Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2.1
Alternative and sustainable agriculture programs at land-grant universities.
Year
Parent LGU institution
Sustainable agriculture program
established
University of
Center for Agroecology and Sustainable
1980
California, Santa Cruz
a
Food Systems (formerly the
Agroecology Program)
Cornell University
Farming Alternatives Program
1986
University of
UC Sustainable Agriculture Research
1986
California, Davis
and Education Program (SAREP)
Iowa State University
Leopold Center
1987
University of Maine
Sustainable Agriculture Program
1988
University of
Center for Integrated Agricultural
1989
Wisconsin, Madison
Systems (CIAS)
Washington State
Center for Sustaining Agriculture and
1991
University
Natural Resources
University of Nebraska,
Center for Applied Rural Innovation
1991
Lincoln
(formerly Center for Sustainable
Agricultural Systems)
University of
Minnesota Institute for Sustainable
1992
Minnesota
Agriculture
University of Vermont
Center for Sustainable Agriculture
1994
Kansas State University
Kansas Center for Sustainable
2000
Agriculture and Alternative Crops
a. UC Santa Cruz is not a land-grant university. This program emerged in the
1960s from students' interest in small, organic, direct-marketed farming, and
from leadership by Stephen Gliessman.
formalized extension service in 1914. All of these programs are quite
small, relative to their parent institutions, and generally marginal to
LGUs. Many of these programs target smaller, family farmers, and help
them with non-conventional crops or direct marketing, and many have
advisory boards consisting of farmers and concerned citizens that set pri-
orities for research and programming. These programs average fewer
than six employees and less than $1 million in annual budget. Given the
political headaches caused by the clamor for alternatives, these programs
are really cheap.
49
The Leopold Center stands out because it was the first at a large, agri-
culturally oriented LGU, and its creation attracted national attention. In
