- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
“The topic of addressing food access through community and school gardens has never been more relevant than in today's COVID and post-COVID environment,” said Kamal Khaira, director of the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC program, at the November ANR town hall. “Today, we are highlighting work from Riverside County where our CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE team has made significant progress and contributions in fostering garden-enhanced nutrition education in three distinct communities – two urban settings and one rural Native American reservation.”
“This is one important aspect of our community work which brings all ages together in low-resource environments to learn, build and accomplish – delivering avenues for health and wellness both through work with the soil but also through connecting and sharing the harvested food together.”
Jackie Barahona, nutrition educator for CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside County, continued the presentation.
“As you can see from the video, our work with communities in planning and developing community gardens is one that enhances our overall CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE objectives of supporting health and wellness,” Barahona said.
“In 2013 the Riverside team began work with the Community Settlement Association in Riverside through a community grant that funded garden reinvigoration. During the pandemic, over 50 pounds of harvested produce from the garden have been donated to the local food pantry. Garden Club activities occurs twice a month and enhances educational work in the community.
“Our work with Riverside Faith Temple began in 2019. Food harvested from Riverside Faith Temple community garden is donated to parishioners and community members. Our team has continued to host monthly virtual garden club meetings in partnership with the UC Master Gardener Program in Riverside County. We plan to resume in-person garden activities this winter.
“Since 2013 CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside has fostered a growing relationship with the Torres Martinez Tribal Community in Thermal. Based on this long-standing relationship, in 2020 the CFHL, UCCE Riverside team worked with a group of three youth and six seniors from the Tribal community to establish a garden at their senior center. This community garden brought elders and youth together to plant and harvest fresh vegetables and herbs. As an intergenerational project, it was a great success. Since that time our team, with support from the CFHL State Office, has assisted Tribal Leadership in establishing a Community Wellness Committee, which consists of youth, elders, and tribal council members. We are working with this committee to inspire initiatives that will lead to sustained health outcomes through physical activity, garden-enhanced nutrition education, direct education and other activities.
“Altogether, learning experiences in the garden provide many benefits – physical activity, an area to socialize with others in the neighborhood, and a reinforcement of what we teach about the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables being part of daily meals. Due to the garden work, our nutrition lessons are not only enhanced but harvested fresh food is available for community tables.”
For more information about the program, read “UCCE building oasis of health in ethnic urban communities” at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=46096.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Academic Assembly Council is accepting requests for reimbursement for travel to professional society meetings being held Jan. 1 through June 30, 2022.
Deadline for online submission: Friday, Dec. 10 at 5:00 p.m. (Submissions will be accepted electronically only. No exceptions.)
The Academic Assembly Council (AAC) travel awards support travel to professional society meetings, primarily for the reporting and exchange of knowledge among members. Cooperative Extension academics are eligible for one meeting approval per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Academic Assembly Council approval is only for expense reimbursement from the Professional Society Meeting Fund. Leave with pay to attend the meeting must be approved by your immediate supervisor.
This call is for the biannual period of January 1 – June 30, 2022. There will be a second call in early summer for the July 1– December 31, 2022, period. The total amount of awards granted and the criteria for awards remain unchanged.
Applications are scored based on set criteria. Priority scoring is given to applicants new to their positions, presenting papers, or with special functions within the society/meeting.
To submit a request, visit http://ucanr.edu/sites/ucaac/. Direct reimbursement request link is https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=36045.
If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Hammer Coffer atmahammer@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The 2022/23 SAREP Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Small Grants Program is accepting applications until 12 noon PST, Feb. 15, 2022.
SAREP invites proposals for small grants to fund pilot projects and research projects that support California's farmers, ranchers and land stewards and/or rural, urban, and Tribal communities to plan, implement or evaluate sustainable agriculture or food systems strategies.
Program Priority Areas
UC SAREP will fund projects that fall within two priority areas:
1. Support California's farmers, ranchers and land stewards of all scales in identifying, piloting and transitioning to
- environmentally regenerative approaches to producing crops and livestock (including but not limited to soil health, organic and agroecological practices, integrated pest management, crop diversification);
- pathways for realizing economic return from ecologically-sound crop management practices and fair labor practices;
- marketing and distribution strategies that support diversified, decentralized, and locally self-organized supply chains;
- strategies that promote producer-to-producer networking and producer-to-supply chain networking
2. Support California's rural, urban, and Tribal communities to identify, implement and evaluate strategies to
- expand access to healthy, sustainably produced, culturally appropriate foods;
- ensure worker well-being across the food chain;
- minimize the community and environmental costs of food production and distribution;
- strengthen connections between consumers and producers;
- establish and strengthen producer-to-producer connections and producer-to-supply chain connections
Priority will be given to projects that benefit socially disadvantaged communities and/or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. We strongly encourage projects that are led by individuals and/or community-based organizations from these groups.
We are interested in projects that build the capacity of farming and food systems businesses and organizations to become reflective, adaptive learning organizations that can respond effectively to ecological, economic, and social change and disruption.
Proposal categories
Proposals are requested for three types of projects:
- Planning Grants
- Education and Outreach Grants
- Applied Research Grants
Information about each category and examples of previously funded projects, can be found at https://sarep.ucdavis.edu/grantsFY21-22.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants include farm or food system businesses operating in California, nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations operating in California, state and local government agencies, tribal governments, and California public and private institutions of higher education.
Applicants must demonstrate meaningful collaboration and involvement of stakeholders in the design and execution of the project. Priority is also given to projects that foster cross-collaborations between multiple types of applicants, contributing to a unified approach in addressing core areas of concern.
For more information and requirements, please visit the SAREP Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Small Grants Program webpage or contact Rachael Callahan at rmcallahan@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources met with UC President Michael Drake via Zoom Oct. 19 to discuss resource planning, recruitment and regenerative agriculture.
They began the meeting by honoring Jean-Mari Peltier, the past PAC chair, who passed away Sept. 24. In addition to her dedicated service to UC ANR as a PAC member since 2008, Peltier also represented California on the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching for many years and served as the CARET national vice president. Her leadership, vision and support for UC ANR and the agricultural community will be sorely missed.
Mike Mellano, new PAC chair, announced Luawanna Hallstrom will be vice chair. Two new industry professionals have also recently joined the PAC: Kathie Sowa, Bank of America senior vice president and commercial banking executive, and Alejandra Sanchez, Driscoll's corporate social responsibility marketing manager.
Vice President Glenda Humiston briefed the PAC members on UC ANR activities, including the UC Cooperative Extension position call and a presentation on wildfire resiliency delivered to the UC Regents Committee on Engagement & Development on Sept. 29.
Presenters included Humiston, Ryan Tompkins, UCCE forest advisor; Celeste Cantú, chair of the San Diego Water Quality Control Board and PAC member; Daniel Sanchez, UCCE specialist in the UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management; Maggi Kelly, UCCE specialist, faculty director of the UC Berkeley Geospatial Innovation Facility and director of UC ANR's Informatics and Geographic Information Systems Program; and Lenya Quinn-Davidson, UCCE fire advisor and director of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council.
Greg Gibbs, executive director of Development Services, gave a presentation summarizing UC ANR's fund development activity over the past year. Don Bransford, chair of the PAC Funds Development Committee, proposed creation of a UC ANR Strategic Priorities Endowment that would allow the UC ANR Vice President to direct funds towards the state's highest priorities each year. The PAC approved development of The Jean-Mari Peltier Endowment in support of UC ANR Strategic Priorities. It will be listed on the donation page along with other ANR programs for Giving Tuesday 2021.
Sanchez of Driscoll's; Bill Frost, former UC ANR associate vice president and UCCE advisor emeritus; and Luawanna Hallstrom, principal of Collaborative Communications gave presentations on opportunities and challenges in seeking regenerative agriculture, research on sustainable agriculture in California and media coverage of regenerative agriculture.
The next PAC meeting will be held Dec. 9 and 10 at Lindcove Research and Extension Center, where the commissioners will participate in the citrus tasting and tour.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The results of the 2021 ANR@Work Survey are in and we're seeing more satisfaction in our work environment, reported Tina Jordan, academic human resources manager. At the Oct. 21 ANR town hall, Jordan presented the following highlights from the survey, which was conducted March 16 – April 9, 2021.
Scores for 2020 strengths increased in 2021:
- I feel valued by my department
- All people are welcomed
- My department supports work-life balance
- My department practices principles of community
- I have the opportunity to participate in making decisions that affect my work
2021 strengths:
- UC ANR promotes a work environment where all people are welcomed
- My department supports work-life balance
- UC ANR promotes employee wellness
- I understand how I contribute to the University's mission
- Staff members value my contributions
The 2020 primary areas of opportunity remain the top five for 2021:
- I feel valued as a member of the UC ANR Community
- I feel I have a voice to provide my ideas and suggestions on how to improve UC ANR
- Senior leaders have adequately communicated long-range goals and strategic direction
- There are sufficient opportunities for contact with senior leadership
- I am satisfied with my opportunities for career advancement
UC ANR employees offered ideas for improvement. To better foster a sense of belonging and feeling valued among employees and volunteers, they suggested focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); improving hiring and onboarding processes; improving communication and relationships; increasing opportunities for promotion; prioritizing employee and volunteer recognition; making pay more equitable; and facilitating opportunities for employees to get to know one another.
Angela Song, UC San Diego senior director of organizational assessment and strategy, who assisted UC ANR with summarizing the results, lauded ANR's increases in scores across several dimensions and divisions. Song pointed to improved satisfaction in eight categories: senior leaders communicate goals, have a voice, ethical conduct, participate in decisions, promotes employee wellness, feel valued, satisfied with diversity programs and committed to diversity. The only statistically significant decrease was in responses related to total compensation.
What is UC ANR doing with the 2021 survey results?
To use the survey results to further improve our work environment, Human Resources has shared the unit level summary reports with directors to discuss with employees in their units. HR is also working with Staff Assembly Council to cross reference ANR@Work Survey results with those of the systemwide survey conducted by the Council of University of California Staff Assemblies (CUCSA). Conversations addressing these subjects between leadership and the ANR community will continue through town halls and other Zoom sessions. The DEI Advisory Council is analyzing the survey results by employee demographic categories. The Strategic Planning Committee will continue to align survey results with UC ANR's organizational goals.
The survey was sent to 980 academics, staff and county-paid employees and 560 (57%) completed the survey (as compared to 708 respondents in 2020 for a 73% response rate).
For details about the survey and the results, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Diversity/ANR@Work_Survey_741/2021_ANR@Work_Survey.