Sustainable Communities Innovation Grants

Sustainable Communities Innovation Grants
A SARE/SRDC Partnership Initiative

2003 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY GRANTS BULLETIN

Healthy and prosperous rural communities are a key factor in sustaining the future of U.S. agriculture, and innovations in agriculture are important to the future of many rural communities. Despite this mutual interdependence, agriculture and community development have too often been studied and conducted without regard to one another. The Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) and the Southern Rural Development Center now offer a pilot grants program that will invest in projects that strengthen both agriculture and Southern communities through explicit linkages between sustainable agriculture and community development and improve understanding of the mutual benefits of such linkages.

The Sustainable Community Innovation Grants Program funds projects that pursue local strategies that link sound farm and nonfarm economic development with agricultural and natural resource management. Applications are chosen based on their ability to increase knowledge, build capacity, and make connections among on- and off-farm sustainable agriculture activities, economic and community development, civic engagement, nutrition and health, and local government policy.

Agri-tourism: A Strategy toward Sustainable Farm, Business, Family and Community Development
Brian Calhoun, Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Downtown Farmer’s Market--Linking the Farm to the Community
Rob Gordy, Carroll County Farmland and Rural Preservations Committee

Homegrown, From Our Farms to Your Table: Growing a Farmers’ Cooperative in East Tennessee
Steve Hodges, Jubilee Project, Inc.

Keen on Beans: Establishing Edamame Awareness and Demand for Kentucky Consumers and Growers
Martha W. Lee, Daviess County Extension Service, University of Kentucky

Making the Connection: Enhancing Agricultural Understanding in an Urbanizing Area
Suzanne Heflin, Prince William County Farm Tour, Inc.

Pioneering the Way to the Future
Dianne Neal, Okemah Chamber of Commerce

SE North Carolina Agri-Tourism Corridor Development
Nancy Hunt, The Conservation Fund

Test Marketing of New Label in Southwest Florida for USA Grown/Living Wage Produce
Richard J. Nogaj, Harvest for Humanity, Inc.