Seeds for the Future - a funder-only learning call

Together with the air we breathe and the water we drink, crop diversity is one of the most fundamentally important resources for human life. This diversity is awe-inspiring—there are more than 200,000 varieties of wheat alone. Some would argue that crop diversity is one of the most potent and indispensable resource for addressing climate change, water and energy supply constraints, and for meeting the food needs of a growing population. Historically humans utilized more than 7,000 plant species (in North America alone) to meet their basic food needs. Today, due to the limitations of modern large-scale, mechanized farming, only 150 plant species are under cultivation, and the majority of humans live on only 12 plant species, according to research by the Food and Agriculture Organization. (1) The result for humans is a more one-dimensional diet and the consequences are potentially dire: As species drop out, the world loses the genetic diversity that has allowed farmers and scientists to breed new types of seed crops that can adapt to changing conditions - a hotter, drier growing season, for example, or the invasion of a new bacterial pest. In February 2008, on a remote island in Norway deep in the Artic Circle, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened its doors, receiving initial shipments of over 100 million seeds from over 100 countries. Many in the media have referred to it as a 'Doomsday Vault'.

A range of questions will be addressed, including: • What role does crop diversity play in agriculture as we know it? • Why a seed vault? • Seed what? Learn the basics about seed evolution, breeding cycles, practical issues with seed saving and more. • What are the different approaches used to maintain seed & crop diversity? • Who is supporting this work currently?

Speakers:
Cary Fowler, head of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and a key player in the planning and operation of the Seed Vault. Cary will share with us the logic in building the seed vault and his concerns about the future of our crop diversity. Cary brings to the conversation a 30-year career in agriculture and the preservation of biodiversity and is the co-author of the classic Shattering: Food, Politics, and the Loss of Genetic Diversity. To learn more about Cary, the Seed Vault & the Global Crop Diversity Trust visit http://www.croptrust.org.

Amy P. Goldman, board member of the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. Described by Gregory Long, President of The New York Botanical Garden as 'perhaps the world's premier vegetable gardener'. Amy is also the author of The Heirloom Tomato (a luscious read – she’s on book tour now!), an artist, and an ardent advocate for seed saving and heirloom fruits and vegetables. As a Trustee of the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust, Amy brings a philanthropic perspective to our conversation.

To learn more about Amy Goldman and Seed Savers Exchange visit http://www.rareforms.com/ and http://www.seedsavers.org/.

Related News:
“Food for Thought: Crop Diversity is Dying.” by Elisabeth Rosenthal, International Herald Tribune, August 18, 2005. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/17/news/food.php

2008 SAFSF Forum

RIPE - Real Interdependence, Partnerships and Equity: Setting the Table for Farms, Food and People

We know our strongest asset is our network of dedicated grantmakers. The 2008 Forum, as in years’ past, will offer you plenty of opportunities to learn from the place and from each other. We believe in creating a learning environment that enables attendees to jump in – both intellectually in discussion, presentation, and dialogue, as well as physically through a variety of day-long site visits and shorter on-the-move mobile workshops Lodging at the Doubletree Hotel at Lloyd Center Easily accessible by public transit from the airport, train, and bus stations. The Doubletree is the first hotel in Oregon to meet Green Seal’s requirements for sustainable business practices. Rates for SAFSF Forum Attendees Single or double: $114 (standard) or $124 (premium)/night Preliminary program will be available at www.safsf.org in February 2008. Online registration will start in March 2008.

View final Forum program

View a slideshow from the 2008 Forum

Evolving Standards for 'Organic' and 'Sustainable Agriculture': Where compatibility ends and tension begins - a funder-only learning call

Contained in the business-as-usual Farm Bill just adopted by Congress were a number of significant accomplishments. Among those were some major funding and legislative gains in organic research, education, data-collection and cost-sharing. Many long-time organic activists are really excited about the opportunities these gains represent and are already making plans to bring various stakeholders into the process of overseeing the implementation of these sections of the Farm Bill to the benefit of family farmers and the community of consumers that support them. Concurrent with these organic successes is an initiative to create national certification standards for sustainable agriculture under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI.) This effort was initiated in early 2007 by the for-profit certifier Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) and is being coordinated by the Leonardo Academy. Many progressive agricultural and non-profit advocacy interests are alarmed at both the process and content of these draft standards; others are more concerned it is an obvious and national attempt at certification ‘green-washing’.

Moderator: Bob Scowcroft, Executive Director, Organic Farming Research Foundation, SAFSF member

Speakers:
Steve Etka, lobbyist for the National Organic Coalition, will provide a brief overview of each organic plank and will be available for further questions/discussion. Steve is the owner of Etka Consulting, an Alexandria, Virginia, government relations consulting firm specializing in agricultural and conservation policy. He serves as the Washington Representative for the National Organic Coalition, representing many farm, public interest, consumer, cooperative retailer and progressive industry organizations with a common interest in organic agriculture. Prior to forming his consulting business, Steve spent 5½ years on the staff of U.S. Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, serving as Legislative Aide and Deputy Legislative Director, specializing in agriculture, environment, transportation, and appropriations matters. Previous positions for Steve include work with the non-profit conservation group American Farmland Trust, an analyst position with the National Commission on Dairy Policy, and international development consulting assignments in Latin America. Steve graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont in 1987. He is the father of 3 children.

Scott Exo, Executive Director at Food Alliance, will provide a briefing on ANSI effort and the controversy, and will also discuss the more general evolution of sustainable agriculture certification. He will also be available for questions and further discussion. A native of Virginia, Scott Exo is the Executive Director at Food Alliance in Portland, Oregon and has over seventeen years of non-profit and program management experience. Prior to joining Food Alliance in 1999, he worked on farm and forest land conservation issues for 1000 Friends of Oregon, managed rural development and study abroad programs in Asia and Africa and was an organizational consultant. Scott currently serves on the City of Portland/Multnomah Food Policy Council; the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Resource Center's administrative council; the ODA/OSU Food Innovation Center advisory board, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch advisory board. As an East-West Center graduate fellow, Scott earned dual Masters degrees in Geography and in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989.

Synthetic Biology and Post-Modern Agriculture: How Extreme Engineering is Transforming the Agricultural Economy - a funder-only learning call

The fight over GM crops may be far from over but the biotech industry is already moving on to the next frontier. Synthetic Biology, a form of extreme genetic engineering, allows industrial scientists to build life from scratch - constructing the DNA of viruses, microbes and plants from off-the-shelf chemicals. Under an avalanche of funding, a new industry of synthetic biology companies are now rolling their products out to market. They include familiar players such as Cargill, BP, Chevron and Du Pont. This industry claims they can solve climate change, peak oil and unsustainable production using synthetic organisms to produce bio-based fuels, plastics and chemicals. If they are successful they may transform the agricultural economy in a short period of time. They threaten to also introduce new biosafety and warfare risks and establish powerful new monopolies. This call will describe the new Synthetic Biology Industry, explore its implications for food and farming systems and examine how civil society is responding.

Moderator: Becca Golden, Executive Director, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation

Speakers:
Darrin Qualman lives near Dundurn, Saskatchewan, in western Canada. He and his family farmed actively until 1995. They grew crops such as wheat, oats, barley, canola, peas, lentils, and spices. Darrin began work with the National Farmers Union in 1996. Today, he is the NFU’s Director of Research. The NFU works to ensure that the family farm remains the principle unit of food production in Canada. Darrin is the author of "The Farm Crisis and Corporate Power"; “The Farm Crisis, Bigger Farms, and the Myths of ‘Competition’ and ‘Efficiency.”

Nettie Wiebe, “The Structural Adjustment of Canadian Agriculture”. He has made presentations on agricultural and trade issues across Canada and in Europe.

Jim Thomas is a Montreal-based researcher and Programme Manager for ETC Group (formerly RAFI) - an international civil society group who monitor the societal impact of new technologies and corporate concentration - especially on agriculture and rural livelihoods. Jim previously worked internationally for Greenpeace, establishing national campaigns against GM crops in UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Philippines and also co-founded the Genetic Engineering Network - a UK alliance of grassroots groups against GMO's. At ETC Group he has been closely involved in monitoring a range of new technologies. He organised the first international conference on the societal impacts of nanotechnology (in the European parliament in 2003), lead ETC's research on the impact of nanotechnology on food and farming, lobbied the UN to maintain an international moratorium on Terminator Seeds, campaigned to prevent private geo-engineering companies from experimenting with the climate and was the lead author for the first ever civil society report on Synthetic Biology, entitled "Extreme Genetic Engineering" (2007). He is also an award-winning slam poet.

Update on 2007 Survey of Funding in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems - a funder-only learning call

Join us to hear more from the 2007 Fall survey!

Moderator: Virginia Clarke, SAFSF Coordinator

Speakers:
John Sherman, Headwaters Group

Download the report: 2003-2006 Trends in Sustainable Agriculture