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RETREAT PARTICIPANTS  ::  PURPOSE

RETREAT
PARTICIPANTS Ý PURPOSE  ::  VISION STATEMENTS  ::  PRIORITIES   ::   ACTION GROUPS  ::  2006 UPDATE
 

Participant Capsule Presentations           Participants were asked prior to the retreat to present their work, research, education or other activities related to sustainable agriculture.  Participants shared what brought them to the retreat, details about their farm, and/or how they are involved in Idaho sustainable agriculture.  Click on the participants below to view their capsule presentations.

Hosts Colette DePhelps Cinda Williams

Facilitator Woody Deryckx

Participants

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PURPOSE Ý PARTICIPANTS  ::  VISION STATEMENTS  ::  PRIORITIES   ::   ACTION GROUPS  ::  2006 UPDATE

The purpose of the retreat was to engage and challenge a highly committed group of stakeholders from agriculture production, non-profit groups, universities and agencies to develop a vision for sustainable agriculture in Idaho.  The retreat was organized by Colette DePhelps, Rural Roots Executive Director and Cinda Williams, University of Idaho Extension Support Scientist in Sustainable Agriculture and Small Farms. Funding was provided by USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grants. The goal was to have participants leave with a better understanding of the inter-connections of their combined work and renewed energy for promoting sustainable agriculture. Intended outcomes of the retreat identified by DePhelps and Williams: Develop new relationships and strengthen existing collaborative networks among sustainable agriculture practitioners   Increase awareness of the progress being made in sustainable agriculture in Idaho   Increase understanding of the issues and dynamics of the sustainable agriculture movement in the Pacific Northwest.   Develop a common vision and a new directive for sustainable agriculture in Idaho   Identify a clear set of priorities and next steps for Idaho’s sustainable agriculture.

What are we already doing? Click on any one of the participants to find out what each are doing in sustainable agriculture. What are our individual visions of sustainable agriculture in Idaho? View the complete vision statements compiled by participants throughout the event. Download a full color version here. What are our priorities as a group? View the priorities section. What actions can we take together? View the goals and suggested actions determined by the action groups. What are the next steps? Visit 2006 update to learn about what comes next...

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VISION STATEMENTS Ý PARTICIPANTS  ::  PURPOSE  ::  PRIORITIES   ::   ACTION GROUPS  ::  2006 UPDATE
as submitted by individual participants at the 2005 Sustainable Agriculture Retreat

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PRIORITIES Ý PARTICIPANTS  ::  PURPOSE  ::  VISION STATEMENTS   ::   ACTION GROUPS  ::  2006 UPDATE

Small Group Discussion: Priorities for Taking Action Participants were asked to develop priority steps derived from the collective vision, that the group as a whole could take to fulfill the vision.   Participants were challenged with the question “how do we get where we want to go?”  Participants broke into four groups.  Within the groups, each person wrote down four priority actions for achieving the vision.  Participants in each group then shared their priority actions around the table.  After sharing, each small group was to come to a consensus on four or five top priority actions.  Reporters from each group presented these priorities to the larger group of retreat participants. The seventeen priorities suggested by the small group discussions are listed below:  Group 1: Encourage infrastructure for food (and meat/poultry) processing and providing assistance to new farmers related to processing issues, regulations etc. Create awareness of cultural implications of agriculture Promote policy changes, broaden political base for change 4.  Conduct farmer education; develop educational materials to include: enterprise          budgets, production manual and regulation guide, network and resource manual. Group 2: Access and utilize all funding to promote local food production and eating Connect local farmers with teacher in every school district in Idaho. Concept of “No farmer left behind” Increase marketing efforts to promote local food; include labeling at county levels and provide information  (Ex:  “this apple traveled x miles, used x BTUs”) Recruit “more” sustainable Idaho farmers to grow/raise locally produced and consumed products Group 3: Provide on-farm experiential education on farm and other “hands-on” agricultural events Promote opportunities to get local foods into state institutions, hospitals, prisons, schools (funded by state govt.) Increase visibility; conduct a big publicity campaign Facilitate the development of more coops and collectives Group 4: Infuse sustainability concepts into all levels of agriculture to include: future farmers, extension, teachers, agricultural leaders and administrators, etc. Expand new farmer loan programs Create sustainable agriculture production model to easily demonstrate to policy makers and others who fund and support agriculture Lobby and influence policy change for open space saved within developments Make agriculture more accessible to school children Refocusing Priorities: Brainstorming Attainable Goals Ý The individuals present at the retreat believed themselves capable of doing a great deal together to change the face of sustainable agriculture in Idaho, and all were in agreement that individuals have a limited amount of time to affect change in while maintaining a busy farm, family, and work schedules.  Participants were asked to identify ideas and actions that the group could attempt together.  In this way, efforts could be more effective with less individual effort.  Initially, these ideas and actions fell into one of two categories:  actions either too complex to be easily addressed (i.e., getting local foods into prisons) or actions which could be accomplished independent of group effort (i.e., adoption of a local school by a local farmer). Retreat participants were redirected to specifically designate actions which could be tackled as a group.  A discussion generated the idea of sending out regular press releases on sustainable agriculture to local papers.  This example was indicative of the kinds of ideas the group set out to develop because it was something which addressed aspects of the collective vision and simply accomplished, requiring a small time commitment by any one person throughout the year.  With this example in mind, participants were encouraged to come up with other attainable group actions.  Some discussion centered on clarification of the topics in the seventeen priorities topic list.  Some people still felt concern for topics that had not made it to the final seventeen.  Therefore, a working group on policy and open space preservation was added along with a working group on new farmer financing.  Click here to view the full list of priorities in a new window. Participants were then given four dot stickers for prioritization of the listed ideas. The number of votes for each topic was tallied. Out of the seventeen prioritized action steps, the group selected the following ideas as immediate action steps: To create weekly press releases To form a University of Idaho Advisory Board To create a working group for the policy changes and preservation of open space To develop a sustainable agriculture model

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ACTION GROUPS Ý PARTICIPANTS  ::  PURPOSE  ::  VISION STATEMENTS  ::  PRIORITIES  ::  2006 UPDATE

Taking Action: Beyond the Retreat Participants voted to form action groups around the following four priorities: To create weekly press releases To form a University of Idaho Advisory Board To create a working group for the policy changes and preservation of open space To develop a sustainable agriculture model After deciding on the top four action steps, participants were encouraged to form group - each focusing on a different priority.  The four groups formed and brainstormed ideas on what actions steps they could take to continue efforts outlined at the retreat.  These action steps were recorded along with ideas on how the group planned to communicate in the future.  Each group shared their action steps with the all the retreat participants.  Participants discussed how these actions would lead to the collective vision they created at the beginning of the retreat.  The act of forming this collective vision was quite valuable on its own as a way to look toward the future in a positive way, to help people feel motivated.  However, the participants went beyond simply creating a vision, to outline concrete steps leading to that vision.  As the retreat drew to a close, participants shared that they felt as though they now had a goal to take back to their farms or offices.  The energy in the room was decidedly positive, as those in attendance expressed that their concerns had been heard and that they looked forward to making progress on their group’s goals.  All participants seemed to feel the retreat gave people a basis to begin working together towards sustainable agriculture goals for Idaho.  I. News Articles: Profiles in Sustainability Ý Action Steps 1.      Prepare possible scripts for farmer profiles, farm customer interviews, and one for farms and their unique qualities. 2.      Initiate discussion with UI faculty in Agricultural Communications 3.      Develop list of topics for possible new articles. 4.      Email list of three topics that need to be addressed to committee members.  Would you be willing to write on these? 5.      Perhaps involve journalist interns under the tutelage of Rural Roots or Agricultural Communications to write the articles. 6.      Have articles the same size every week. 7.      Cultivate relationships with local newspapers including: The Statesman, The Spokesman, Capitol Press, Local Harvest, Touch the Soil, Sprout.  This develops partnerships that the papers can count on. 8.      Target the general public to increase awareness of sustainability in Idaho, to enlighten fellow travelers on the sustainability path. 11.  Players:                    Rural Roots                    University of Idaho                    Department of Agriculture 12.  No partner can censor the content of the articles. 13.  Planning Committee                    Josie Erskine                    Sandy McCurdy                    Karen Ellis                    Diane Green                    Mary Rolfing                    Jo Ann Robbins                    Kevin Laughlin                    Cinda Williams   II. UI Advisory Board Ý Action Steps:  1.      Email group to confirm commitment to UI Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Group. 2.      Plan for fall meeting in the form of a conference call. 3.      Decided on other people who weren't present who needed to be called and asked to join. 4.      Follow-up conference call would help members to plan for long term involvement and to decide action steps that the group can take. 5.      General Mission:  To provide advice and focus for education in Sustainable Agriculture, especially in regard to professional development. 6.      Planning Committee:      Cinda Williams      Bryan Hopkins      Steve Love      Jo Ann Robbins      Jennifer Miller   III. Policy and Open Space Preservation Working Group Ý  Within the group, members decided that open space is a central issue for farmers of all belief systems.  They believe that policy change in this area would be a topic that could unite farmers of many different philosophies together to create a broad base of support, which could only help in the struggle to preserve open space for farms.  Action Steps:   1.      Decided that open space preservation would be the broadest topic in policy that farmers across the spectrum of philosophies could stand behind.  2.      Conduct research on policy that is currently in place to preserve open space. 3.      Make a conscious effort not to reinvent the wheel and only build on current successes. 4.      Look into innovative plans which are already in place across the country. Example:  Requiring developments to include open space in their planning.  Could this open space be turned into a CSA farm for the surrounding community? 5.      Look into forming a Sustainable Agriculture Commission and what that would take.  Could this commission have lobbyists who would work with government with sustainable interests in mind? 6.      Communicate with a list serve which would include everyone so that updates could be easily circulated. 7.      Planning Committee:      Sara Foster      Jeannie Matheison      Dan Walters      J. D. Wolfhorst      Clay Erskine           IV. Creating a Sustainable Agriculture Model Ý Action Steps:       1.      Basis for model would be a traditional model of crop production. 2.      Develop a similar model for sustainable agriculture 3.      Use this model to demonstrate the holistic nature of sustainable agriculture to a broader audience. 4.      Planning Committee: Mir Seyedbagheri, Fred Brosey, Mike Heath, etc.

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2006 UPDATE Ý PARTICIPANTS  ::  PURPOSE  ::  VISION STATEMENTS  ::  PRIORITIES   ::   ACTION GROUPS