Ask for $30 million for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
Agricultural research is a powerful and fundamental force that shapes our food and farming system. Publically supported agricultural research has often yielded technologies and practices that best serve industrial agriculture; systems which favor increased production at the expense of other public values. These systems yield cheap food, farm loss and environmental degradation.
SARE is an agent for change within the Land Grant University system. It is the only USDA research program that focuses on the triple bottom line of farm profitability, resource conservation and contribution to community.
SARE delivers cutting edge research and technology that is farmer-driven, regionally-led, and outcomes-oriented. Its research has led to new production techniques, higher farm income, and greater environmental stewardship.
SARE supported on-farm trials on everything from farmstead cheese, community supported agriculture, on-farm bio-diesel production, grass based livestock production, organic agriculture and many other practices have brought these ideas and practices from the fringe into the mainstream. The SARE grants of today are likely to be the common agricultural practices of tomorrow.
SARE uses its funds efficiently, with 87% going directly to the regions for their grant programs and most of the rest invested in top-notch publications and public communication and outreach.
SARE funds are always oversubscribed. Year in and year out the program is able to fund only 8% to 10% of research and education proposals submitted.
President Obama’s request for SARE is an important first step, but only comes to fruition if Congress supports the needed increase. We now need Congress to do its part to invest in the future of a more sustainable food and agricultural system.
What you can do:
Please call your Representatives and Senators today and urge them to ask for $30 million for SARE for Fiscal Year 2011.
The Message is Simple: I am a constituent and am calling to urge Congressman _________ to support President Obama’s request for $30 million for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program for Fiscal Year 2011. SARE helps spark innovation in agriculture and build new businesses, which translates into more jobs in ___your STATE____.
Report Your Call: Please take a moment to tell us a little about the results of your call. It is helpful for us to know if you are getting through to your legislator and how they are responding to your call. Click here to let us know how it went.
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