considered available, and what types of changes are likely to take place. This research is considered so important that U.S. taxpayers have funded agricultural research for more than a century. Although the stated goal of this research is to "assure an ample, safe, and nutritious food supply at reasonable cost, while maintaining a sustainable production system,"64 public funding for agricultural research has traditionally been focused on increasing production. Less attention has been paid to the environmental or social concerns of sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture advocates point out that sustainability has yet to become a serious priority in the U.S. agricultural research system. According to a 1993 self-review by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, only about 1% of its research budget was for sustainable agriculture research.65 While there is little resemblance between funding levels for conventional and sustainable agriculture research, there is considerable resemblance between the research priority areas of the two. Both conventional and sustainable agriculture research focus almost exclusively on technical production issues with very little attention to social issues. Support for social science research in agriculture, which has always been very limited, has actually declined over the past decade.66 In 1987 only 1% of USDA research was for projects in sociology or anthropology.67 A review of 1993 USDA research grants shows no increase in these areas.68 Similarly, in the federal Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and in most university research, virtually all research funds for sustainable agriculture are spent on production-oriented projects. Agricultural research has clearly been dominated by production and technical disciplines. This imbalance is exacerbated by isolation since there is little interchange between social scientists and scientists in other agricultural fields.69 Unfortunately, most U.S. sustainable agriculture programs have reproduced this structure, locating their work in the traditional agricultural research arenas. Locating sustainable agriculture research almost exclusively within these areas has resulted in a sense that sustainability problems can best be addressed through technological, economistic approaches and leaves unexamined the degree to which environmental problems have deep social roots. Yet if sustainable agriculture is about improving the food and agriculture system, it requires enlarging our sights far beyond the farm and beyond our local communities to include ownership and employment patterns; government services and policies; and how products are distributed, consumed, and traded. If we do not expand our approach, we place ourselves at great risk of unintentionally reproducing the social and environmental problems of our present agricultural system. The USDA now recognizes that the issues of rural America are largely social, economic, and cultural and as such "cannot successfully be addressed solely with the knowledge generated by the biological or agricultural sciences."70 Some of the regional SARE programs are actively working to integrate social and quality of life issues into their research and education program.71 The complexity of factors involved in sustainability requires diverse perspectives and approaches to sustainable food and agriculture theory and practice. Political ecology is an example of an approach which combines the study of ecological factors and processes with political economic structures and systems. Interdisciplinary work such as this can help us to formulate more holistic research questions. For example, research questions in pest management might include: What will be the effect on farm worker health, wages, and working conditions? Will the price of the product to the consumer change? How can policies be changed to encourage adoption of the technologies? Addressing social issues such as food distribution, control of resources, and labor conditions requires a significant increase in sustainability funding along with a redirection of current funding toward the broader social aspects of food and agriculture. It clearly also requires expanding the number of sustainable agriculture researchers trained in the social sciences. HOW HAVE WE BEGUN TO ADDRESS SOCIAL ISSUES? Within the U.S. there are a number of programs and organizations which recognize that sustainable agriculture is incomplete as a production model alone, and that social problems and solutions should and can be addressed within the framework of a sustainable food system. Although there is no one project that comprehensively addresses the issues highlighted in this paper, many are beginning to focus on one or more of the issue areas. Mentioned here are efforts that grapple with problems such as how to provide everyone with access to nutritious food, how to develop better conditions for farm workers, and ways to improve the gender and ethnicity balance of agricultural decision makers. Food Policy: Feeding People As a First Priority Throughout North America, organizations known as food policy councils begin with the assumption that nutritious food is a basic right of all citizens and that governments and community groups should take active roles in planning for and ensuring food security.72 Food policy councils have worked to stop the flight of supermarkets from the inner city; encouraged community gardens and farmersU markets in cities; lobbied for better food assistance programs, low-income housing, and decent wages for low-income residents; and supported the use of sustainable production practices and organic farming. Most also have active --- * Origin: [via Psychotronic BBS = Durham, NC = 919-286-4542]sustag- (1:3641/1) @PATH: 3641/1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (57) Thu 1 Dec 94 18:31 By: Lawrence F. London, Jr. To: All Re: 04:issue paper text (fwd) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @MSGID: 1:3641/223 0006aa40 @PID GIGO+ sn 175 at psybbs vsn 0.99 pl1 @SPLIT: 04 Dec 94 14:29:11 @3641/223 6797 04/06 ++++++++++ From: london@calypso-2.oit.unc.edu (Lawrence F. London, Jr.) @Subject: issue paper text (fwd) Date: 1 Dec 1994 18:31:14 -0000 @Sender: daemon@bigblue.oit.unc.edu @Message-Id: @Mime-Version: 1.0 @Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII educational components wherein they have developed and distributed educational materials on nutritional, environmental, and food system issues; sponsored discussion meetings on hunger issues; studied food access problems; and increased outreach for available nutrition programs. Food policy councils have evolved either as community-based nonprofits or as advisory bodies within local government. In some cases, nonprofits and governmental groups work together, providing a powerful partnership. CanadaUs Toronto Food Policy Council is a collaborative effort of Toronto city government and citizens. Together they have developed a food policy for the city which establishes the right of all residents to adequate, nutritious food, and pro-motes food production and distribution systems that are equitable, nutritionally excellent, and environmentally sound. This Council frames food security as a basic health issue. In this view, alleviating hunger is necessary to ensure public health, and is seen not only as a socially just objective but an economically sound one as well. Food and Jobs for Those without Homes The Homeless Garden Project of Santa Cruz, California is a model program which brings together sustainable food growing practices and assistance for homeless people on a 2.5-acre garden located within the city. Now in its fourth year, the Project produces organic flowers and vegetables for fresh market and for the 130 members of its community-supported agriculture program. In addition to a host of volunteers, a handful of staff, and a supervisorial team of formerly homeless individuals, the Project employs 15 homeless men and women for up to 30 hours per week. Plans are underway to expand the number of paid positions to 22 and a nine- month, hands-on job training program is being developed. Working in the garden provides an important focus for those who otherwise must cope with a life-sapping sense of displacement, and enables many homeless people to make constructive changes in their lives. One of the ProjectUs most important benefits is the community forum it provides for homeless and "housed" people to come together in ways which open dialogue and build understanding. New Opportunities for Farm Workers The Rural Development Center (RDC) is an agricultural training and resource center which offers classes and an opportunity for practical education to farm workers and low-income people in CaliforniaUs Salinas Valley. The RDC promotes self reliance by helping people gain skills and experience to pursue dignified, productive, and ecologically sound work. RDCUs Small Farm Education Program is a six-month intensive course covering small farm production, marketing and small business management, organic certification, and English and math skills for agricultural applications. The Community Gardening Program, which uses organic methods to raise food for families and the community, emphasizes the needs and priorities of women, children, and youth. The RDC also maintains a library and resource center which provide information on sustainable agriculture and community-based education and development. Diversifying the Dialogue on Sustainability and Policy