Linking Farmers, Consumers and Communities through Sustainable Community Development and Public Policies

Linking Farmers, Consumers and Communities through Sustainable Community Development and Public Policies

Since 1991, SAREP has provided resources for sustainable community development and public policies that forge creative links between farmers, consumers and communities.

SAREP supports collaborative efforts that shape community food systems and policies in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption are integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular locale.

Such projects include: direct or local marketing activities; consumer education about local sustainable agriculture; community food security projects; economic development that creates local food and agriculture related enterprises; urban agriculture projects; food policy council development; land, water or pesticide use policy analyses; food- or watershed analyses that involve local residents in decision-making; farm labor analyses; and economic or policy analyses that encourage growers, processors, retailers and others to support a transition to sustainable food and agricultural systems.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Community development and public policy projects have benefited farmers, consumers and communities by helping to maintain small- and medium-scale family farm income; bringing fresh fruits and vegetables to urban areas, including low-income neighborhoods; teaching youth about sustainable farming systems and where their food comes from; and providing data on land use options to citizens and policymakers. Recent accomplishments during FY1999-2001 include:

The Willard Greening Project in Berkeley contributed to the development of the Berkeley Food Systems Project, a national model of a farm-to-school program in which school districts purchase foods directly from the region's farmers. Not only does this program provide quality produce for school children's lunches, it also provides a stable institutional market for local agricultural producers. ·
GIS maps to assess present and future patterns of vineyard development in Sonoma County were used to evaluate proposed and adopted regulations and the risk of habitat loss and fragmentation. This information was used by a multi-stakeholder committee charged with developing Sonoma County's Vineyard Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance, the County Board of Supervisors, and disseminated to the public through the press and peer reviewed publications.

COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM

Research and education grants are funded for one to three years and range from $5,000 to $25,000. SAREP also funds smaller grants for graduate students and educational events in these areas. Requests for Proposals can be downloaded from the Web site at www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/grants/request.htm.

SAREP FUNDED PROJECTS: RESULTS

The latest information on SAREP funded projects is available on our Web site in two locations.

Funded Projects Database
www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/grants/database
The database includes summaries of progress or final reports on all SAREP funded projects.

Project Reports
www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/grants/Reports
This page has links to full reports of selected projects.

New Projects Selected in 2001
During the spring of 2001, four new research and education projects related to community development/public policy were selected for funding in the period 2001-2003 for a total of $60,272. These projects, which will be partially funded by FY 00/01 reserve funds, are summarized below.

Patricia Allen, assistant director, UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, "Perspectives and Strategies of Alternative Food Initiatives in California": $19,360 (July 01 - June 02). This project will examine the range of new civic organizations addressing alternative food systems issues in California. Researchers will seek to discover what participants have learned through their practices about how the food system works, how to change it, and how participants view their efforts within the history of development of these initiatives. Different visions of food system alternatives that these organizations propose will be assessed, as well as the issues and problems confronted and the methodologies used. (831) 459-4243; rats@cats.ucsc.edu
Aaron Shonk, resource manager, Davis Joint Unified School District, Davis, CA, "Davis Joint Unified School District Farm-to-School Program": $10,000 (July 01 - June 02). In collaboration with local farmers and organizations such as the Davis Farmers' Market, the Davis Joint Unified School District developed a pilot project for a Farm-to-School program in three elementary schools. The Farm-to-School program provides children with a lunch choice of a farmers' market salad bar known as the "Crunch Lunch," which is a complete balanced school meal with seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables grown on local sustainable farms. The program links school curriculum with an instructional garden, recycling activities, a vermicomposting (worm) food waste diversion system, farm visits, and cooking in the classroom. Through participation in these activities, students learn to understand and appreciate the source of their food. This project enables the school district to educate the public about sustainable agriculture practices and work toward a districtwide food policy. (530) 757-5300 ext. 121; ashonk@djusd.k12.ca.us.
Toni Martin, food service director, Winters Joint Unified School District, Winters, CA "Linking Education, Agriculture and Foodservice (LEAF)": $15,872 (July 01 - June 02). In order to extend direct marketing options for local family farmers, improve students' food choices during lunch, and educate young consumers and their parents about the agricultural systems that produce the food they eat, this pilot project tests the feasibility of beginning a farm-to-school salad bar at a local elementary school as a one-day-per-week option to the regularly served hot lunch. At the end of the year, a planning team of parents, teachers, school district and food service personnel will assess the program and determine whether it can be expanded. (530) 795-6160; tmartin@winters.K12.ca.us
Dana Harvey, director, Environmental Science Institute, Oakland, "West Oakland Food Security Council Model": $15,040, (July 01 - June 02). The first goal of this project is to create a food security council model that will serve as a public voice to raise awareness and understanding of food security. The council, organized with an active advisory board, community agency representatives, and community members from seven West Oakland neighborhoods, will bring sustainable agriculture into the community through community- and entrepreneurial-based demonstration projects, and through a comprehensive education and outreach campaign. The council will also develop a comprehensive food system plan and work to implement the identified strategies to improve access to food and revitalize the community. Using a variety of outreach methods including workshops and community meetings, the council will mobilize food security action. (510) 534-7657; envsciinst@earthlink.net

Continuing Projects Funded in 1999 - 2000

Yolanda Huang, Project Coordinator, The Willard Greening Project, Willard Middle School, Berkeley, $66,107 (Jan. 98 - July 01)
Adina Merenlender, Area Natural Resource Specialist, Hopland Research and Extension Center Mapping and Forecasting Expanding Vineyards: Integrating Agricultural, Economic, and Environmental Data at a Landscape Scale to Improve Land-Use Decision-Making, $80,200 (Nov. 96 - June 00)

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

SAREP is engaged in applied research and extension projects that support the development of sustainable agriculture and community food systems. SAREP staff are partnering with community-based organizations, university researchers, and Cooperative Extension personnel throughout California and nationwide to support, assess and document local food and agriculture systems. Some of the recent research and extension activities include:

Food Systems Partnership in Alameda County
SAREP has partnered with Alameda County Cooperative Extension and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) to share resources for a new food systems analyst in Alameda County. The analyst, Sheila Duffy, will work collaboratively with university researchers and community groups to enhance community food security for Alameda County residents through research, education, outreach and technical assistance. SAREP is providing technical assistance, guidance, support, resources and important connections between urban and farming communities. SAREP is also assisting with fundraising for local and statewide collaborative activities.

Farm-to-School Project
SAREP is a partner with Occidental College, the Community Food Security Coalition, Pennsylvania State University, Cornell University, Rutgers, the California Department of Education, the Davis Joint Unified School District and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers in a $2.1 million USDA-funded project to pilot and evaluate farm-to-school projects in three states. SAREP will also analyze policy and institutional barriers, provide outreach, training and technical assistance to school districts, farmer groups and communities, and identify future farm-to-institution opportunities. SAREP's role is to evaluate the Yolo County effort, currently in schools in Davis and Winters.

Connecting Farmers to Direct Marketing Niches
SAREP is collaborating with five western states (Idaho, Oregon, Hawaii, Guam and Colorado), to conduct statewide direct marketing workshops, establish marketing networks and develop a resource guide and curriculum. SAREP will conduct two workshops in California in 2002, one in conjunction with the well-known California Farm conference. SAREP has developed a database for direct marketing resources and will collaborate with the Sustainable Agriculture Network to expand it to a national tool.

Community Food Security
SAREP is an active partner in the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) Food Security Workgroup. A successful statewide symposium and tour included more than 100 participants at UC Berkeley in October 2000. Since 1997, SAREP has been an active partner with the Community Food Security Coalition and the USDA in facilitating training workshops about community food security practices and projects in California and throughout the nation. SAREP is collaborating on an evaluation of another USDA-funded project in West Sacramento, the Project Field: Promoting Cross-Cultural Community Food Security, an ethnic school garden project that includes a job training component and small-scale farming opportunities.

Farmers Markets as Small Business Incubators
With a USDA Fund for Rural America grant, SAREP collaborated with researchers at Cornell University and Iowa State University to study the role of farmers markets in promoting community development and stimulating the growth of small businesses. The three-phased study included surveys of market managers, market vendors and case studies of innovative markets in each state. Three California case studies appear on SAREP's Web site (Community Development/Public Policy section); and an article on the California market managers survey appeared in California Agriculture (Nov/Dec 1999).

Increasing the Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture in the Central Valley
SAREP is collaborating with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission and UC researchers in a project funded by USDA's Fund for Rural America to study why farmers adopt sustainable agriculture practices and how community links might be strengthened to support adoption. Farmers in the Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems (BIOS) program and community stakeholders in Stanislaus and Merced counties have been interviewed to identify current and potential links in the areas of farmland preservation and local marketing. A community outreach project that is building bridges between a school food service director in Atwater and local farmers is underway. Other outreach efforts include the Small Farm Celebration in the fall 2001 in Modesto, and discussion with UC Merced planners about their agricultural policy.

Local Food Systems and Sustainable Community Indicators
SAREP is part of a national study with 18 other land grant universities to examine local food systems in a global environment. Foodshed studies will be completed in three counties in California-Placer, Stanislaus and Alameda. Each county study includes an assessment of the current food and agricultural system, an analysis of sustainable food system initiatives and policies, and the selection of sustainable food system benchmarks for measuring progress toward a more sustainable community. A data template has been completed for those in other counties or states interested in gathering similar indicators. This study is funded through USDA Hatch Act funds.

Berkeley Food Security Project Evaluation
SAREP completed an evaluation of the Berkeley Food Systems Project, a three-year USDA-funded Community Food Security project, which is forming a local food policy council and incorporating more produce from regional farmers into the Berkeley Unified School District's school food service. For a brief summary of the project, see the article in California Agriculture (Sept/Oct 2000).

Mutual Assistance Network's Entrepreneurial Nursery/Garden Project
SAREP is providing technical assistance to the Mutual Assistance Network in Sacramento on the development and implementation of a neighborhood nursery and school gardens. Youth are being trained in urban agriculture, horticulture and marketing and business development.