Sept. 22-23, 2014 California Communities and Food Systems PT Meeting
Location: Mountain Home Ranch Resort, Calistoga, CA: http://www.mountainhomeranch.com/
Goals:
- Explore our role as change agents within communities and within ANR
- Focus our program team mission: what do we want to do together?
- Continue to build networks, relationships, sparks, and connections
This was the first time our program team has had two days to devote exclusively to discussing the work we want to do together. We have some roles assigned to us by ANR, such as reviewing and ranking position requests. Ideally, however, the program team can be a vehicle for better integrating and supporting the work we are doing to build diversified food and farming systems that support economic livelihood, health, community, and social justice.
To aid our reflections, we drew on and explored for ourselves the themes and questions articulated in the Extension Reconsidered project. This national initiative, sponsored by Imagining American, seeks to articulate how extension can contribute to democratic practices in communities, with a particular focus on the role of the arts and humanities (see: http://imaginingamerica.org/research/extension-reconsidered-initiative/). Key questions include:
- How might Extension realize its potential as a force for renewing and strengthening our communities, our democracy, and our civic culture?
- How might Extension help local residents of all backgrounds and ages claim their places in public life by coming together to advance their values and interests?
With these big picture concerns in mind, we zeroed in on key questions for our work together:
- What support do local advisors need/want from specialists?
- How can we strengthen Berkeley-Davis food system collaborations?
- What grants should we be collaborating on to secure?
- What processes can we use to best stay connected? What technological tools can we use to operationalize these processes?
- What is the role of non-ANR partners in our group? and How can we engage non-ANR partners?
Contact the Program Support Unit or Saundra Wais at 530-750-1260 or Sherry Cooper at 530-750-1256 for information.