Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture
9200 Edmonston Road, #117
Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 441-8777
E-mail: hawiaa@access.digex.net
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If You Are Interested in Sustainable Agriculture...
In addition to this monthly newsletter, the Henry A. Wallace
Institute for Alternative Agriculture publishes the American
Journal of Alternative Agriculture, a quarterly, peer-reviewed
journal of research on alternative agriculture. It is a
scientific forum for disseminating technical, economic, and
social research findings about the character and requirements of
alternative agriculture systems.
Articles in the current issue (Volume 11, No. 1) cover low-
input, on-farm composting; a case study on evaluating the
sustainability of alternative farming systems; soil and water
conservation and improved crop management effects on watershed
productivity in India; a review of the literature on economic
methods for comparing alternative crop production systems;
expansion of the organic food market in Denmark; a South Dakota
case study comparing organic and sustainable fed cattle
production; and effects of free-range chickens and geese on
insect pests and weeds in an agroecosystem. Subscriptions to
AJAA are $24 a year for individuals; $12 for students; and $44
for libraries. Contact the Wallace Institute, 9200 Edmonston
Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770; (301) 441-8777; e-mail
hawiaa@access.digex.net
Alternative Agriculture News: Table of Contents
USDA Announces Policy Directive on Sustainable Ag 1
Wallace Institute Launches New Policy Project 3
Heavy Use of Pesticides Common in Thailand 3
Positions 4
IPM is the Answer, Says Consumers Union 4
Campaign Charges Proposed EQIP Favors Polluters 4
Court Rules EPA Must Disclose Inert Ingredients 5
National Research Initiative Calls for Proposals 5
Resources 5
Upcoming Events 6
USDA ANNOUNCES POLICY DIRECTIVE COMMITTING AGENCY TO SUSTAINABLE
AG
The USDA last month announced a new agency-wide policy
directive expressing the Department's commitment to sustainable
agriculture, based on a Memorandum on Sustainable Development
issued by USDA Secretary Dan Glickman. That memorandum supports
sustainability throughout the Department's programs, and
culminates the year-long work of the 50-member interagency
Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, which examined barriers to
adopting more sustainable farming methods. It also responds to
recommendations from the President's Council on Sustainable
Development (see Alternative Agriculture News, May, 1996).
"The purpose of this memorandum is to state the Department's
support for policies, programs, activities and education in
sustainable development, including sustainable agriculture,
sustainable forestry and sustainable rural community development,
and to establish a mechanism to coordinate these efforts across
the Department," the memorandum reads.
"USDA is committed to working toward the economic,
environmental and social sustainability of diverse food, fiber,
agriculture, forest and range systems. USDA will balance goals
of improved production and profitability, stewardship of the
natural resource base and ecological systems, and enhancement of
the vitality of rural communities."
In its report, "Toward a More Sustainable American
Agriculture," the Sustainable Agriculture Working Group concluded
that "the challenge ahead for the USDA is to meld the goal of
production efficiency with the goals of resource enhancement,
community development, and farm profitability. Although not
intended to be a totally complete approach to sustainability,
this report enumerates a variety of ways for USDA to link its
clientele, programs, goals and expertise to support agricultural
activities that are sustainable in every dimension --
economically, environmentally, and socially." The Working Group
identified 33 ways for the USDA to overcome barriers to
sustainable agriculture, including:
* Promoting systems-based research and education efforts by
developing scholarships for post-graduate research and education
programs on sustainable agriculture, continuing support for the
SARE program, and establishing awards programs to identify and
reward university and Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists who incorporate systems-oriented approaches in their
research and education programs.
* Involving producers, especially those with sustainable
agriculture expertise, in developing research priorities, making
funding decisions, conducting research projects and implementing
education efforts based on research results. This might include
planning, conducting and evaluating research within the ARS and
the National Research Initiative.
* Examining the use of current research reporting
mechanisms, such as Current Research Information System (CRIS),
for documenting sustainable agriculture research. Where CRIS or
other systems are used in research evaluation, such as in the
ARS, the use of sustainable agriculture-relevant criteria in
project planning and reporting should be considered.
* Encouraging agricultural scientists to include relevance
to sustainable agriculture in their research activities, and
encourage collaboration on interdisciplinary systems projects.
Secretary Glickman has also established a USDA Council on
Sustainable Development to follow up on the recommendations of
the Working Group and the President's Council.
Copies of "Toward a More Sustainable American Agriculture"
are available from USDA/CSREES/Partnerships, Room 3868 South
Building, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. 20250;
(202) 720-5203.
WALLACE INSTITUTE LAUNCHES NEW POLICY PROJECT; CLANCY NAMED
DIRECTOR
The Wallace Institute is launching a new project, "Designing
a Policy Framework for Food, Agricultural and Rural
Sustainability," which is expected to start in January, 1997.
The five-year project is being funded by the W. K. Kellogg
Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan, which has contributed $2
million to be dedicated solely to the project. The director of
the effort will be Kate Clancy, currently Professor of Human
Nutrition at Syracuse University, New York.
Building on work already begun by regional sustainable
agriculture working groups, the Integrated Farming Systems
Network, the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, and other
efforts, the project will seek to develop a shared vision of
sustainable agriculture and supportive food and agriculture
policies at the local, state, and national level. Working with
sustainable agriculture leaders across the country, Clancy will
organize and lead a systematic process to create the foundation
for longer-term and proactive policy development and decision-
making for a sustainable food and agricultural system. The
Wallace Institute staff and others will then analyze these
interacting policy proposals to identify their tradeoffs, costs,
and benefits, and make the results widely available to Congress,
government agencies, and the public.
Clancy has been at Syracuse University since 1982. In 1985,
she was a Visiting Fellow at the National Center for Food and
Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C. For a semester in 1995,
she was a Visiting Professor at the Center for Integrated
Agricultural Systems at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
She served on the Wallace Institute's Board of Directors from
1988 to 1994, and has also served as President of the
Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society.
HEAVY USE -- AND MISUSE -- OF PESTICIDES IS COMMON IN THAILAND
Use of pesticides "far in excess of safety levels" is
"common" in Thailand, according to an article in The Wall Street
Journal (October 3, 1996). "Even after harvesting, food may be
doused with chemicals," the article says. "Government tests have
found unsafe levels of pesticides on products ranging from grapes
to the orchids that decorate cocktail drinks." Although many
crops are picked soon after being treated with pesticides, little
has been done to keep harmful food from domestic markets. "An
increasing number of insects are growing immune to common
pesticides, farmers say, prompting them to increase the doses
even more," the article continues. Many farmers pay little
attention to the instructions on pesticide containers, and many
do not protect themselves from exposure to the chemicals. In
addition, "farmers do say that they avoid eating their own
pesticide-ridden crops," according to the article.
POSITIONS
Public Voice for Food and Health Policy seeks a Chief
Executive Officer to lead its efforts to influence national food
and agriculture policy; send cover letter, resume, and writing
sample to John D. Herrick, Chair, CEO Search Committee, Public
Voice, 1101 14th St., NW, #710, Washington, D.C. 20005.
Rodale Institute seeks an individual or an organization
expert in organizing and conducting focus groups on social
issues, to study the public's perception of the food system in
Pennsylvania; contact Scott Overholt, Communications Director,
Rodale Institute, (610) 683-1486; e-mail soverh@rodaleinst.org.
WITH PESTICIDE RISKS INCREASING, IPM IS THE ANSWER, SAYS
CONSUMERS UNION
Because the risks and costs imposed by pesticides on society
are "unacceptably high and getting higher," Consumers Union has
released a two-year study authored by Dr. Charles M. Benbrook
that recommends "a program to reduce public health and
environmental risks from pesticides at least 75 percent by the
year 2020" through Integrated Pest Management (IPM). "Pesticide
residues in food and drinking water put consumers at heightened
risk for cancer, and affect human nervous and reproductive
systems in ways that are still not fully known," the report says.
"Pesticides exact a toll on the economy, siphoning off billions
of dollars to feed a research and regulatory apparatus that only
grows fatter, not better....The evidence is now clear that
intensively chemical-dependent approaches often fail to manage
pests effectively." The report calls for "accelerating progress
toward IPM" by making the transition to the most advanced
biointensive IPM a national policy goal, and makes
recommendations for the public and private sectors, and
consumers. "Pest Management at the Crossroads" is $35.95 from
Professional Mailing and Distribution Services Inc., P.O. Box
2013, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701; (301) 617-7815; e-mail
pmac@pmds.com.
CAMPAIGN CHARGES PROPOSED RULE ON EQIP FAVORS "LARGE-SCALE
POLLUTERS"
The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture has
criticized the USDA's proposed rule on the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP) for not setting "meaningful limits on
the size of livestock operations eligible for assistance with
construction of manure-handling facilities." As part of the Farm
Bill, EQIP was created to help farmers and ranchers address
agriculture's environmental impacts, but forbid cost-share
assistance to "large confined livestock operations," leaving USDA
to define the term. The proposed rule "backtracks on that
commitment, forcing State Conservationists in all 50 states to
come up with their own limit, if any," according to the Campaign.
"By failing to set clear limits on who can collect...the rule
leaves the way open for taxpayer dollars to help corporate farms
build pollution controls that the Clean Water Act already obliges
them to install," wrote The Washington Post. The proposal asks
"U.S. taxpayers to bribe large-scale polluters to obey the law,"
said Ferd Hoefner of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. EQIP
is available for public comment until November 25.
COURT RULES EPA MUST DISCLOSE INERT INGREDIENTS
A federal district court in Washington, D.C., has ruled that
the EPA must disclose the inert ingredients of pesticide products
to two environmental organizations, the Northwest Coalition for
Alternatives to Pesticides, and the National Coalition Against
the Misuse of Pesticides. Inert ingredients include up to 2,300
substances that are added to pesticide products, but unlike
active ingredients, are not identified on product labels;
manufacturers claim that inert ingredients are a trade secret.
The court ordered the EPA to release to the groups the common
names and Chemical Abstract Service registry numbers of most
inert ingredients on the confidential statements of formula
submitted to the agency for six pesticide formulations. NCAMP
has said it would like to release the information it receives to
the public.
NATIONAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE CALLS FOR PROPOSALS
The USDA/CSREES is soliciting proposals for support of high
priority research of importance to agriculture, forestry, and
related environmental sciences under the National Research
Initiative Competitive Grants Program. The research categories
are Natural Resources and the Environment; Nutrition, Food
Quality, and Health; Plant Systems; Animal Systems; Markets,
Trade, and Policy; and New Products and Processes. Deadlines
range from November 15, 1996, to February 15, 1997. Application
materials are available from NRICGP c/o Proposal Services
Unit/OEP/CSREES/USDA, Stop 2245, 1400 Independence Ave., SW,
Washington, D.C. 20205; (202) 401-5048; e-mail psb@reeusda.gov;
or on the Internet at http://www.reeusda.gov. Materials will be
mailed, but not e-mailed.
RESOURCES
International Short Course on Agroecology will be offered at
the Center for Biological Control at the University of
California, Berkeley, June 16-25, 1997; for application, contact
Dr. Miguel Altieri, University of California, 201 Wellman Hall-
3112; Berkeley, CA 94720; e-mail agroeco3@nature.berkeley.edu;
fax (510) 642-7428.
"Organic Agriculture Worldwide 1996-1997" is $16 from IFOAM,
Okozentrum Imsbach, D-66636 Tholey-Theley/Germany; e-mail ifoam-
secretary@oln.comlink.apc.org.
Proceedings of the North American Symposium of the
Association for Farming Systems Research/Extension, held in
November, 1995, are $15, payable to NCRCRD, from Julie Stewart,
North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, 404 East
Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
"Agroforestry for Farms and Ranches" is available from Bruce
Wight, USDA National Agroforestry Center, East Campus -- UNL,
Lincoln, NE 68583; (402) 437-5178, ext. 36; e-mail
Bruce_Wight@ftw.nrcs.usda.gov.
"Sustainable Agriculture in the Mid-Atlantic Region" is
available from USDA/CSREES/Partnerships, Room 3868 South
Building, 14th and Independence Aves., SW, Washington, D.C.
20250; (202) 720-5203.
"Organic Production: Recent Publications and Current
Information Sources" is available from Alternative Farming
Systems Information Center, National Agricultural Library, ARS,
USDA, Room 304, 10301 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-2351;
(301) 504-6559; or on the Internet at
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 29 is the deadline for oral presentation and
session proposals for "Interactions: Managing Ecosystems on a
Watershed Basis," the Soil and Water Conservation Society's 52nd
Annual Conference, to be held July 23-26, 1997, in Toronto,
Ontario; contact the Society at 1-800-843-7645; e-mail
swcs@swcs.org.
December 5, "Sustaining the Landscape -- Sustaining the
Lifestyle," the 11th Annual Grazing Lands Forum, will be held in
Washington, D.C.; contact Jim Fox, (202) 452-7744; Ralph Giffen,
(202) 205-1455; or George Ramey, (202) 452-7747; e-mail
gramey@wo0033wp.wo.blm.gov
December 5-7, Acres USA Conference will be held in St.
Louis, MO; contact Acres USA, P.O. Box 8800, Metairie, LA 70011;
1-800-355-5313.
December 6 is the deadline for abstracts of proposed papers
for "Exceeding Expectations," the 1997 Wildlands Conference, to
be held May 19-20, 1997, in Atlanta, GA; contact Wildlife Habitat
Council, 1010 Wayne Ave., #920, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (301)
588-8994; e-mail whc@cais.com.
December 6-8, National Organic Farmer Marketing Association
Meeting will be held in Kansas City, MO; contact Bill Welsh,
OFMA, P.O. Box 159, La Farge, WI 54639; (319) 535-7318; e-mail
cvof@iquest.net.
December 11, "Marketing in a Changing Economic and Policy
Environment," the Executive Seminar on Agricultural Issues, will
be held in Sacramento, CA; contact Geralyn Unterberg, University
of California at Berkeley, (510) 642-5440.
December 11-13, "Animal Agriculture and the Environment:
Nutrients, Pathogens, and Community Relations" will be held in
Rochester, N.Y.; contact Northeast Regional Agricultural
Engineering Service, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall,
Ithaca, N.Y. 14853-5701; (607) 255-7654; e-mail
nraes@cornell.edu.
March 19-21, 1997, International Conference on Agricultural
Production and Nutrition will be held in Brookline, MA; contact
William Lockeretz, School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts
University, Medford, MA 02155; e-mail
wlockeretz@infonet.tufts.edu.
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