Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T17:57:38.064Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Building diverse community networks for sustainable food systems: Guiding philosophies of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Laura M. Carnes  and
Heather D. Karsten
Laura M. Carnes*
Affiliation:
Recent master's of science graduate of the Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Heather D. Karsten
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department, 116 ASI Bldg, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
*
Laura M. Cames (laura_cames@yahoo.com).
Get access

Abstract

The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) is a grassroots organization that facilitates the exchange of sustainable farming practices among its members, creates marketing opportunities for local farmers, and promotes consumer awareness and support for sustainable agriculture. Interviews with PASA's board members and staff, content analyses of PASA's literature, and a mail survey and spatial analysis of PASA's members—who include both farmers and members who do not farm—were used to examine members' characteristics, why they value being members, and the philosophies and strategies that guide the organization's successes. Results indicate that by embracing a broad definition of sustainable agriculture, PASA promotes profitable and environmentally sound farming practices to a diversity of farmers. Networking with a broad cross-section of local and regional organizations and institutions has enabled PASA to use the expertise of community leaders and share fundraising to develop marketing opportunities for farmers. Linking sustainable agriculture with priorities of community economic development has brought farmers to urban planning tables, increased inner city access to fresh, local food, and increased the economic viability of local farmers. PASA's experiences exemplify the opportunities and tensions involved with networking with mainstream institutions to gain greater support for the sustainable agriculture community. PASA provides one model of how sustainable agriculture organizations can play an integral role in supporting sustainable agriculture.

Keywords

sustainable agriculturegrassroots organizational supportcommunity food systemsorganizational strategies
Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , December 2003 , pp. 174 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brannen, D.E. 2001. Community farm initiative five-year report to the Kellogg Foundation. PASA, Millheim, PA.Google Scholar
Buttel, F.H. 1992. Environmentalism: Origins, processes, and implications for rural social change. Rural Sociology 57(1):1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, D. 1997. Community-controlled economic development as a strategic vision for the sustainable agriculture movement. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 12(1):37–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, D. 2001. Conviction seeking efficacy: Sustainable agriculture and the politics of co-optation. Agriculture and Human Values 19:353–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flora, C.B. 1995. Social capital and sustainability: Agriculture and communities in the great plains and corn belt. Research in Rural Sociology and Development: A Research Annual 6:227–246.Google Scholar
Hassanein, N., and Kloppenburg, J. Jr. 1995. Where the grass grows again: Knowledge exchange in the sustainable agriculture movement. Rural Sociology 60(4):721–740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassebrook, C., Bird, E., Johnson, B., Kroese, R., and Stauber, K.. 1995. Policy issues and recommendations. In Bultena, G.L., Bird, E.A., and Gardner, J.C. (eds.). Planting the Future: Developing an Agriculture that Sustains the Land and Community. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa.Google Scholar
Korsching, P.F., and Malia, J.. 1991. Institutional support for practicing sustainable agriculture. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 6(1): 17–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Research Council 1989. Alternative Agriculture. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
National Research Council 2001. Publicly Funded Agricultural Research and the Changing Structure of US Agriculture. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. 2000. Helping small farmers become market-savvy: An innovative partnership creates new markets for local farmers. Passages Newsletter, Fall: 16–17.Google Scholar
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension. 1990. Land use and management contest. Teacher Education Series 49(2). The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.Google Scholar
Stauber, K., Hassebrook, C., Bird, E.A., Bultena, G., Hoiberg, E., MacCormack, H., and Menanteau-Horta, D.. 1995. The promise of sustainable agriculture. In Bultena, G.L., Bird, E.A., and Gardner, J.C. (eds.). Planting the Future: Developing an Agriculture that Sustains the Land and Community. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa.Google Scholar
Thompson, R., and Thompson, S.. 1990. The on-farm research program of Practical Farmers of Iowa. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 5(4): 163–167.Google Scholar
USDA. 2001. National Agricultural Statistics Service. Pennsylvania state and county data. Available at Web site http://www.nass.usda.gov. (verified 10 2002).Google Scholar