The University of California, Santa Cruz
http://zzyx.ucsc.edu/casfs/ -- Lawrence F. London, Jr. - Venaura Farm - Chapel Hill, NC, USA mailto:london@sunSITE.unc.edu http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden mailto:llondon@nuteknet.com http:nuteknet.com/london Venaura FarmTitle: The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems
The University of California, Santa Cruz
The Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (the Center) is a research and education group at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Center's goal is to research, develop, and advance sustainable food and agricultural sustems which are environmentally sound, economically viable, socially responsible, nonexploitative, and which serves as a foundation for future generations. Center research and education efforts seek to increase understanding of the social, economic, political and ethical foundations of agricultural sustainability; to establish the ecological and agronomic basis for sustainable production systems; and to demonstrate and facilitate the use of information critical to the adoption of these systems.
Our status as a Center within the Division of Social Sciences at UC Santa Cruz enables us to undertake projects in many disciplines in the persuit of these goals, and to work with faculty, staff, and students from throughout the university. Beyond the campus we collaborate with non-govermental organizations (NGOs), growers, community members, visiting students and researchers, and state and federal agencies, including UC Cooperative Extension and the US Department of Agriculture.
On the UCSC campus, the Center operates the 4-acre Alan Chadwick Garden and the 25-acre Farm. Both sites are managed using organic production methods, and serve as research and training facilities for students, staff, and faculty. The public is welcome to visit both facilities.