Focus Carolina: Alice Ammerman; Ag companies, Organizations form Sustainability Consortium; Auburn University Gets $43M for New Ag Research Facility

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group | MARCH 2019

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Focus Carolina: Alice Ammerman

Working with the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, Dr. Alice Ammerman researches innovative ways to solve community-based nutrition challenges.

Dr. Ammerman has been at UNC for more than 20 years, most recently working on school nutrition and sustainable agriculture to address public safety concerns.

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Ag Companies, Organizations Form Sustainability Consortium

ADM, Bunge, Cargill, General Mills, Indigo Agriculture, McDonald’s USA, Noble Research Institute, LLC, Soil Health Institute and The Nature Conservancy have joined together to create the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) in order to advance the development of sustainable agriculture practices.

Auburn University getting $43M for New Agricultural Facility

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn University is receiving $43 million in federal financing for a new agricultural science facility aimed at improving food production in Alabama.

WSFA-TV reports the money, approved by Congress, will help establish a new USDA Agricultural Research Soil Dynamics Laboratory on campus.

Farmers Hope for Hemp Riches Despite Risks

Michael Calebs begins feeling nostalgic standing in the airy barn on his rolling, 400-acre farm. He recalls the hard labor of his youth: climbing up to horizontal beams to hang floppy tobacco leaves to air cure so the leaves could develop a sweet taste.

Horticulture Innovation Comes from West Virginia University Graduate

Just across the Monongahela River from Morgantown sits a small greenhouse with a picturesque view of Woodburn Hall. During the winter months, you might notice its soft pinkish purple glow, but if you weren’t looking for it, you’d probably never notice the unassuming structure.

Appalachian Sustainable Development Received $1.25 Million Grant

Appalachian Sustainable Development has been awarded $1.25 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission to help expand and diversify the economy in Appalachia’s coal-impacted communities.

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The Seed Shop by Muriel Stuart

Here in a quiet and dusty room they lie,

Faded as crumbled stone or shifting sand,

Forlorn as ashes, shrivelled, scentless, dry -

Meadows and gardens running through my hand

In this brown husk a dale of hawthorn dreams;

A cedar in this narrow cell is thrust

That will drink deeply of a century's streams;

These lilies shall make summer on my dust.

Here in their safe and simple house of death,

Sealed in their shells, a million roses leap;

Here I can blow a garden with my breath,

And in my hand a forest lies asleep.

Call for PCAN A genda Items

Our PCAN, or Policy Collaborative Action Network, hosts a conference call each quarter wherein callers discuss current policy in motion, and questions, or simply listen and learn about national and state level programs impacting sustainable agriculture. Our next scheduled call is Thursday, April 25 ^th at 2:00 Eastern time.

Have any topics or issues you would like for us to include on the next call? Submit topics by April 5, 2019 by emailing us at: [email protected]. rg.

Our Mission

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group's mission is to empower and inspire farmers, individuals, and communities in the South to create an agricultural system that is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, and humane. Because sustainable solutions depend on the involvement of the entire community, Southern SAWG is committed to including all persons in the South without bias.

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