The owner of the former Thimble Farm in Oak Bluffs — now the subject of a novel initiative by a group of Island nonprofits to buy the property — said this week he is committed to keeping the land in food production.

“What I envisioned originally was very simple. I was prepared to support an effort that tried to keep a prime plot of land in food production permanently,” said farm owner Eric Grubman in a telephone interview with the Gazette. “I also thought, once I saw the land, one of the attractive features included housing for this farm and possibly other farms. As I understand it, the plans that are being put together would do those two things — keep it in food production and provide farm housing for the farm using the land and for other Vineyard farms. Those two pillars seem to be supported.”

But Mr. Grubman, a seasonal resident of Katama and executive vice president for the National Football League, said any plan to take the farmland out of private ownership and place it in public hands will hinge on widespread community support.

Absent that, he laid out four options for the 37 acres of prime farmland off Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road: farm the land himself, continue to lease the land to farmers, reach out to private donors or sell the property.

“I’m not going to farm it myself, I probably wouldn’t want to run it as a leasing business to other farmers for an extended period of time so I probably would sell it if there’s no support,” Mr. Grubman said. “Or I might step in and give it one last shot.”

Mr. Grubman bought the farm in the Iron Hill section of Oak Bluffs in 2007 for $2.45 million, saving it from a possible sale into the private residential real estate market. For the last several years the farm property has been leased to Whippoorwill Farm, which among other things includes a large community-supported agriculture operation.

Mr. Grubman was clear from the outset that the purchase was temporary, and he asked Whippoorwill Farm owner Andrew Woodruff and his board to come up with a long-term plan for the farm. Last month he called for the plan, saying the time has come because he no longer wishes to own the property. Mr. Grubman has placed a price of $2.5 million on the property and has said he will give back an undisclosed sum toward the purchase price if a nonprofit entity can buy the land.

Since then a group called the Martha’s Vineyard Farm Project has formed with a goal of buying the farmland and placing it in permanent food production. Members of the collaborative include the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society, Island Grown Initiative, the Farm Institute, Vineyard Conservation Society and the Island Housing Trust.

Still in the early stages, the plan calls for Sheriff’s Meadow to take ownership of the farmland, while the agricultural society would own the farm buildings, which include a large expanse of greenhouses. Housing for farm workers would be built on an undeveloped building envelope on the northern edge of the property. The plan also calls for altering an Agricultural Preservation Restriction held by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank to restrict the land to food production.

The farm project held its second meeting on Tuesday night at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury. A panel of speakers included four executive directors: Adam Moore of Sheriff’s Meadow, Brendan O’Neill of VCS, Jon Previant of the Farm Institute and Jim Oldham of the Equity Trust Inc., a nonprofit based in Turners Falls that assists with innovative projects to save farmland. Mr. Oldham has been hired as a consultant on the project using a grant from the agricultural society.

“You’ve got a really great opportunity here,” he told the gathering. “What excites me about this is it’s a challenging project. The numbers are very challenging. But you have a great group of local organizations that are supporting this project. You have some marvelous resources in terms of people who would steward this land and some real opportunities for fund-raising. It’s a one-time effort that will give you something for your community for generations to come.”

Mr. Previant of the Farm Institute provided some blunt numbers. The United States is losing farmland at the rate of an acre a minute, he said. Closer to home, he said the Martha’s Vineyard Commission Island Plan records 1,756 acres of farmland on the Vineyard. But after subtracting land used for drainage, rough pasture, hay pasture and horse farms, Mr. Previant said the number comes down to 935 acres of farmland in active food production. “That’s an awfully small number,” he said. “And 37 acres equals four percent of it. Take it away and you’ve lost four per cent of your farmland.” He continued: “If you want to eat it local, you’ve got to grow it local, and if you want to grow it local, you’ve got to have local dirt.” The phrase became a slogan of sorts for the evening.

“The goal is food security, and a publicly owned, sustainable farm where housing is provided for farm workers,” said Mr. O’Neill of the conservation society.

“How to raise these fantastic sums to buy up the real estate interests in farms, that is the question,” said James Athearn of the Agricultural Society.

After remarks and discussion, the gathering broke into two working groups, one to discuss fund-raising strategies, the other to discuss how to spread the word about the initiative, including a plan to have a booth at the upcoming Agricultural Fair this month.

A Web site has been started (vineyardfarmproject.org), and Mr. Moore said Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is ready to accept donations toward the land purchase. There are many unanswered questions about the project including the long-term status of the lease for Whippoorwill Farm.

Meanwhile, Mr. Grubman said he remains a committed seller to the cause.

“The catalyst for this is I’ve owned this for long enough, it’s time for the effort to go to the next phase and the next phase is to see if we can get this done permanently,” he told the Gazette. “I’m not the permanent owner of this property. I’d like to see if the permanent plan can be put together and if there’s support for that. This year is as good a year as any.” He concluded:

“I think if there’s not support for it, I have to recognize that and move on.”