- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
UC ANR academics and staff were active participants and presenters at the 44th Annual EcoFarm Conference, held Jan. 17-20 in Pacific Grove.
Vice President Glenda Humiston engaged in conversations on the future of organic and regenerative ag with conference attendees and discussed current Farm Bill negotiations in a panel session.
At the EcoFarm expo, Houston Wilson, Organic Agriculture Institute director and UC Cooperative Extension entomology specialist, and Rob Straser, extension coordinator, promoted OAI resources for farmers.
Richard Smith, emeritus UCCE Monterey County advisor, moderated three EcoFarm sessions. Patricia Lazicki, UCCE vegetable crops advisor for Yolo and Solano counties, and Margaret Lloyd, UCCE Capitol Corridor small farms advisor gave workshop presentations.
Researchers from the UC Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital's Department of Population Health and the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security had a display at the conference expo to highlight the importance of food safety and technical skills in urban farming. The Civic Urban Farmer Program, led by UC Davis assistant project scientist Sara Garcia and supported by UC Cooperative Extension, strives to uplift BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) communities.
Saoimanu Sope of Strategic Communications also attended EcoFarm. She shared via social media video interviews with Lindsey Kelley, organic and small farms community educator for Yolo and Sacramento counties; Annemiek Schilder, director of UCCE Ventura County; Rob Straser of the Organic Ag Institute; Darlene Ruiz, Small Farms Network staff research associate for San Diego County; and Bailey Smith-Helman, climate smart agriculture community educator for Santa Cruz County.
Diana Cervantes of News and Information in Spanish attended the Spanish language sessions and wrote about the event in Spanish.
Mia Reyes, UC Davis student and UCANR's Global Food Initiative fellow, gave TikTokkers a two-minute tour of EcoFarm: https://www.tiktok.com/@uc_anr/video/7326037349291347243.
Manuel Jimenez, UCCE small farms advisor emeritus, and his wife Olga received the EcoFarm Justie award, which honors people who advocate for social justice as a critical aspect of ecologically sustainable agriculture and food systems.
- Author: Mike Hsu
Researchers, staff and affiliates of the UC Organic Agriculture Institute – one of UC ANR's newest programs – raised awareness among attendees of OAI's work and its ongoing statewide needs assessment. Feedback from the organic community will help determine priorities for OAI's future research and extension activities.
UC ANR's Small Farms team was also on hand, providing practical knowledge to the sustainable farming community and sharing during a workshop session their first-hand experiences with participatory on-farm research.
During the conference awards banquet, Gail Feenstra, the former Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program director who retired recently, was honored with a Sustie Award. The award recognizes stewards of sustainable agriculture who have made long-term, significant contributions to the well-being of agriculture and the planet. Feenstra's 33-year career was spent advancing more sustainable, resilient and equitable food systems.
To learn more about EcoFarm, see Mike Hsu's tweets with thehashtag #EcoFarm2023.
- Author: Liz Sizensky
The 40th EcoFarm Conference takes place Jan. 22-25, 2020. The Ecological Farming Association (EcoFarm) is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to nurture safe, healthy, just and ecologically sustainable farms, food systems and communities by bringing people together for education, alliance building, advocacy and celebration.
EcoFarm has grown into a broad network of grassroots leadership and has facilitated an exchange of knowledge for over 60,000 people. Held annually at Asilomar Conference Grounds, the event attracts hundreds of organic farmers from across the country.
EcoFarm wants to hear your ideas for workshops, speakers and films to be featured at the 2020 conference. This is chance to present your work to a dedicated audience. Workshop/Speaker/Film proposals will be collected through June 1, 2019.