"Exploring Our Common Ground: Sustainable Agriculture
Into the 21st Century"
The California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SAWG)
will hold its first statewide meeting October 8-9 in Modesto.
This meeting will bring together a broad range of groups to
discuss key policy issues affecting sustainable agriculture in
California and explore options for increased collaboration.
Plenary and round table topics include pesticide use reduction
successes and legislation, food access and community food
security, prospects for change in the 1995 farm bill,
farmworker health and safety, water distribution, and
increasing research and extension support for sustainable
agriculture. Participants will include farmers, agricultural
professionals, environmentalists, consumers, researchers,
labor advocates, and activists.
The meeting begins Saturday at 9:00 am and ends with lunch on
Sunday. Participants are also encouraged to attend a post-
conference meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss directions and
projects for California SAWG. The meeting site is the
Mallard's Inn Best Western off Highway 99. Registration is
$60 (standard rate) or $40 (low-income rate); limited
scholarships are available.
The California SAWG was established in January 1994 to
promote collaboration between diverse groups concerned with
food and agriculture, and to increase policy support for
sustainable agriculture. California SAWG coordinates the
state's participation in the Campaign for Sustainable
Agriculture, a nationwide, grassroots movement targeting the
1995 farm bill.
Contact: Kai Siedenburg, California SAWG, P.O. Box 1599,
Santa Cruz, CA 95061; phone (408) 458-5304; fax 454-0433;
e-mail casawg@igc.apc.org.