Click on the bar above for more information or a return to Roxbury Home. Equity Trust Equity Trust’s mission is to promote equity in the world by changing the way people think about and hold property. When Chuck Matthei and Ellie Kastanopolous of Equity Trust learned that Roxbury Farm need long term land security they gave Jean-Paul a blank check to purchase a new farm. Chuck was certain that Roxbury Farm members would raise the money to pay back Equity Trust. They felt that CSA farms in particular did not have the land security they needed. Chuck and Ellie were passionate about creating a new model of land tenure to keep land in the hands of the small family farm. In 2000 Roxbury Farm moved to a new farm consisting of 150 acres with a house and two barns. Equity Trust provided the funds up front for the purchase. Open Space Institute purchased the development rights on the property drastically reducing the purchase price. Through the generous donations of the Roxbury Farm membership Equity Trust was paid back for the purchase price of the land. In return Equity Trust gave Jean-Paul and Jody a 99-year lease on the 150 acres. The lease provides a new way to look at land tenure. The lease gives the farmer the security and decision making power to run a successful business. The farmer can pass the lease onto his or her children or onto another qualified farmer. This farmer has to earn more than half of his or her income from farming. The land itself is removed from the market place. It is no longer something to be bought, traded, or sold. In conjunction with access to affordable land Equity Trust also wanted to ensure that farmers would also to be able to afford to live on their farms. The house on the 150 acre property is not a house a farmer could afford due to social appreciation. Equity Trust agreed to sell it to Jean-Paul and Jody at a rate affordable for a farmer. There is a resale restriction on the house to ensure it remains affordable for future farmers. In addition the house can only be sold to the farmer who has the 99-year lease. To read the model farm lease and to learn more about the work of Equity Trust, Inc. visit their website at www.equitytrust.org.