data of the last studies with regard to our planet Earth are frightening.
Our urgency is to reverse the damage created so that the closed
system of our planet Earth can be, truly, in the entire sense of
the world, sustainable.
from the Davis Declaration,
Research and Education
There is a need for more complete sustainability in agriculture. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Initiative addresses this need through support of strong university programs in research and education in sustainable agriculture. This new Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo Sustainable Agriculture Program Initiative builds upon the basis that the most organic agricultural fertility in the soil in temperate zones occurs when the soil organic matter level reaches 4% to 6% (3% in tropical zones), and a shift in cropping patterns and marketing can up to double farm income. University Sustainable Agriculture programs will be strengthened with the addition of an endowed professorship in sustainable agriculture to serve as a focal and rallying point. Fellowships and internships in sustainable agriculture will encourage the brightest and most-motivated students to pursue this beneficial form of cultivation and will serve to support and enhance the research of the endowed professor.
The Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo—$6.25 million endowment
College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Science:
- the endowment of one professorship in Sustainable Agriculture,
- four full one-year fellowships and two one-year undergraduate
internships in Sustainable Agriculture,
- the endowment of a part-time coordinator position through the
Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium
scholars and practitioners are trying to redress the imbalances
in the global food system through the development of locally
based alternatives founded on respect for the integrity of particular
socio-geographic places...Embedded and central to these alternative
local or regionally based food systems is a democratic and empowered
community.William B. Lacy