watched the Westwood Land Trust (which was created to benefit and leverage the assets of one wealthy family) set up a high-tech film crew to get footage of the meadow to create this propaganda video intended to mislead the public ahead of the special town meeting this Monday.

You’re not fooling anyone. No one is using that field or ever enjoying it. If it were leased for agriculture, it could become a place where residents and families engage in pick-your-own or participate in other activities that would connect them to nature and the land, and let them see and learn where their food comes from. If agriculture is so detrimental to land and the environment, then why do we farm at all as a society? Did any of you reading this eat today? Your meal wasn’t grown or raised at the local supermarket. This entire debate can be chalked up to an extreme case of elitism and NIMBYism. And as most around town see it from my countless talks over the last decade, it’s about a small group of unelected elites, the Westwood Land Trust, having their way, all while being controlled by the same wealthy family.

Westwood is a commuter town; the majority of our residents are generations removed from the farming that once dominated the Clapboardtree and surrounding area. And it shows. No one cared or really knew about this small “meadow” until the debate became public because the Westwood Land Trust has acted in a totally unreasonable and illogical way, with the predictable result that they brought a lawsuit from the Town upon themselves.

Each time I use the word meadow, I put it in quotes. That’s because the disputed parcel is not a true meadow, it’s a managed grassland, mechanically mowed with a large tractor every year to prevent it from becoming a natural ecological meadow or so-called early successional habitat. The Westwood residents should be aware that I have spent a decade studying the ecological strengths and challenges of the former Prout Farm. Supposedly, the land trust has a report on findings from a study conducted on the “meadow” with language that echoes its public claims that agriculture will hurt the land and that the present “meadow” must be protected. Yet to date they have refused to provide anyone with the report to prove it. WHY?

This land is more or less an old pasture/hay field gone awry. From my soil sampling, (which I was authorized to do many years ago) we know the land contains highly acidic soil with high aluminum content. These acid sulfate soils naturally drain into the low lying wetlands on the perimeter of the field, creating a highly toxic environment – the combination of low pH and high aluminum stunts plant growth, kills aquatic organisms, and disrupts the overall ecosystem balance. Managing the soil actively through agriculture and remediating this low pH with lime would create a much healthier, more prolific soil profile, benefit all flora and fauna and the community, and create a healthier, more stable wetland habitat than its current state.

I’m also a beekeeper and host hundreds of thousands of honey bees at The Bean Farm in many hives. The bees thrive off pollinating the crops and pastures grown on the farm, as do the native bees and other local pollinator species. The local birds and many forms of wildlife also benefit, whether it’s the native killdeer birds nesting in my pastures in the spring, which I thoroughly enjoy watching, or to my dismay, the wildlife eating my crops. That’s part of farming; it’s a give-and-take with nature. The “meadow” is a giant runway for the wildlife to make their way to The Bean Farm for a meal. I lost about a quarter of my pumpkin crop to deer alone in 2025. I am a conservationist myself, and enjoy protecting my farm in harmony with the local flora and fauna. Agriculture and land conservation have been proven to work hand in hand when you farm sustainably and regeneratively, which is something I do and plan to do as a proud, active steward of lands.

It’s very unfortunate an amicable solution couldn’t have come out of all this public rancor. I never anticipated such an emotional, heated debate over a few acres of land to sustain local agriculture. It all seems so foolish when you take a step back and think about the big picture. Farmland and local food is quickly disappearing from our landscape. We are trying to preserve our open lands and the last farm here in Westwood, and hope to be a part of the agricultural community for years to come, providing fresh local products. We’re trying to avoid becoming another statistic in the database of extinct farmland lost forever and swiftly developed. That’s not a threat, it’s just reality. If I relocate to a larger parcel in a more agriculturally friendly community, my family will have no reason to keep the land fallow, and will most likely sell it. The only reason The Bean Farm exists today is because my family has supported me and allowed me to do so, but that will all change.

That would break my heart, and my grandfather would roll over in his grave – though he already has watching this all unfold. None of this would be happening if he was still with us today. He never wanted to see his farm disappear, and he always wanted to see the Prout Farm land actively stewarded through agriculture. It’s the ONLY reason there’s agricultural language in the CR to begin with. I’ve spoken to many other local and non-local land trusts, and I have a great relationship with one in particular - Wildlands Trust in southeastern Massachusetts, which actively seeks farmers to lease or sell open lands they have conserved in perpetuity. Not one of them understands why the Westwood Land Trust has behaved the way it has. I’ve also shared the CR document with them. Nowhere does the CR mention a meadow, or say the Westwood Land Trust has a duty to preserve a meadow. That’s something the Westwood Land Trust has created all on its own in order to combat attempts at the permitted agricultural use.

The CR actually states that preserving “prime agricultural soils” is one of its main purposes and that agriculture is an allowable use of the land, with approval that shall not be unreasonably withheld. Yet the land trust continues to spin the words and deny their clear meaning. Anyone can read the CR and understand that agriculture was discussed when the CR was drafted and that farming was an anticipated use of the land in the future. Judge Connolly noticed that, and we can’t wait to hear her response from the preliminary hearing. Shame on the Westwood Land Trust for being the only land trust in the Commonwealth that I personally know of that is purposely thwarting active stewardship by agriculture on prime open lands and failing to preserve what little farming remains to help feed the local community.

Whether Chris Bean or another farmer is allowed to create a viable farming operation in Westwood and farm that land is of vital importance not only to the Town but to the state of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts farmland action plan, developed in an effort to prevent the loss of farms across the state. There’s even a guide for land trusts and municipalities to follow within that plan, along with other resources like the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, which in the past has tried to work with the Westwood Land Trust. But the land trust declined their invitations. The Westwood Land Trust’s obstinance has given it a ton of negative press, and it will continue and get much worse. Do the right thing. Swallow your pride, and end this wasteful lawsuit, by allowing the landowner, the Town of Westwood, to create an RFP for agricultural use on the old Prout Farm land. God Bless America.

Chris Bean, Owner/Operator of The Bean Family Farm, Westwood, MA.