Groton — The farm-to-table movement in New England continues a tradition of agriculture built on a strong “sense of place,” according to Richard Judd, professor of history at the University of Maine.

Judd, the keynote speaker in the “Farm to Table through Time: Environmental History and Local Food Production in New England" conference at the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus Friday, established the historical context for the recent resurgence of interest in locally grown products in New England.

The farmers who remained after marginal operations were phased out during population out-migration in the 1830s through the 1880s, he said, drew on strong regional identity compared to more newly settled parts of the country and an appreciation for the beauty of the New England landscape.

Setting the stage for this aesthetic, Judd said, was Henry David Thoreau, the naturalist and writer who devoted much of his life to studying nature around his home in Concord, Mass.

“One of the ways he’s an extraordinary naturalist is that he stays put,” said Judd, contrasting him with other naturalists who focused on explorations of new territories. “He spends his whole life trying to understand nature in Concord, and that gives him an intimate comprehension of the landscape. It gave him a passion for the familiar sights and sounds and smells of the nature around him, not the exotic.”

In articles in farm journals, speeches at community events and other outlets from this period, these same themes are heard, Judd said.

“The themes emerge that the landscape is unique and important and virtuous,” he said. “There’s a sense of belonging.”

This attitude, he said, helped the remaining New England farmers to prosper as they converted their farms to specialized crops such as orchard fruits, blueberries, dairy products, tobacco, sweet corn and vegetables, while farms in other parts of the country focused on cattle ranching and grains.

New England farms in upland areas with less productive soils became diversified, producing poultry and wood products, maple syrup, quarried rock and a range of other goods.

“Those farmers who stayed behind were remarkably stable, and remarkably productive,” he said.

The daylong conference, sponsored by UConn and the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, included talks both on the historical context and the future of the local food movement.

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy