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The Western SAWG works with the National Campaign for
Sustainable Agriculture (also affectionately known as the 'Campaign')
on issues collaboratively developed by member SAWG's and other
Campaign members. We also work with the Sustainable
Agriculture Coalition on federal sustainable agriculture
policy issues. Understanding the way we work together is described
below. Also see:
National
Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition
How
We All Work Together
National
Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition,
and
regional Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups
What Unites Us: 6/05/03
Over the past decade, the five regional
Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups (SAWGs), the Sustainable
Agriculture Coalition, and the National Campaign for Sustainable
Agriculture have been working together for a food and agricultural
system that is:
Economically profitable
Environmentally sound
Based on family farms
Socially just.
Each of these groups has its unique history, organizational path and
scope of work. Yet, they all come together to forward their common
goals.
A brief history:
Midwest leaders
pioneered the SAWG concept—a network of organizations working on
sustainable agriculture issues—in 1988, creating both the Midwest
Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (MSAWG) and its Washington,
D.C. advocacy arm, the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. The other
regional SAWGs were created in the early 1990s (Southern: 1991,
Northeast: 1992, Western: 1993, and California: 1994).
In 1992, with strong leadership from MSAWG, groups and advocates
from around the country began discussing the need for a coordinated
national discussion among a variety of organizations and interests
about federal agricultural policy problems and alternatives. The
result was the two-year National Dialogue for Sustainable
Agriculture. This intensive exercise in participatory, grassroots
consensus building led, in 1994, to the creation of the National
Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.
What is the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture?
The National Campaign
is a non-profit organization that works with partner organizations
to shape and promote federal sustainable agriculture policies.
Overarching goals include to:
1) Foster democracy in action, by supporting and expanding a strong
network of grassroots, state, regional and national organizations
working on unified, coordinated strategies for federal sustainable
agriculture policy; and
2) Help grassroots,
state, regional and national organizations win for themselves needed
changes to federal food and farm policy, rulemaking and
implementation.
The
National Campaign works in alliance with hundreds of partner groups
and coalitions--whose constituencies include family farmers and
ranchers, rural and urban communities, environmental and wildlife
advocates, faith-based institutions, consumers, workers, indigenous
peoples, and students-- to broaden and
deepen support for federal policies that truly work for people and
the land. (www.sustainableagriculture.net)
The National Campaign has a new partner
agreement. Why?
Over the past year, Board and staff of the
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture have been working in a
variety of ways to evaluate and improve the
organization. The new Partner Agreement defines much more clearly
the criteria, rights and responsibilities of National Campaign
Partner Organizations, and how the National Campaign works with
them. The National Campaign also has developed a new partner
application process, clarified roles, added rights (including voting
for the majority of National Campaign Board seats), and established
a sliding-scale dues structure for Partner Organizations.
What is the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition?
The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a coalition of groups that
together take common positions and provide financial support for
collective representation before Congress and federal administrative
agencies. The SAC staff seeks extensive involvement from sustainable
farmers and its member organizations, and in turn provides effective
representation for its members.
SAC is expanding. Why? Since its beginnings, SAC has
operated as a national organization and has been advising many in
the sustainable agriculture community nationwide. Yet, in
representations on Capitol Hill and in the administrative agencies,
the SAC staff can only claim to represent Midwest-based
organizations. Expanding SAC membership to officially represent
groups in other geographic regions will increase SAC’s
effectiveness. By the same token, organizations joining SAC will
gain valuable D.C. representation and enhance their own political
effectiveness.
The expanded SAC will continue to serve as an information resource
to and work closely with the National Campaign for Sustainable
Agriculture and each of the regional
Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups.
What is the difference between SAC and the National Campaign?
SAC is a formal coalition of member organizations. SAC maintains a
Washington, D.C. office and provides direct representation to it
member organizations on a focused set of priority policies. For the
past 15 years, SAC has been the primary presence and face in
Washington, D.C. for sustainable agriculture policy advocacy. (www.msawg.org)
The National Campaign is an informal alliance of partner
organizations, coalitions and networks that work together to
identify consensus positions and strategies for national sustainable
agriculture policy. The National Campaign facilitates broad
constituency involvement in issue identification, prioritizing and
consensus building, as well as education and mobilization of the
grassroots for action. National Campaign policies and positions are
informed by its diverse partners, primarily through committee
processes, and endorsed by its Board of Directors. When the National
Campaign takes a position in its own name, it speaks for itself, not
for every partner organization. (www.sustainableagriculture.net)
Both the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Campaign
for Sustainable Agriculture provide important functions and each would be far less effective without the other. On many National Campaign
issues, the SAC office provides the broader National Campaign with
materials and strategic insights needed for its effective grassroots
advocacy efforts. For most SAC priority issues, the National
Campaign -- and the regional SAWGs, described next -- provide an
important mechanism for reaching a broad and growing national
constituency geared for taking action.
The expanded SAC and the National Campaign will continue to work
together closely. Organizations can be part of both SAC and
the National Campaign. As described above, SAC and the National
Campaign provide different services and opportunities that
organizations find of value.
What are the regional Sustainable
Agriculture Working Groups (SAWGs)?
The five regional SAWGs are
independent organizations that share a common acronym and many
goals. They operate
separately from each other, however, without common finances,
funding or leadership. They
are not chapters or arms of the National Campaign.
And, they vary considerably in structure, composition and
priority areas of work. For some, federal food and farm policy
is a priority. Others focus more on state- and region-level
sustainable agriculture and food systems development.
They seek primarily to bring together various groups and
constituencies within their regions to share information, build
understanding and move forward on regional sustainable agriculture
initiatives.
The SAWGs bring to the National Campaign and to many SAC
issues, a wide diversity of organizational and grassroots interests
and experience essential to informing policies that will actually
work for those constituents. They play
important roles in national policy-making by developing regional
voices and perspectives to be factored into the national debate and
provide organizing and outreach capacity at the regional level in
support of National Campaign
priorities.
The California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (CA SAWG)
is a dynamic coalition dedicated to strengthening the movement for a
sustainable and socially just food system in California. CA
SAWG's member organizations include farm, environmental, consumer,
farmworker, public health, community food security, pesticide
reform, and local advocacy groups. To promote genuinely sustainable
agriculture, CA SAWG's campaigns and programs address ecological,
economic, and social justice dimensions. CA SAWG provides education
to its members, coordinates meetings and communicates directly with
key decision makers, mobilizes constituents through email and phone
calls, and facilitates stronger collaboration among the sustainable
agriculture organizations. (www.calsawg.org)
The Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (MSAWG) builds
the power of the sustainable agriculture movement by strengthening
member organizations and forging coalitions to advance federal
agricultural, rural
and environmental policy reform. MSAWG identifies policy barriers
and opportunities, develops practical solutions and strategies, and
wins policy change through grassroots education and advocacy.
MSAWG's federal policy reform initiatives are formulated by issue
committees on research and extension, marketing and rural
development, conservation and environment, and family farm
opportunity and competition. MSAWG also helps farmers and
organizations bring their sustainable agriculture views to USDA at
the state and local level, and helps them access federal funding for
their sustainable agriculture initiatives. MSAWG includes: IL,
IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, and WI. (www.msawg.org)
The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) works
to strengthen the work of its members by providing active support
and assistance in achieving shared food system goals. NESAWG focuses
on: farm viability and agriculture economic development, natural
resource conservation, community food security and food systems, and
food citizenship. NESAWG addresses these issues through public
policy reform and development, food system development projects,
public education and member support services. NESAWG's agenda
reflects a "systems approach" to addressing the root
causes and full spectrum of farm and food system problems. NESAWG
includes: CT, DC, DE, MA, ME, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, and WV. (www.nesawg.org)
The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working
Group (SSAWG) is a network of organizations and individuals in
the South working to create a sustainable, community-based food and
fiber system. Because
sustainable solutions require the entire community, SSAWG is
committed to including all persons in the South without bias.
SSAWG facilitates networking and collaboration among state
and local organizations, building on and extending grassroots
efforts. SSAWG also
teaches environmentally and economically sound farming/ranching
systems; helps develop and share more profitable ways to market
sustainably-produced foods and fiber; and empowers farmers and their
supporters to be leaders in effecting changes in federal and
regional agricultural policy. SSAWG
includes: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, and VA. (www.ssawg.org)
The Western Sustainable Agriculture Working (WSAWG) brings
together diverse individuals and groups working in sustainable
agriculture and food systems to share successful models, realize its
collective strengths, build regional capacity and inform the
agriculture policy debate. The WSAWG addresses issues that no one of
its members can completely and effectively tackle on its own in the
West. The WSAWG serves as a clearinghouse for agricultural policy,
program models and analysis, and can also provide a range of other
networking and support services for its
members such as: region-wide issue development, staff services for
joint collaborative projects and conference planning, project
evaluation and project endorsements for member initiatives. WSAWG
includes: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OK, OR, TX, UT, WA, and WY. (www.westernsawg.org)
Developed June 2003 by:
California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
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