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SAREP program review provides recommendations for new strategy
Recently, the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program completed a UC ANR five-year statewide program review in 2019. Vice President Humiston and I extend a thank you to the ad-hoc committee for their time commitment and thoroughness in examining the program and providing recommendations to UC ANR's Program Council. We greatly appreciate the time the UC SAREP program staff spent providing detailed information on all aspects of the program. Feedback submitted by UC SAREP partners and stakeholders during the review process is also appreciated.
We recognize the program has made significant accomplishments towards food systems goals that have led to greater health and well-being for Californians. The program has contributed to public values and condition changes such as:
- promoting economic prosperity by developing new markets for farmers through the Farm to School program, agritourism and new specialty crops;
- improving food security by supporting urban gardening, food hubs networks and food policy councils;
- developing an inclusive and equitable society, by helping to increase diversity, inclusiveness and cultural competency in California's workplaces by working with small-scale and immigrant farmers and providing trainings for extension professionals on uprooting racism; and
- protecting California's natural resources by assessing environmental risks, leading to policies for ensuring safe drinking-water standards for nitrates and mitigation targets for greenhouse gas reduction in crops.
The UC ANR five-year program review was coordinated with the timing of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences review of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute. UC SAREP has been operating as a unit housed in ASI since a memorandum of understanding between UC Davis and UC ANR went into effect in 2007.
Recently announced changes to the MOU with UC Davis and the leadership of SAREP were not an outcome of the program review. However, in response to recommendations from Program Council and the ad hoc review committee, and as a result of the recent organizational change, SAREP will begin to develop a new strategic plan that addresses the program's original legislative mandate to support long-term research toward food systems and agriculture production. The strategic planning committee will be asked to consider the following recommendations as it develops the plan:
- Explore how to better meet the needs around agriculture production.
- Determine how to best engage colleagues around the state who are working in sustainable agriculture.
- Support existing work being done by UCCE by being a facilitator, translating research to useful products for clientele, and collaborating with academics on final extension products.
- Consider including rangelands as part of agricultural production and food systems.
- Clearly define sustainability for the program's mission and vision.
- Be a conduit between UC students and UCCE and the research and extension centers by providing job training and internships.
- Consider an affiliate program such as the UC IPM model, identifying advisors to be affiliates for five years.
- Consider a role as a hub/curator of sustainable agriculture information from across the UC ANR network. Increase collaboration in development of, production or distribution of how-to materials for practitioners.
- Consider developing a precise strategy to engage with UC ANR Program Teams and other UC ANR Statewide Programs and Institutes. Work with these groups to develop user-friendly, sustainable agriculture practitioner documents.
- Increase representation of UC ANR academics on SAREP's Academic Advisory Committee.
- Develop a communications strategy for disseminating and archiving information, with input from the UC ANR network.
- Identify additional opportunities for partnerships across UC and beyond.
- Develop a fundraising plan working with UC ANR Development Services.
I look forward to working with UC SAREP as it pursues these and other opportunities that may arise. Best wishes for the ongoing success and growth of UC SAREP!
Sincerely,
Wendy Powers
Associate Vice President
UC ANR expanding role and reach of SAREP
I am pleased to announce that UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) will be welcoming the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP) back to being administered by UC ANR effective July 1, 2020. This change in management will enable closer collaboration between SAREP and the other statewide programs and institutes administered by UC ANR while also expanding our current affiliation with the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) to other campuses and partners.
Since 1986, SAREP has supported scientific research and education to advance agricultural and food systems that are economically viable, sustain beneficial ecosystem services, and enhance the quality of life in local communities. Moving forward, our farms and food systems face an ever-larger set of challenges: shifting consumer demands,invasive pests, climate change, additional regulations, lack of access to labor, and more. The need for new technologies, better systems and effective problem-solving is greater than ever.
UC ANR envisions positioning SAREP to serve as a much broader umbrella of sustainability, addressing all aspects of the triple-bottom-line: People, Planet and Prosperity. To accomplish this, SAREP will provide leadership and/or support to several promising initiatives and will facilitate our ability to capture synergies among them. Those include agritourism, ecosystem services, Climate Smart Agriculture, regional food systems, community and economic development and more.
Our sincere thanks go to UC Davis CAES and Dr. Tom Tomich, who has served as Director for SAREP for the past several years, for their leadership and support of the program since 2007.
As part of the transition, the SAREP team will relocate to the UC ANR building at 2801 Second Street in Davis, California. The move is planned to be completed by July 1, although timing may be impacted by ongoing shelter-in-place orders.
I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Gail Feenstra, who has been serving as acting director since October 2019, has been appointed director of SAREP effective July 1, 2020. Please join me in welcoming SAREP into our UC ANR building and offering Gail and her team best wishes for the future success of the program.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
New phone numbers for staff in ANR building in Davis
Everyone who moved into the new ANR building located at 2801 Second Street in Davis has a new phone number. Before calling them, please check the ANR directory for their new phone numbers. Email addresses remain unchanged.
- 4-H Foundation
- 4-H Youth Development Program
- Academic Personnel Unit
- Business Operations Center
- Communication Services and Information Technology
- Contracts and Grants
- Development Services
- Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
- Facilities Planning and Management
- Risk & Safety Services
- Integrated Pest Management Program
- Master Gardener Program
- Program Planning and Evaluation Unit
- Program Support Unit
- Research and Extension Center Administrative Office
- Staff Personnel Unit
- Western IPM Center
- Youth, Families and Communities Administrative Office
If you haven’t been in the new building, Steve Heindl gives a virtual tour of the transition from roller skating rink to LEED-certified offices at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ht47V3GZEY&feature=youtu.be.
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
VP Allen-Diaz promises to wear bees, eat insects for scholarship donations
Celebrities, UC employees, students and people from all across California are tapping into their social media networks and making promises to raise money for UC student scholarships.
VP Barbara Allen-Diaz has made her own daring promise. If she can raise $2,500 by Halloween, Allen-Diaz promises to wear a colony of bees, highlighting the importance of pollinators to the health of agriculture and the planet. If she raises $5,000, she promises to eat protein-rich insects, a plentiful and low-cost source of protein critical to meeting the world’s growing food demand.
Assistant VP Tu Tran is making a promise on the VP’s promise. “If Barbara does the bee thing, I will donate $500,” Tu said. “If she eats the scrumptious larvae meal, I will donate another $500, for a total of $1,000.”
To see VP Allen-Diaz’s promise and to donate, visit http://promises.promiseforeducation.org/vpanr. Feel free to share this link on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to raise money for UC students.
Norm Gary, professor emeritus in the Department of Entomology at UC Davis, has graciously agreed to wrangle the bees. Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at UC Riverside, has enthusiastically volunteered to help round up some larvae and maybe crickets for her to eat.
Currently, some regents and all 10 campus chancellors have made promises. Governor Jerry Brown promises to host a "Brown Bag" lunch at his office in Sacramento with a student from each UC campus if people donate $10,000 on his promise page.
To see promises made by Jamie Foxx, Dan Dooley, Bob Sams and others, visit http://www.promiseforeducation.org. The campaign ends Oct. 31.
Promise for Education is a UC systemwide fundraising effort for undergraduate scholarships. All funds raised will provide direct scholarships and grants to undergraduate students from California with a demonstrated financial need. For more information about the Promise for Education campaign, see http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/30065.
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
Lean-N-Green Day, Farm & Nutrition Day mark National Nutrition Month
UCCE nutrition educator Lori Coker helped children play the "Sugar Cube Game," in which students raced to amass white sugar blocks to reach the amount in a bottle of soda. An 11-year-old participant told the reporter she would be telling her family about the surprising amount of sugar in their favorite drinks.
Farm & Nutrition Day Planned for March 23 at Fresno Fairgrounds
California Ag Network
Fresno County third-graders will convene at the Fresno Fairgrounds March 23 for an agricultural and food-related field trip organized by the Fresno County Farm Bureau. A focus of the event is learning the importance of making healthy food choices, much of which is provided by Fresno County's bounty of diversified crops and products.
UC Cooperative Extension nutrition educators will present a play that helps the children recognize "MyPlate" as a guide to healthy eating and uses a "Strong-O-Meter" to encourage active play. In addition, the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center staff and UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors will staff booths teaching children about farming and gardening.
