SAREP Collaborates on Regional Conference

In my role as SAREP director, I am committed to fostering partnerships with regional and federal programs to expand the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices.

As co-chair of an upcoming regional conference sponsored by the USDA Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (Western SARE) program, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to a major event on March 7-9, 2000. The Portland, Oregon event, Farming and Ranching for Profit, Stewardship and Community, will showcase and celebrate the outcomes of the past 12 years of Western SARE’s producer-oriented, on-farm research and education efforts, and provide an opportunity for colleagues from across the most diverse production region in the United States to meet and exchange information, experience and inspiration. Farmers and ranchers and community-based organizations will join with researchers to present practical, on-farm experience and research-based information derived from Western SARE-funded and other collaborations from the Pacific Islands, the arid Southwest, California, the Pacific Northwest, and the inter-mountain range and croplands of the Rocky Mountains. Community food systems analysis, marketing and policy issues will also be featured at the conference.

Several SAREP staff members have been instrumental in organizing panel presentations and discussion sessions which reflect the common sponsorship of sustainable agriculture research projects in California by both UC SAREP and Western SARE. Associate Director Jenny Broome will moderate discussions of sustainable grape production practices and results of several new Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) projects in California. Gail Feenstra, SAREP community food systems analyst, will moderate panel discussions on direct marketing methods and sustainable community food systems.

I will lead a panel presentation and discussion on sustainable tree crop systems, emphasizing biological efficiency in pest management derived from researcher-farmer partnerships in the reduced risk, transitional, and organic production of apples and stone fruit. Numerous other invited researchers and panelists from UC SAREP- and Western SARE-sponsored projects in California will be featured, including farmers and researchers from the Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems (SAFS) project and Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems (BIOS) projects.

As incoming chair of the Western Coordinating Committee for Sustainable Agriculture (WCC), a regional land grant effort, I am leading the effort to prepare a conference proceedings that will showcase the knowledge and successful models highlighted at this regional event. I look forward to seeing you at this millennium conference, which will bring together some of the most diverse and active producers, researchers, educators and advocates in the sustainable agriculture community.

In this harvest season, it is important to mention the outstanding efforts that have been made by particular SAREP staff members, not only for their work on SARE 2000, but in other important areas. I am pleased to announce the appointment of Jenny Broome to the position of SAREP associate director (see Broome New SAREP Associate Director). Jenny brings experience and vision to this visible and highly demanding position, and has represented the program well in her previous role as coordinator of both the BIFS and methyl bromide alternatives competitive grants programs at SAREP. I welcome her to this position, and am certain her service to SAREP will strengthen our mission-based leadership in sustainable agriculture research and education.

I am also pleased to announce the appointment of SAREP’s Gail Feenstra as the USDA’s California Community Food Security co-liaison. Gail, who continues as food systems analyst at SAREP, was appointed by USDA Secretary Dan Glickman (see USDA Ag Secretary Names Feenstra). Her appointment reflects the importance that SAREP and Cooperative Extension place on the links between sustainable urban and regional agriculture to consumers in order to increase food access and security. I am confident that she will represent the food security research and education goals of the University of California and SAREP in an outstanding professional manner in this important partnership with USDA. —Sean L. Swezey, director, University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.