Community Development

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Resilient Farmers, Ranchers and Communities: Social Sustainability in Agriculture

When Nfamara Badjie, Dawn Hoyte and other family members started Ever-Growing Family Farm in Upstate New York in 2014, they had an improbable vision: that they could grow rice well enough to allow at least one of them to eventually leave their off-farm job and work full time on the farm. Rice is a nearly […]

Farming for the local community intro image

The Value of Farming with Community

Shakera and Juan Raygoza talk about why their bonds with local consumers, families, schools, agricultural educators and other farmers are beneficial for both them and for the community where they live and farm. They operate Terra Preta Farm on 15 acres in Edinburg, Texas, where they grow organic radishes for wholesale markets and run a […]

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Understanding and Measuring Social Sustainability

This SARE brief defines social sustainability and illustrates how it can be addressed more clearly in SARE projects. Sample projects and quality of life indicators are provided to help grant-seekers and reviewers think broadly about understanding, measuring and describing the social impacts of research and education projects.

Building a Local Food Movement

Over the last few decades, agriculture in western North Carolina has transformed from a reliance on tobacco to a diversified, self-sustaining industry intertwined with local communities and economies. In this video, learn how one organization has worked alongside local farmers and communities to support this transformation.

Cover of SARE's 2015-16 issue of a man inspecting a leaf through a magnifying glass

2015/2016 Report from the Field

Read about SARE-funded work in the areas of sustainable dairy cropping systems, soil health assessments, nutrient management, cover crops, beginning farmers, pollinators, technical assistance programs for women farmers, and more. This edition includes highlights of projects funded through the graduate student program, and the highly regarded Sustainable Agriculture Fellowship, a professional development program coordinated by SARE and NACAA.

Farm to Table: Building Local and Regional Food Systems

More and more, farmers, ranchers, ag professionals, community organizers and others are striving to reconfigure the nation's food system so more value stays in food-producing communities.

Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities

This guide lists funding opportunities offered by federal programs, and is indispensable for anyone seeking government help to foster their innovative enterprise in forestry and agriculture.

The Small Ruminant Toolbox

This Small Ruminant Toolbox is a large collection of publications, presentations and other resources that will be helpful to small ruminant producers and educators.

Poster at the grocery store that says "buy fresh buy local" with two strawberries on it.

Good Natured Family Farms Brings Together Producers and Local Businesses to Market Local Foods

Good Natured Family Farms is an alliance of more than 150 family farms and small businesses in the Kansas City, MO area. They sell products under the Good Natured Family Farms’ logo in Balls Food Stores in the Kansas City Area. Their selection of products encompasses all-natural beef, free-range chickens, free-range brown eggs, farmhouse cheeses, milk, eggnog, […]

Cover of Creating Farmer Networks publication with four pictures of farmers communicating as a community

Creating Farmer Networks: A Toolkit for Promoting Vibrant Farm Communities

This toolkit provides information and resources needed to create a successful farmer network. It is intended for farmers, extension agents, community organizers, and other agricultural professionals.

Farm to Hospital Toolkit

Tools farmers and hospitals can use to increase direct hospital purchases from local producers.

A man reads to a child on his lap, with other people sitting around in chairs outside

Biofuels and Community Participation

Extension and other natural resource educators can provide educational programming on renewable energy and potential impacts at the community level, and can be facilitators of community discussions about renewable energy. Sharon Lezberg provided training materials to approximately 100 extension, NRCS educators, and community stakeholders on ways to engage community members and stakeholders in assessing proposed bioenergy developments. The toolkit Lezburg developed provides a decision-making […]