December 1stAshlee, Bryan, Emily, Graham

1
Sustainable Agriculture in Pennsylvania

• December 1st-Ashlee, Bryan, Emily, Graham

2
What is Sustainable Agriculture?

• Practice of agricultural methods that are
  environmentally and socially responsible.
• Ensures both healthy soil and food while still
  being profitable.
• The most common method of sustainable agriculture
  is Organic Farming.

3
Why is it important?

• Economically
• Money is contained within the local economy
• Supporting environmentally and socially
  responsible production methods (vote with our
  wallets)

• Environmentally
• Prevent Soil Erosion
• Prevent Water Pollution
• Promotes Biodiversity
• Low-input agriculture (Fewer Chemicals)
• Less packaging waste
• Lower need for transportation

4
Difficulties with Sustainable Practices

• Threat of no local financial support
• Lack of governmental subsidy support for
  sustainable practices
• Lack of knowledge for traditional methods
• Longer transitioning time with a risk of losing
  crops

5
Local Perspective From Farmers-Beier Farm

• The demand on long distance transportation could
  be reduced during the months that local growers
  can provide produce nearby.
• The freshness, flavor, availability and good
  value go hand in hand with health conscious and
  back to basic cooking.
• -Monkia Beier (Local Grower)

6
Local Perspective From Farmers-Fresh From the
Vines

• The biggest challenge is the lack of public
  knowledge concerning local foods.
• One of our biggest hopes for the future is to
  form a growers cooperative which would yield
  larger quantities of produce and be more
  economically viable.
• -David Rebecca Vines are proud members of
  Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable
  Agriculture (PASA)

7
Local Initiatives

• PASA- A non-profit organization working to
  improve the economic and social prosperity of
  Pennsylvania food and agriculture.
• Promotes Local Farmer Markets like the Meadville
  Market House

8
Other Institutions

• Out of 28 colleges surveyed, 21.4 have
  implemented local foods into their daily menus.
• Bates College have been working with local
  growers for 12 years, almost all produce is
  purchased from local farmers.
• There was only a 2 cost increase, which was
  eventually eliminated through reductions in
  transportation.

9
(No Transcript)