NESAWG NEWS
Kathy Lawrence (klawrence@igc.apc.org)
Thu, 22 Dec 1994 09:44:22 -0800
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NESAWG NEWS No. 1, December '94
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Published by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Education, Outreach and Capacity Building Committee (EOCB)
EOCB Staff, Kathy Lawrence
10 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217-2803
Tel/Fax: (718) 622-0746 * Email: klawrence@igc.apc.org
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RESOURCE HARVEST A SUCCESS
One of the 70 participants of NESAWG's Resource Harvest meeting
pronounced it, "the most useful NESAWG meeting yet." Others
echoed this view of the regional gathering that gave members and
others opportunities to share resources and ideas, discuss
perspectives on our regional food system, learn from colleagues,
develop skills and collect information. Held in a beautiful
rural setting in Rhode Island, the meeting was designed to
showcase the tremendous human resources and expertise to be
found in the NESAWG network, as well as to celebrate and
strengthen our contributions to a sustainable regional food
system. Seventeen workshops were held ranging from resource
management and farmland preservation to community farms and
urban farmers markets to alternative trade and marketing systems
and reforming public policy and land grant institutions.
Keynote speakers Dr. Stewart Smith of the University of Maine,
Terry D'Addio of USDA and Dean Robert H. Miller of the
University of Rhode Island provided analytical and political
frameworks for the conference and provoked considerable debate
and discussion.
Themes emerging from the meeting include:
* Sustainable agriculture requires a dynamic and flexible
"systems approach" rooted in holistic, interdisciplinary
processes.
* Changing the food and agriculture system requires a clear
analysis of its current status and a compelling vision of
what we want to achieve through greater sustainability in
our food system.
* Technology is driving agricultural research, extension and
investment away from the farming sector and community
-based investments and returns towards the marketing and
input sectors.
* Innovative processes are being used and refined to enable
groups with divergent interests to establish
trust and identify common ground for action.
* Developing a "demand-driven" sustainable food system is
essential, and depends on far greater public understanding
and involvement.
* We need to develop persuasive and appealing concepts,
images and values to "sell" sustainable agriculture to a
public and political system bombarded daily with
mass-consumption industrial food system messages.
* Proximity to urban areas and large numbers of consumers is
a Northeast food system asset; urban- rural, producer-
consumer links and mutual interests need to be reinforced.
* Work at various levels - field, community, state, regional
and national - should be better coordinated to achieve
overall goals towards sustainability.
During the Rhode Island gathering, NESAWG Committees (Public
Policy, Marketing/Food Systems, Land Grant, and Education) also
met to move projects and planning forward. See Coordinator's
Report, page 2 for more information.
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RESOURCES AVAILABLE
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NESAWG Member Resource Directory: Published in early November,
the Directory was distributed at the Resource Harvest to
facilitate communications and sharing of expertise among members
and others in the region. If you or your organization did not
pick up a copy in Rhode Island, it is enclosed with this
mailing. (One free copy per NESAWG organizational or individual
member; $4.50, including postage, for additional Directories and
to non-members).
Resource Harvest Materials: Audio and video tapes and printed
materials from the Resource Harvest are available for purchase.
Ten workshop sessions on audio tape and the opening and closing
keynoters on video offer members a chance to hear many of the
compelling and informative discussions from the event. Please
see the enclosed order form for a full listing.
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ADDITIONAL MEMBER RESOURCES
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The following information and materials from Resource Harvest
presentations are available directly from NESAWG members.
* IPM: WHAT FARMERS AND CONSUMERS HAVE TO SAY
Vicki Van Zee (413) 586-8262: IPM Q & A Sheets, Checklist and
IPM Brochure
Molly Anderson (617) 627-3223: Study Summary Report, Consumer
Perceptions of IPM and IPM Certification
* DEALING WITH PESTICIDE IMPACTS
Tracy Frisch (518) 426-8246: Wide range of information
* HOLISTIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR THE NORTHEAST
Willie Gibson (802) 223-6500: Materials covering HRM principles,
concepts for community and farm level application
* FORESTRY AND FARMING IN THE NORTHEAST
* GREEN PAYMENTS: LINKING AGRICULTURE AND THE
ENVIRONMENT Eric Palola (802) 229-0650
* ELECTRONIC NETWORKING Kathy Lawrence (718) 622-0746
* CAMPAIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE - SUMMARY POINTS Dorothy
Suput (617) 666-1005
* RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SUSTAINING AGRICULTURE (RISA) Jonda
Crosby (610) 378-1135: Project survey, assessment and other
information
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NESAWG READER
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A central component of NESAWG's mission is "to facilitate efforts
to educate and empower regional food system constituencies". Key
to this effort will be the circulation of "think pieces" and other
materials to NESAWG members. Each issue of NESAWG NEWS will
include a thought-provoking piece that you may collect as a NESAWG
Reader, and insert into your NESAWG Member Resource Directory for
easy reference. Enclosed with this mailing is a summary of Dr.
Stewart Smith's keynote comments at the Resource Harvest.
The EOCB Committee hopes to draw on and respond to member resources
and interests. Please send in your suggestions for the next Reader
piece.
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"What we need is democracy with sneakers on -
flexible and ready to move."
Michael Rozyne at NESAWG's Resource Harvest
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NESAWG COORDINATOR'S REPORT
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NESAWG's Coordinating Committee (Tim Atwater, David Holm, Judy
Gillan, Kathy Lawrence, Eric Palola; Tim Bowser and Bob Junk
absent) met in Rhode Island on November 10. The major focus was
NESAWG's Year III (1995) planning and budget. We hope to be
operating with approximately $60,000 of new funds from grants
(compared with $85,000 in Year II grant funds). Issue Committee
chairs will submit proposed Work Plans and budgets for 1995; it was
agreed that some "core" NESAWG budget be maintained to keep the
network in place. The Committee also reviewed Year II expenditures,
discussed protocol for any remaining funds, and established
procedures for Issue Committees to seek additional funds, primarily
through coordinated, committee-specific fund raising. NESAWG
members will have the opportunity to review Year III plans and
budgets.
NESAWG's Articles of Association were amended at the June, 1994
Annual Meeting. A copy of the Articles accompanies this newsletter.
Please review it and keep it in your files.
The Coordinating Committee decided that members seeking NESAWG
member travel and lodging scholarships should pay the first $30 of
travel/lodging per person per meeting, with a scholarship ceiling
of $100 per person per meeting.
NESAWG's 1995 Annual Membership Meeting will be in November, 1995.
Dates and location to be determined. One or more additional
meetings focused on the 1995 Farm Bill Campaign may be held,
possibly in targeted locations within the region.
MEMBERSHIP DUES: Notices (and some second notices) have gone out
for renewals. Please continue your involvement in the NESAWG
network!!
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Please contact Kathy Ruhf, NESAWG Coordinator,
with any questions or if you would
like more information about NESAWG.
Tel:(413) 323-4531
E-mail: nesfi@igc.apc.org
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NORTHEAST FOOD SYSTEM ANALYSIS
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The Northeast's food and agriculture system is unique -- both in
its constraints and its opportunities. The better we are able to
articulate an analysis of this system, and a direction toward
sustainability, the more effective we can be in presenting a
cohesive and persuasive message to the public, to decision-makers
and to potential NESAWG members.
NESAWG's EOCB Committee is formulating an "Analysis of the
Northeast Food and Agriculture System". While framing food system
issues in familiar ways (e.g. the decline in family farming, loss
of farmland, environmental impacts, social inequities, and research
priorities) the Committee will develop additional arguments and
perspectives that reflect the current mood and priorities of the
Northeast's food system stakeholders. For example, a systems
analysis will include the impact of the current food system on
employment, health and health care costs, local investment, energy
use, government subsidies and food security.
NESAWG member involvement is important in the development of this
document. You may recommend materials, help draft sections and
offer commentary. While this effort will benefit all members, it
will not be presented as a NESAWG consensus document but as a
project of the EOCB Committee to be distributed to and used by
members. The Committee is seeking an intern to assist with the
project.
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NESAWG SHOWCASE OF SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM INITIATIVES
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NESAWG's Education, Outreach and Capacity Building Committee is
soliciting descriptions of sustainable food system projects here in
the Northeast. Inspired by the wealth of innovation represented at
NESAWG's recent Resource Harvest, the Committee will showcase
particular Northeast projects, programs and techniques to regional,
national and international audiences. The showcase, consisting of
detailed profiles, will serve multiple purposes:
* To heighten the visibility of and expand access to
successful models specific to the Northeast;
* To demonstrate to institutions and decision-makers the
concrete steps being taken at community and regional levels towards
sustainable food systems;
* To build links to other "sectors" working on related
aspects of sustainable development (e.g. energy use,
transportation, biodiversity).
The profiles will be used from local to international levels,
enhancing their educational value and creating a "multiplier
effect" - more impact for the same work.
At local and regional levels, the showcase profiles will be
distributed to NESAWG members for reference (add to your NESAWG
Reader), and as education and outreach tools.
At the national level, the profiles will be submitted to the
President's Council on Sustainable Development -Sustainable
Agriculture Task Force to illustrate concrete application of
sustainable food system concepts, and to recommend Northeast food
and farming operations for Task Force members to visit. Profiles
will also be useful in the Farm Bill process, detailing the
hands-on, concrete implications of recommended policies.
At the international level, the NESAWG profiles will be submitted
to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which
monitors implementation of commitments made during the Earth Summit
in Rio, 1992. This year the CSD focuses on land use, agriculture
and rural development, forestry, biodiversity and biotechnology.
This is an opportunity to highlight working alternatives and
encourage the U.S. administration to honor commitments to the
progressive food and agriculture positions taken in Rio. For
example, in Agenda 21 (the blueprint for sustainable development
signed by 178 governments) the U.S. government committed to:
...Strengthen sustainability and rural institutions through
locally managed credit systems, local production and
distribution facilities for inputs, small-scale processing
units, and marketing and distribution systems...
An international showcase of "case studies" is being developed for
the CSD intersessional meeting in two months. It will be presented
at a government-citizen roundtable at the UN in early March.
NESAWG has the opportunity to contribute profiles and photographs,
and facilitate the involvement of regional farmers in presenting
their own experiences and views. See next page for types of NESAWG
member initiatives which may be showcased.
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Types of NESAWG Initiatives to be Showcased
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* Farm level techniques in soil-building, agro-forestry,
integrated farm planning and biological pest control
* Innovative community-based food production, processing and
marketing strategies, especially those with rural-urban links
* Methods of building community input and sustainability
concepts into land grant research priority setting
* Processes to promote holistic approaches to agriculture,
environment, and hunger problems and to educate the public about
food systems
* Initiatives that boost farm profitability, reduce the
distance between producers and consumers, and/or promote socially
just trading systems
While the EOCB will gather materials on an on-going basis for these
various uses, THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING MATERIALS FOR THE CSD
INTERSESSIONAL MEETING IS JANUARY 30th. Kathy Lawrence, EOCB
staff, will be glad to assist members in developing a profile.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PROFILE FORMAT
A 2-5 page profile on your letterhead, showing a specific,
concrete, creative, problem-solving effort.
* What is being done and how?
* Who was involved in the process?
* Results to date.
* Future plans and goals.
* Barriers to further progress.
* Links to relevant national or global discussions.
* Policy recommendations at local, state, national and/or
international levels (or a description of policy obstacles
encountered and how they should be removed).
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Corrections
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Please make the following corrections in your NESAWG Member
Resource Directory:
1) p. 16, box, "Email: carolg@umce.umext.maine.edu"
2) p. 24, box, "NOFA, New York, Northeast Organic
Farming Association of New York, Inc.
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DID YOU KNOW?
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* 7% of U.S. farms received 60% of net cash farm income in 1992
* New York State loses 20 farms per week
* The U.S. has averaged a loss of 2,000 farms per week since 1940
* In 1992 89% of senior-level USDA employees were white and 82%
were male
* It costs only $1 to ship 100 pounds of apples from the West Coast
to the East Coast
* 1/4 of all rural American children live in poverty, 75% in a
household with at least one working adult
* Only 10% of Americans consume the recommended servings of
vegetables, fruit or juice - 23% don't eat any vegetables
* Introductions of organic food products have increased by 400%
since 1986 and organic beverages by 1,450%
Send in your suggestions for the next Did You Know column. Positive
statistics would be most useful!
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IN THE NEXT ISSUE:
* Membership Recruitment
* Electronic Resources
* EOCB Services
* Media Package and Strategy
* NESAWG Committee Updates
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NESAWG NEWS is published for NESAWG members by the
Education, Outreach and Capacity Building Committee.
Staff and Editor
Kathy Lawrence
10 Prospect Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Tel/Fax: 718-622-0746
Email: klawrence@igc.apc.org
Please direct all NESAWG NEWS related comments, suggestions,
materials and questions to Kathy.
This newsletter is made possible through the support of Farm Aid,
Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Pew Charitable Trusts and Jessie
Smith Noyes Foundation.
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