Converting to Ecologically Based Management - Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems - page 292

L EVEL 3

within a cultural and economic context, and that context
must support conversion to more sustainable practices. At
a local level, this means consumers value locally grown
food and support, with their food dollars, the farmers who
are striving to move through conversion levels 1, 2, and 3.
This support turns into a kind of “food citizenship” (Chapter
23) and becomes a force for food system change. The more
this transformation occurs in communities around the
world, the closer we move toward building a new culture
and economy of sustainability (Hill, 1998, 2004).
In terms of research, agronomists and other agricultural
researchers have done a good job of working on the transi-
tion from Level 1 to Level 2, and research on the transition
to Level 3 has been underway for some time. Work on the
ethics and economics of food system sustainability, however,
has only just begun (Freyfogle, 2001). Agroecology pro-
vides the basis for the type of research that is needed. And
eventually it will help us find answers to larger, more abstract
questions, such as what sustainability is and how we will
know we have achieved it.

Redesign the agroecosystem so that it functions on the
basis of a new set of ecological processes. At this level,
overall system design eliminates the root causes of many
of the problems that still exist at Levels 1 and 2. Thus
rather than finding sounder ways of solving problems, the
problems are prevented from arising in the first place.
Whole-system conversion studies allow for an understand-
ing of yield-limiting factors in the context of agroecosys-
tem structure and function. Problems are recognized, and
thereby, prevented by internal site- and time-specific
design and management approaches, instead of by the
application of external inputs. An example is the diversi-
fication of farm structure and management through the
use of rotations, multiple cropping, and agroforestry.

Level 4

Reestablish a more direct connection between those who
grow the food and those who consume it . Conversion occurs

CONVERSION OF A STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION SYSTEM

The central coast of California, with its Mediterranean climate, is an important strawberry growing region. On
approximately 12,100 acres, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties together produced more than $500 million worth
of strawberries in 2004, about half of the total California crop. Strawberry production here, as in many other locales,
is highly dependent on expensive, energy-intensive, and environmentally harmful off-farm inputs.
For more than 20 years, the Agroecology Research Group at the University of California, Santa Cruz has been
carrying out a multifaceted research project centered on studying the process of converting these conventional strawberry
production systems into more-sustainable agroecosystems. This project provides evidence that even systems strongly
invested in conventional practices can be changed; it also exemplifies the difficulties and barriers inherent in conversion.
The year-by-year evolution of the strawberry conversion research project is outlined in Table 20.1.

TABLE 20.1
Chronology of Strawberry Conversion Research Activities a
Date

Conversion Level

Activity or Milestone

1986 Contact with first farmer in transition Level 1 to Level 2

1987-1990 On-farm comparative conversion study Level 2

1990 First conversion publication, Calif. Agriculture 44:4-7. Level 2

1990-1995 Refinement of organic management Level 2

1995-1999 Rotations and crop diversification Initial level 3

1996 Second conversion publication, Calif. Agriculture 50:24-31 Level 2

1997-1999 Alternatives to MeBr research projects Level 2

1998 BASIS (Biological Agriculture Systems in Strawberries) work group established Levels 2 & 3

1999 Soil health/crop rotation study initiated Levels 2 & 3

2000-2006 Strawberry agroecosystem health study Levels 2 & 3

2002-2003 Pathogen study, funded by NASGA (N. American Strawberry Growers Assn.) Levels 2 & 3

2001-2005 Poster/oral presentations at Amer. Soc. Agronomy meetings Level 3

2003-2006 Alfalfa trap crop project Level 3

2004 Organic Strawberry Production short course Levels 2 & 3

2004-2008 USDA-Organic Research Initiative project: Integrated network for organic vegetable and

strawberry production

Levels 2, 3, & 4

2005-2006 Local organic strawberries in UC Santa Cruz dining halls Level 4

2006 California Strawberry Commission and NASGA fund organic rotation system research Level 3

a Carried out by the Agroecology Research Group at the University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.