Andy
-----Original Message-----
From: Jill Auburn [mailto:jauburn@REEUSDA.GOV]
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 1999 10:53 AM
To: Sustainable Agriculture Network
Subject: RE: (Fwd) Re: S.A. Resources for Univ/College Educators
Sustainable Agriculture
Resources for University and College Educators
Sustainable agriculture -- farming, ranching and food systems
that improve profits, protect the environment, and enhance
quality of life -- is encouraged by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture under the USDA's sustainable development
policy announced in September 1996. In January 1998, the
USDA National Commission on Small Farms recognized the
importance of sustainable agriculture as a profitable, ecological,
and socially sound strategy for small farms, and recommended
that USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and
Extension Service (CSREES) encourage universities and
colleges to offer courses in sustainable agriculture and
organic farming as electives for degrees in agriculture. This
briefing describes selected sources of information on sustainable
agriculture and organic farming of interest to university and
college faculty, and sources of funding for educators from
CSREES through Higher Education Programs (HEP) and the
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
program. The intent is not to be comprehensive (many excellent
resources are undoubtedly missing) but rather to provide a brief
entry point to some publications, web sites, projects, and
funding sources.
Information resources tailored to educators:
* "University Programs and Contacts in Sustainable
Agriculture," available from ATTRA, 1-800-346-9140 or
http://www.attra.org, under "Resources." Other publications
on internships, curricula, and sustainable agriculture
organizations.
* "Educational and Training Opportunities in Sustainable
Agriculture." available from USDA's National Agricultural
Library, Alternative Farming Systems Information Center,
301-504-6559 or http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/, under
"Publications."
* SAEd-Share-L Internet Discussion Group: Sustainable
Agriculture Educators Share List, sponsored by the
Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education. Subscribe by sending e-mail to
listproc@cornell.edu that says: subscribe SAEd-Share-L
Firstname Lastname.
Selected examples of regional and state efforts:
* North Central Institute for Sustainable Systems: NCISS is a
regional effort that emphasizes "practical, experiential
learning through internships, practica, workshops, and a
combination of field- and classroom courses available
through various Land Grant Institutions throughout the
North Central Region."
(http://www.ag.iastate.edu/departments/agronomy/nciss/)
* California faculty workgroup: A group of faculty from
California community colleges, state colleges, and
universities shares resources and ideas for teaching
sustainable agriculture through an annual meeting and an e-
mail listserve. (David Chaney, UC Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education Program, dechaney@ucdavis.edu or
530-754-8551)
* Natural Resource Management course at University of
Texas: Taught by Dick Richardson (chair of the CSARE
Education task force, sponsor of SAEd-Share-L, above),
based on the concepts of Holistic Management, with links to
many other on-line resources
(http://www.utexas.edu/courses/resource/,
d.richardson@mail.utexas.edu)
* Second Nature: This Boston-based nonprofit organization
"works to help colleges and universities expand their efforts
to make environmentally sustainable and just action a
foundation of learning and practice."
(http://www.2nature.org/, info@2nature.org or 617-292-
7771)
Selected sources for general information on sustainable
agriculture:
* Sustainable Agriculture Network: SAN, the national
communications arm of SARE, provides information in
electronic and print forms. See http://www.sare.org or
contact Andy Clark, san@nal.usda.gov , (301) 504-6425.
* sanet-mg: The SAN-sponsored e-mail group is a good place
to post questions about any aspect of sustainable agriculture.
Subscribe by sending email to majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu,
with the following as the body of the message: subscribe
sanet-mg
* NAL-AFSIC: One of several topic-oriented information
centers at the National Agricultural Library, AFSIC
specializes in locating and accessing information related to
alternative cropping systems and new crops. AFSIC staff
produce bibliographies and reference briefs and conduct
brief customized database searches in response to questions
from the public. Contact: 301-504-6559,
afsic@nal.usda.gov, or http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/
* ATTRA: the National Center for Appropriate Technology
operates this national sustainable farming information center
under a cooperative agreement with the USDA Rural
Business--Cooperative Service agency. Technical
assistance, publications, and resources are provided free of
charge to appropriate users. Contact: 800-346-9140 or
http://www.attra.org
Sources of funding from CSREES:
1. Higher Education Programs: HEP promotes excellence in
food and agricultural sciences higher education (see
http://www.reeusda.gov under Program Information, Higher
Education, or call 202-720-1973.) Several categories of
grants for institutional enhancement are available for faculty
to enhance their offerings in sustainable agriculture,
including:
* Higher Education Challenge Grants Program: addressing
state, regional, national or international needs with creative
or novel approaches. NCISS (above) was funded by a 1995
Challenge Grant.
* 1890 Institution Teaching and Research Capacity Building
Grants Program: strengthening the teaching and research
capacity of the 16 historically Black 1890 Land-Grant
Institutions and Tuskegee University.
* Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program: for
curricula design and materials development, faculty
preparation and enhancement for teaching, instruction
delivery systems, scientific instrumentation for teaching,
student experiential learning, and student recruitment and
retention, at institutions whose undergraduate enrollments
are at least 25 percent Hispanic.
* Tribal Colleges Endowment Fund and Tribal Colleges
Education Equity Grants: for 1994 Land-Grant Institutions.
2. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education: SARE
works to increase knowledge about sustainable agriculture,
through competitive grants offered through four regional
programs. Contact the SARE national office (202-720-5203)
or visit the SAN/SARE web site (http://www.sare.org) for
regional contact information. SARE grants are not aimed
primarily at higher education, but the following two
programs are of related interest:
* Research and Education Grants: These projects usually
involve scientists, producers and others in an
interdisciplinary approach to developing and sharing new
methods of production and marketing. Farmers and
ranchers are the primary audience for most grants, but a few
projects target education of college students, youth, or other
audiences.
* Professional Development Program (PDP): The primary
audience of PDP is Cooperative Extension and other
professionals who work with farmers and ranchers, however
curricula and other resources developed under PDP may be
used or adapted to college or university settings.
Jill Auburn
Director, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
USDA-CSREES-ECS
jauburn@reeusda.gov
202-720-5384
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