Re: Southern SAWG

Janet Bachmann (janetb@ncatfyv.uark.edu)
Tue, 1 Feb 1994 15:46:52 -0600 (CST)

The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG)
is a coalition of 46 organizations working for a more sustainable
agriculture in 13 southern states. The SSAWG assists family farmers
and farm communities to prosper in a healthy environment by helping
to remove technical, institutional and economic barriers to rural
sustainability.

The SSAWG's goals include:
o Building farmer leadership in the sustainable agiculture
movement,
o Enhancing on-farm research and demonstration projects through
more farmer participation,
o Redirecting land grant university research and technical
assistance priorities towards sustainable practices,
o Developing agricultural policy recommendations for state
and federal government,
o Asssisting development of farmer-controlled marketing
strategies,
o Fostering rural economic re-development.

For more information, contact: Michael Sligh, SSAWG
Coordinator, Box 727, Mauldin, SC 29662, (803) 297-8562.

A project initiated in 1993 by the SSAWG to promote awareness
of innovative farmers in the region is the Farmer Story project.
The first publication, "Farming More Sustainably in the South:
Nine Farmers' Stories," is available at cost. Send $4.50 to
Keith Richards, 1533 S. Duncan, Fayetteville, AR 72701, (501)
521-7922. The 30 page book features farmers who grow and market
dairy products, vegetables, flowers, cotton, grains, sugar cane,
cattle and hogs, and is illustrated with black and white photos.