Posts Tagged: UC SAREP

UC ANR offers free online trainings on direct sales and agritourism

The economic shocks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed California's farmers and ranchers to quickly embrace new business practices — including creative new ways to sell directly to consumers. UC ANR and partners are offering an eight-part series of free virtual trainings to help producers build their businesses with agritourism and other direct-to-consumer sales.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge shock to California's food economy, forcing many of the state's growers to embrace new business practices and drop old ones as “shelter-in-place” directives rolled across the state.

But the pandemic's challenges bring new opportunities too. Consumers' interest in local food and local outdoor experiences has grown immensely, from community-supported agriculture (CSA) and other online ordering, delivery and on-farm pickup options, to visits to farm stands, U-pick operations and other family-friendly socially distanced outdoor activities.

Pivoting to these new marketing channels opens new revenue opportunities for farmers and ranchers across California and the nation. But each new marketing channel also demands new skills and connections.

To help build growers' skills to embrace these market channels, the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) at UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is partnering with the Community Alliance of Family Farmers (CAFF) and expert growers across California to offer the free webinar series Agritourism and Direct Sales: Best practices in COVID times and beyond.

Through eight one-hour virtual trainings held this spring, participants will learn about best practices for implementing a variety of direct-to-consumer sales approaches. These trainings are offered to anyone interested in learning more about direct-to-consumer sales and agritourism. Topics and dates are:

Getting started with community supported agriculture	Tuesday February 23, 11am–12pm PST
Best practices for U-pick operations	Monday March 8, 3-4pm PST
Operating a safe, healthy and successful farm stand	Monday March 22, 3-4pm PST
Best practices for visitor interaction with animals	Monday April 5, 3-4pm PST
Best practices for farm tours, workshops and farm-based education	Monday April 19, 3-4pm PST
Online sales options and methods	Monday May 3, 3-4pm PST
Creative marketing and staying connected with social media	Monday May 17, 3-4pm PST
Community collaboration – farm trails, tourism partners and more	Monday May 24, 3-4pm PST

 

Register at sarep.ucdavis.edu/agritourism2021.

 

For more information:
Penny Leff, UC SAREP, paleff@ucanr.edu, 530.902.9763 (cell)

Funding for this webinar series was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant #AM200100XXXXG177. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.

Fujimoto to receive Bradford–Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award

Isao Fujimoto, lecturer emeritus of Community Development and Asian American Studies at UC Davis, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Eric Bradford and Charlie Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award for his commitment to California agriculture, rural communities, and social change.

The prestigious award, given each year by the Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI) at UC Davis, will be presented at a ceremony at UC Davis on April 23. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, with its Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, is a partner with ASI.

The keynote speaker at the awards presentation will be Navina Khanna, a UC Davis alumna and leader for food justice in California.

The Bradford–Rominger award honors individuals who exhibit the leadership, work ethic and integrity epitomized by the late G. Eric Bradford, a livestock genetics professor who gave 50 years of service to UC Davis, and the late Charlie Rominger, a fifth-generation Yolo County farmer and land preservationist.

Former students describe Fujimoto as a prophet and “energizer bunny of social change.”

“Isao began advocating for more socially just and environmentally sustainable forms of agriculture over 40 years ago,” said Mark Van Horn, director of the Student Farm at UC Davis. “At the time, it made him quite unpopular in some quarters, but he remained true to what he knew was right.”

In his early days at UC Davis, Fujimoto used the campus's signature red, double-decker buses to transport children of farm workers to school when public bus service was canceled. The incident sparked conversation about the need for the university to focus on California's rural communities, and led to creation of the Community and Regional Development Graduate Program at UC Davis in the mid-1970s.

Fujimoto was also instrumental in starting the Asian American Studies program on campus, and was mentor to many students who have become sustainable agriculture leaders in their own right. Throughout the 1970s, Fujimoto's home served as a local hub for community activism, with projects such as the Davis Food Co-op and the Davis Farmers Market starting out at his kitchen table.

“He has helped countless students understand the world around them and clarify their personal values and principles,” Van Horn said. “Most importantly, his actions have provided lessons and inspiration for those wanting to act upon their values and principles to bring about positive change in the world.”

Like Eric Bradford, Isao Fujimoto is a respected mentor and a consensus builder. Like Charlie Rominger, Fujimoto has consistently stood up for his beliefs, regardless of their unpopularity, and has done so with a kind heart and humble nature.

“The kind of commitment and sense of responsibility that Eric and Charlie had is a pretty remarkable trait,” Fujimoto said. “I find this award set up by the Bradford and Rominger families as a pretty significant marker of change in terms of broadening the scope of agriculture to include being conscious of the environment and using agriculture as a tool for building community.”

Past winners of the award include UC Agriculture and Natural Resource's advisor Rose Hayden Smith, specialist Ken Tate and advisor Mary Bianchi; and UC alumna Kelly Garbach.

Fujimoto will receive the award at the annual Bradford–Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award Ceremony which begins at 5 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the Student Community Center at UC Davis. Khanna's keynote speech will address, “Claim Your Superpower: Meeting the Moment for a Winning Food Movement.” On April 24, Khanna will meet with UC Davis students to further discuss leadership in the food movement.

This event is free and open to the public. Students are encouraged to attend. Learn more about the award on the Agricultural Sustainability Institute's web site.

For more information, contact Aubrey White at 530-752-5299, abwhite@ucdavis.edu

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