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Sustainability! The term is used quite extensively, to the point that many think it no longer has any meaning.
By Ed Page
CSU Tri River Extension Agent
When it comes to feeding our citizens and having an agriculture that continues to provide food, there will always be a critical meaning and need for sustainability. Today, we are seeing how agriculture’s success is turning into a very challenging situation, with a food system that is fully dependent on fossil fuels for energy, fertilizers, chemicals, and value adding processes. These fuels are becoming much more expensive, for a number of reasons, and that is contributing to higher food cost here and lack of available food in many other parts of the world.
The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), which is part of the United States Department of Agriculture, focuses exclusively on issues of sustainability and local food access through improving local food and agriculture systems. SARE recently held a planning meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., to determine its priorities and direction for the next 20 years.
To frame these discussions, large posters were created that reported on past research and education programs, how they served the people and what specific benefits had accrued to local communities and larger regions. SARE is successful because it involves the clientele it seeks to help. The clientele — farmers, ranchers and business people and, of course, students, extension and academic staff — identify issues, create the research programs, and do the work to solve problems. These people also sit on panels that review project applications and determine to whom the grants will be awarded.
The group of 70-plus assembled in Albuquerque, who came from southern Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, identified key areas and approaches that they felt would be important in the coming years including season extension, water quality and quantity, energy to keep farms operating, and educating youth to provide farmers to raise food for our future. There was a great sense of urgency among those gathered for this event.
One of the points also made was that people in cities may have a more difficult time in a future where food security is diminished. Urban agriculture is no less important than farming corn or beans on a thousand acres as it also provides food to sustain people.
Indeed, one of the hallmarks of SARE is that it does consider smaller, more intensive and direct marketing farmers to be key to their program. They have funded many good programs in our area. A current grant I am working with through CSU Extension and western SARE demonstrates season extension and how it can be accomplished on a small scale. The scale could easily be adapted for most small acreage owners or back yard gardeners. More information on this or other extension programs can be gotten from Ed Page at (970) 249-3935.
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