Agriculture

The New Farmers’ Market: Farm-Fresh Ideas for Producers, Managers & Communities covers the latest tips & trends from leading-edge sellers, managers and market planners all over the country. Excerpts available online includes sections on benefits to farmers and communities, market issues, school lunch programs and special events for farmers' markets.

The second edition of Fresh, Organic and Native Foods Produced on the Colorado Plateau: A Directory of Eco-Regional Food Sustainability was published in September 2001. Free copies of the directory are available from the Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University. CSE Director Gary Nabhan and Prescott college senior Lauren Rentenbach are the directory’s co-editors. The directory lists the address, phone number and product list for farms, ranches, orchards, and local food festivals that sell to the public, in an effort to promote food sustainability through local purchasing.

The American Farmland Trust works to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment. Their site displays news from around the country, research, and events in healthy farming practices.

Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) offers online and print publications, resources, and links on sustainable agriculture, as well as free technical assistance.

Interested in getting started in the produce business? Sustainable Vegetable Production from Start-Up to Market outlines the necessary steps for developing environmentally-friendly, mid-sized vegetable production operations - everything from farm business management to soil fertility. The 280-page book, published by the Natural Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Services, includes profiles of 32 successful growers.

Sustainable Farming Connection shares sustainable agriculture information, news, events, and practices. The site is dedicated to bringing useful information to those who want to keep farming while protecting the environment.

University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program identifies the ideas, practices and policies that constitute the concept of sustainable agriculture. The website also has information on conferences and funding in sustainable agriculture.

Community Development

The Rural Coalition is an alliance of over 70 regionally and culturally diverse organizations in the United States and Mexico, working to build a more just and sustainable food system which brings fair returns to minority and small farmers and rural communities.

USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) offers lending and technical advice for rural infrastructure assistance in electricity, water and telecommunications.

Last Updated: April 30, 2003

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