Winter 2003 Newsletters
From the President
In 2002, Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom (MAC) completed its 20th year. It was another very busy year. We developed a Farm Field Trip Manual to help farmers with education programs on the farm, distributed many of our comprehensive agriculture education packets, worked on a new School, Community - Green Industry Handbook to support School Gardening efforts; awarded 14 mini-grants to educators; conducted nine workshops on the farm for teachers, initiated an annual Growing Minds Conference for Educators and our newsletter mailing list continues to grow.
Although this has been one of our most rewarding years programmatically, it has also been one of our most challenging years financially. As a non-profit organization, MAC is entirely dependent on donations and grants for support. Some of our most reliable funding sources dried up in the face of economic developments at the state level.
As a result, we launched an all-out fund-raising campaign. We are truly blessed to find so many generous staunch supporters out there who have appreciated the role of MAC in their communities and the larger role throughout Massachusetts!
Eight organizations and individuals made donations of $1,000 or more. These include: Bristol County Farm Bureau; Hampshire County Farm Bureau; Mass. Nursery & Landscape Association; Middlesex County Farm Bureau; Norfolk County Farm Bureau; Northeast Farm Credit Ag Enhancement Program; Robert Haigh of Bobby’s Ranch, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Russell of Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery. We thank these and the more than 130 other generous donors who made smaller, but very much appreciated contributions. All donations are listed in our 2002 Annual Report.
While we will continue to seek the larger sponsor-level contributions, the grass-roots support from newsletter readers and other friends is especially important. Please continue to support MAC. We will be most appreciative and will continue to serve the needs of the agriculture and education community for years to come. Thank you!
John Lee, President
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present inhabitants of this planet, while preserving the resources that will enable future generations to flourish. Inherent in this definition is the idea that sustainability must be extended not only globally, but indefinitely in time, and to all living organisms including humans. Sustainable agriculture is defined within this context. The definition is fluid and driven by changes in politics, ideology, science and community values.
Sustainable agriculture is based on human goals and on understanding the long-term impact of our activities on the environment and other species. It has a local, regional, national and international impact. Agricultural systems must not only produce crops, but must also produce food that is safe to eat; create products that consumers will buy; produce food that is affordable; minimize ecological impacts; compete with other land uses, and work within changing political and economic climates. A whole-systems approach explores the interconnections between the farmer and other aspects of the environment, from the individual farm, to the local ecosystem and to communities affected by farming systems both locally and globally. It considers the consequences of farming practices on both human communities and the environment. Reaching toward the goal of sustainable agriculture is the responsibility of all participants in the system, including farmers, laborers, policymakers, researchers, retailers and consumers.
Each group has its own unique contribution to make to strengthen the sustainable agriculture community. Agriculture is sustainable when it is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially responsible and based on a holistic scientific approach.
Ecologically Sound
Agriculture must be ecologically sound if our food and farming systems are to be sustainable over time. We must maintain the health and productivity of the land and conserve water, energy and the other natural resources upon which agriculture depends. Some agricultural practices can have a profound effect on ecological systems. Decline in soil productivity may be due to wind and water erosion; soil compaction; loss of organic matter, water holding capacity and biological activity; and salinization of soils and irrigation water. Pesticides, fertilizers, sediments and salts can pollute ground and surface waters and cause eutrophication in rivers, lakes and oceans. Over use of irrigation may lead to scarcity of ground and surface water needed for other uses. Other environmental concerns include insects and fungal pathogens that have become resistant to pesticides; stresses on pollinators and other beneficial species through pesticide use; loss of wetlands and wildlife habitat, and reduced genetic diversity due to genetic uniformity in crops and livestock breeds. Agricultural practices may also be linked to global climate changes.The goal of sustainable agriculture is to minimize adverse impacts to the immediate and off-farm environment. Sound resource conservation is integral. Sustainable agriculture practices preserve biodiversity, maintain soil fertility and water purity, conserve and improve the chemical, physical and biological qualities of the soil, recycle natural resources and conserve energy. They produce diverse forms of high quality foods, fibers and medicines.
Sustainable agriculture seeks to optimize skills and technology to achieve long-term stability. Management strategies help the producer select hybrids and varieties, soil-conserving cultural practices, soil fertility programs, and pest management programs.
Economically Viable
Agriculture must be economically viable to be sustainable. In a market economy, if a farmer can’t make a living farming, he or she will be forced to either find a profitable alternative to the current system of farming or find another way to make a living. Sustainable farms need not maximize profits but they do need to be profitable over time. America’s industrialization separated the production of food into specializations of farming, processing, preservation and distribution. Eighty percent of the economic value of food currently goes, not to the farmer, but to these other off-farm specializations. Farmers have little control over prices, and receive an ever smaller portion of consumer spending on agricultural products. Economic pressures have led to a huge loss of farms, particularly small farms, during the past few decades. This contributes to disintegration of rural communities and localized marketing systems. It is very difficult for potential farmers to enter the business today.The goal of sustainable agriculture is to provide a sustained level of production and profit for the long-term. To compete economically, farmers are using management techniques such as low-input farming and precision agriculture to decrease costs and maximize production while protecting natural resources. Sustainability requires a reconnecting of farmers with consumers. Niche marketing is one method that allows farmers to participate in the total process of food production. They identify products that their customers value most and market these products directly to customers or market through agents who represent them with their customers.
Socially Responsible
A premise of sustainability is that the quality of life of farmers, farm families and farm communities is important. This requires increased income and employment (especially self-employment opportunities) in agricultural and rural communities. It means strengthening the family farm system, characterized by
small- and moderate- sized farms which are principally owner-operated. It also includes considerations such as working and living conditions of laborers, the needs of rural communities and consumer health and safety both in the present and the future. Corporate industrialization of agriculture affects the lives of farm families who lose control of land that has been in their families for generations. It often impoverishes communities that have supported and been supported by these family farms. It offers mostly low-paying jobs with long hours in the food processing factories. It uses up natural resources and degrades soil and water quality. It jeopardizes the health of workers and food safety. Socially responsible agriculture must ensure that the people who produce the food have an opportunity to lead successful and productive lives. It must also provide for the food and fiber needs of people. This goes beyond simply making sure that enough is produced to meet the needs of those who are willing and able to pay. Social justice demands that all people have adequate and safe food, clothing and shelter, without regard to income or wealth.
Consumers
Sustainable agriculture invites consumers to get more involved in agriculture by learning more about and becoming active participants in their food system. Through their purchases, they send strong messages to producers, retailers and others in the system about what they think is important.
Food cost and nutritional quality have always influenced consumer choices. The challenge is to find strategies that broaden consumer perspectives, so that environmental quality, resource use and social equity issues are also considered in shopping decisions. At the same time, new policies and institutions must be created to enable producers using sustainable practices to market their goods to a wider public.
Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture
- Produces high-quality, nutritious and healthful food
- Provides access to nutritious, healthful and affordable food to all people
- Ensures a safe food supply
- Feeds the world's hungry today and the world's hungry tomorrow
- Protects environmental quality
- Uses natural resources efficiently
- Decreases dependency on non-renewable resources
- Preserves open space
- Preserves abundant wildlife and other forms of biodiversity
- Supports profitable production
- Produces more independent farmers
- Ensures a good living for farmers
- Enhances the quality of life for farmers
- Strengthens rural communities
- Creates thriving communities connected through sustainable food production and distribution systems
- Provides dignified livelihoods and living wages for all workers in the farm and food sector
- Is based on fair and open markets
- Lasts for generations to come
Defined by Congress
As defined by Congress in the 1990 Farm Bill, Sustainable Agriculture is an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:
- satisfy human food and fiber needs;enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends;make the most efficient use of non-renewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls;sustain the economic viability of farm operations, and
- 5) enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.
Sustainable Practices
Sustainable agriculture does not refer to a prescribed set of practices. Instead it challenges producers to think about long-term implication of practices and the broad interactions and dynamics of agricultural systems. Farmers must choose for themselves what methods are best for their own situation.
Sustainable agriculture builds on current agricultural achievements, adopting a sophisticated approach that can maintain high yields and farm profits without undermining the resources on which agriculture depends. Some practices that are used include crop and landscape diversity, better utilization of on-farm resources such as crop residue and manure and more effective marketing. Precision agriculture is a management strategy that employs detailed, site-specific information to precisely manage production inputs. The idea is to know the soil and crop characteristics unique to each part of the field, so that production inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers and chemicals are applied only when and where needed.
Improved marketing provides a key way to enhance profitability. Direct marketing of agricultural goods to consumers is becoming much more common, including farmers’ markets, roadside stands and community-supported agriculture.
Community Food System
A community food system, also known as a local food system, is a collaborative effort to integrate agricultural production with food distribution to enhance the economic, environmental and social well-being of a particular place, such as a neighborhood, city, county or region.
One of the primary assumptions underlying the sustainable diet concept is that foods are produced, processed and distributed as locally as possible. This approach supports a food system that preserves local farmland and fosters community economic viability, requires less energy for transportation and offers consumers the freshest foods.
The Foodshed concept was defined by Arthur Getz in his 1991 Urban Foodsheds. He used the analogy of a watershed to describe the flow of food from the area where it is grown to where it is consumed. The image of a foodshed is used to answer the question of where our food and regional food supply system works.
Inherent in this concept is the need to protect a source, as well as the need to know and understand its specific geographic and ecological dimensions, condition and stability in order for it to be safeguarded and enhanced. Learn more about community food sheds at www.foodshed.wisc.edu/foodshed.htm
Another great resource is Northeast Farm to Food: Understanding Our Region’s Food System. It is a comprehensive look at the food system, from production through processing in the twelve Northeast States - from Maine to West Virginia. It provides a compilation of facts and data by state and region, with analyses and a final chapter on recommendations for food systems change. It is published by the Northeast Sustainable Working Group, a network of over 60 organizations working towards a more sustainable and secure food system. Send a check for $12 to NESAWG, at P.O. Box 608, Belchertown, MA 01007.
Sustainable Agriculture History
Historically, farming played an important role in the development and identity of our nation. For generations, American farmers have worked to protect and improve the land and the quality of rural life. Early farmers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, seeing a need to change some standard agricultural practices, became leaders in adopting new farming methods.
Washington was among the first of his generation to practice crop rotation, compost livestock waste and help pioneer the use of new planting methods. Jefferson remained a fervent advocate of testing new crops and varieties throughout his life, always seeking plants best suited to the land and people’s needs.
Today more and more farmers are searching for alternative methods that will improve the sustainability of agriculture. Consumers are also looking for healthy and nutritious foods. In the past fifteen years the concept of sustainable agriculture has become more and more mainstream within the agricultural community and agriculture’s supporters. The following policies have supported the efforts:
- 1988 USDA Sustainable Agriculture and Education program was founded
- 1990 Sustainable Agriculture was addressed by Congress in the Farm Bill and Trade Act of 1990
- 1992 Acceptance of Biodiversity and Climate Change Conventions as international law
- 1993 Establishment of the U.S. President’s Council on Sustainable Development and its Task Force on Sustainable Agriculture
- 1997 USDA presentation for comment of Proposed Standards for Organic Food Production
- 1997 Enactment of the U.S. Food Quality Protection Act.
- 2002 Adoption of Organic Farming Standards
What I Can Do
Support local farms by buying directly from the farmer at farm stands, roadside stands or local or regional farmers’ markets.
Find a Pick-Your-Own Farms in your area and plan a fun, educational and tasty outing for your family or group. Visit the Massachusetts Department of Food & Agriculture’s Web Site at www.massgrown.org for a list.
Become a member of a Community Supported Agriculture farm. CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters, who pay in advance to purchase a share of the season’s harvest. In return, the farm provides, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Visit www.csacenter.org/states/MAfarm.htm.
Choose food markets and other distribution outlets that support local agriculture by buying and promoting locally grown foods and farmers.
Look for locally and regionally-grown and processed foods in your supermarket. If you don’t see them, let the manager know that you prefer to buy local.
When planning menus, choose foods that are in season and available from local sources. To eat regionally year-round, visit NE Regional Food Guide www.nutrition.edu/edu/FoodGuide/.
Talk to your local and state officials to let them know that local agriculture is good for the community, providing a wide variety of fresh high-quality foods, jobs, scenic vistas, open space, wildlife habitats and a connection to our NE heritage.
Volunteer with a local school, 4-H or other youth programs to share your knowledge of agriculture, gardening, nutrition and the benefits of local foods.
Promote agricultural literacy in schools through agriculture activities, school gardens, food service changes and other positive agricultural messages. Ask your local school to use locally grown produce in the cafeteria.
Visit a local farm. A farm visit will reacquaint you and your children with your local food supply.
Support and promote organizations that promote agricultural literacy, such as Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom.
Is it Sustainable?
Talk to your students about what people need from their environment? (food, clothing, shelter, water, air). How did people get their food fifty years ago, one hundred years ago? Where does their food come from today? How have we been able to meet the food needs of an increasing population?
Ask students to research the different ways that arable land can be increased (clearing rain forests, irrigating deserts, terracing hillsides, draining land). Study the consequences of these actions.
Ask students to make a home survey of what their household is doing to extend the earth’s carrying capacity (conserving natural resources, preventing pollution). Ask students to calculate their Ecological Footprint on-line at www.earthday.net/footprint/quiz2.asp.
Ask students to brainstorm a definition of sustainability. Ask students to write five of their daily activities on separate index card. What materials and resources they use for each activity?
Hang a string across the room and mark sections to signify a continuum of sustainability. One end represents activities that are non-sustainable - resource degrading or environmentally polluting. The other end represents sustainability.
Ask students to hang each card with a paper clip where they think their activities exist on the continuum of sustainability. What amendments or alterations can they make to their activities to make a positive change.
Activity ideas from Food Land and People and the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society Newsletter.
Sustainable Agriculture Resources
Information for this newsletter was taken from the resources listed above.
Mission: Massachusetts Agriculture ion the Classroom is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) educational organization with the mission to foster an awareness and learning in all areas related to the food and agriculture industries and the economic and social importance of agriculture to the state national and the world.
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