US: NSAC conference reflects on future of sustainable agriculture

Over 30 years ago, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (SAC) – predecessor to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) – championed the development of the first-ever, farmer-driven research program as one of their first campaigns. SAC’s efforts bore fruit, and as a result, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program was created. In its 30-year lifespan, SARE has stood as the model for both sustainable agriculture and farmer-driven research at the federal level, and is to date the only federal research program that is driven by farmer needs and farmer input (and actually funds farmers to do research on their farms!). Both NSAC and SARE celebrate their 30th anniversaries this year.

As part of this momentous anniversary year, NSAC has worked closely with SARE and the Appropriate Technology Transfer to Rural Areas (ATTRA) program of National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), the conference’s sponsors, to convene stakeholders within the sustainable agriculture community in a national dialogue about the state of sustainable agriculture in this country. SARE’s Our Farms Our Future Conference will be a rare opportunity both to learn about SARE’s impact over the last three decades, and to also reflect on the future of SARE and sustainable agriculture in this country for decades to come.

Read more at the NSAC website.