|
SAREP's Three Major Themes:
|
LINKING FARMERS, CONSUMERS AND COMMUNITIES THROUGH SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC POLICY
Community
Development & Public Policy
SAREP supports research, education and demonstration projects that work within the food system to build more sustainable communities. Projects that empower local citizens and residents to participate in food systems are encouraged because they connect sustainable agriculture with community development efforts. A community food system is a collaborative effort to promote sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption in order to enhance the environmental, economic and social health of a particular place. Benefits include:
- Better access to an adequate, affordable, nutritious diet;
- A more stable base of family farms that use environmentally sound practices;
- Stronger, more direct links between farmers and consumers;
- Creation of jobs and recirculation of financial capital within the community;
- Improved living and working conditions for farm labor.
SAREP funds projects that support the development of community food systems or address components of the food system. Projects include: innovative marketing strategies for farmers, consumer education about local sustainably produced foods, urban agriculture, the connection of farmers with low-income populations, and linking community economic development and sustainable agriculture. Staff projects, in collaboration with other groups, also address the connection between agriculture and communities. Examples include studies of the economic development potential of urban market gardens, farmers’ markets’ roles in promoting small business development, and the role of communities in increasing the adoption of sustainable farming practices in the Central Valley.
SAREP projects also contribute to the development of food and agricultural policy at the local and state levels. Policy projects have addressed: farmland preservation and land use, water use and quality, farm labor, agricultural chemical use reduction, and food security and food system planning.
For more information on SAREP's Community Development and Public Policy program see http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/cdpp
Project
Examples:
