The links below lead to a wide array of organizations working toward sustainable agriculture in California. The list is not exhaustive and listing does not indicate a direct endorsement by FSFS or its member foundations of any organization. FSFS welcomes additions to the list and any comments or questions. Links are organized according to the following categories.
Bio-Integral Resource Center (BIRC)
www.birc.org
BIRC has offered experience, and leadership in the development and communication of least-toxic,
sustainable, and environmentally sound Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods for over 25 years.
BIRC has worked with local, state, and national agencies in devising programs of scientific research,
policy, project design and implementation.
California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)
www.ccof.org
Founded in 1973, CCOF was the first organization to certify organic farms in North America. In
1990 the California Organic Foods Act was modeled after CCOF’s own standards. CCOF continues
to certify organic products while encouraging demand and supporting government action.
California Institiute for Rural Studies (CIRS)
www.cirsinc.org
CIRS a nonprofit research organization working toward a rural California that is socially just,
economically viable, and environmentally balanced. CIRS is committed to pursuing these long-term
goals through sound empirical research that is directly relevant to progressive social change.
CIRS focuses on a comprehensive range of research topics including immigration reform, immigrant
civic participation, labor law enforcement, rural health, pesticide use, and water policy.
California Rural Legal Assistance
www.crla.org
CRLA was founded in 1966 as a nonprofit legal services program with a mission to strive for economic
justice and human rights on behalf of the rural poor. Today, CRLA has 17 offices, many in rural
communities from the Mexican border to Northern California. Each year, CRLA provides more than
20,000 poor rural Californians with no-cost legal services and a variety of community education
and outreach programs. CRLA launched the legal battle in 1970 that led to the ban on DDT.
California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (CSAWG)
www.calsawg.org
CSAWG, founded in 1994, is an active network dedicated to promoting a sustainable and socially
just food system. The SAWG’s 23 member organizations include farm, environmental, consumer,
farmworker, and other groups. SAWG provides a powerful forum for collaborative action, policy
advocacy, and information exchange.
Center for Ecoliteracy
www.ecoliteracy.org
The Center for Ecoliteracy, founded in 1995, is dedicated to fostering the experience and understanding
of the natural world. The Center is a public nonprofit foundation that supports a network of Northern
California grantees, many of which are schools and educational organizations engaged in habitat
restoration and agriculturally-related programs, such as school gardens and food systems.
Center for Food Safety
www.centerforfoodsafety.org
Center for Urban Education on Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA)
www.ferryplazafarmersmarket.com
CUESA is a nonprofit organization that launches and supports a variety of urban agriculture projects
throughout the Bay Area. CUESA has fostered hundreds of community and demonstration gardens as
well as local farmers’ markets.
Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)
www.caff.org
Founded in 1978, the CAFF is a nonprofit member-activist organization. CAFF political and educational
campaigns are building a movement of rural and urban people who foster family-scale agriculture
that cares for the land, sustains local economies, and promotes social justice. Members are urbanites,
farmers, environmentalists, rural activists, students, and anyone concerned with the social and
environmental dimensions of agriculture.
Ecological Farming Association
www.eco-farm.org
Eco-Farm is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes ecologically sound agriculture.
Eco-Farm offers special events that bring people together from all over the world to share ideas
and experiences in producing healthful food from a healthy earth. These include the Eco-Farm Conference
and various organic farm tours open to the community.
Ecology Action
www.ecoact.org
Ecology Action is a 30-year-old nonprofit organization designing and implementing waste reduction
and pollution prevention programs both within Santa Cruz County and throughout the state of California.
To date, Ecology Action has established programs in source reduction, pollution prevention training,
reuse, recycling, organic recycling, and general conservation.
Ecotrust
www.ecotrust.org
Farm Sanctuary
www.farmsanctuary.org
Institute for Food and Development Policy (Food First)
www.foodfirst.org
Food First is a member-supported, nonprofit ‘peoples’ think tank and education-for-action
center. Their work highlights root causes and value-based solutions to hunger and poverty around
the world, with a commitment to establishing food as a fundamental human right.
The International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC)
www.isec.org.uk
The International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) is a nonprofit organization concerned
with the protection of both biological and cultural diversity. They emphasize education for action—moving
beyond single issues to look at the more fundamental influences that shape our lives. They have
worked in more than a dozen countries, from the UK and the USA to Thailand and Bhutan.
The ISEC has been involved in a variety of hands-on projects around the world. Recently, the ISEC
has started a new initiative titled the Local Food Roadshow. This moving program based in the
UK will present a critique of the globalization of the food economy and a compelling argument
for the need to move in the opposite direction—towards shortening the links between producers
and consumers.
Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)
www.ofrf.org
The OFRF is a nonprofit foundation founded to sponsor research related to organic farming practices,
to disseminate research results to organic farmers and growers interested in adopting organic
production systems, and to educate the public and decisionmakers about organic farming issues.
Prevention Institute
www.preventioninstitute.org
Sustainable Cotton Project
www.sustainablecotton.org
Since 1994, SCP has been building bridges between farmers, manufacturers and consumers to pioneer
markets for certified organically grown cotton.
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California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG)
www.calpirg.org
CalPIRG is a member of the state PIRGs—a coalition of state advocacy groups that campaign,
research, and publicize a variety of environmental and political issues.
Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR)
www.pesticidereform.org
CPR is a coalition of more than 130 public health, consumer, environmental, sustainable agriculture,
labor, and rural assistance public interest organizations. Its goals are to expand the public's
right to know about pesticide use and abuse, reduce that use and promote safer, ecologically sound
agricultural and urban pest management.
Environmental Defense
www.environmentaldefense.org
Environmental Defense is a leading national nonprofit organization representing more than 300,000
members. Since 1967, ED have linked science, economics, and law to create innovative, equitable,
and cost-effective solutions to the most urgent environmental problems. ED is dedicated to protecting
the environmental rights of all people, including future generations. Among these rights are clean
air, clean water, healthy, nourishing food, and a flourishing ecosystem.
Environmental Working Group (EWG)
www.ewg.org
EWG is a leading content provider for public interest groups and concerned citizens who are campaigning
to protect the environment. Through EWG reports, articles, technical assistance and the development
of computer databases and Internet resources, EWG’s staff produces hundreds of headline-making
reports each year, drawing on original EWG analyses of government and other data.
Greenpeace
www.greenpeace.org
Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses non-violent direct action
and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that
are essential to a green and peaceful future. Founded in 1971.
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
www.nrdc.org
NRDC uses law, science, and the support of more than 400,000 members nationwide to protect the
planet’s wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living
things. NRDC seeks to establish sustainability and good stewardship of the Earth as central ethical
imperatives of human society.
Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)
www.panna.org
Since 1982, PANNA has linked over 100 affiliated health, consumer, labor, environment, progressive
agriculture and public interest groups in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. with thousands of supporters
worldwide to promote healthier, more effective pest management through research, policy development,
education, media, demonstrations of alternatives, and international advocacy campaigns.
Pesticide Watch
www.pesticidewatch.org
For nearly a decade, Pesticide Watch and Pesticide Watch Education Fund have been providing California
communities with the eduction and strategies they need to protect themselves and the environment
from the hazards of pesticides.
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
www.ucsusa.org
UCS is an independent nonprofit alliance of 50,000 concerned citizens and scientists across the
country. UCS augments rigorous scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen
advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
www.worldwildlife.org
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is dedicated to protecting the world's wildlife and wildlands. The largest
privately supported international conservation organization in the world, WWF has more than 1
million members in the U.S. alone. Since its inception in 1961, WWF has invested in over 13,100
projects in 157 countries.
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Bay Area Coalition for Urban Agriculture
www.foodfirst.org/progs/global/bayag/
The BACUA is composed of over forty Bay Area organizations concerned with the full range of urban
agriculture and food system issues, as well as many concerned individuals.
Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association
www.biodynamics.com
The Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association was formed in the U.S. in 1938. It is a nonprofit,
membership organization and is open to the public. The association has an educational focus and
conducts conferences, workshops and seminars on biodynamics.
The California Federation of Certified Farmers’ Markets (CFCFM)
www.cafarmersmarkets.com
The California Federation of Certified Farmers’ Markets represents all the certified Farmers’
Markets in the state. The certified farmers market concept is an effort to re-establish the traditional
link between farmers and consumers in California. CFMs are places where genuine farmers sell their
crops directly to the public. It is where the agrarian community relates to the urban community.
This site lists all Certified Farmers’ Markets in the state. These markets operate in accordance
with regulations established in 1977 by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Only
a handful of CFMs existed in California at that time. Now, there are over 350 California communities
with Certified Farmers Markets, and the number is growing every year.
Community Food Security Coalition
www.foodsecurity.org
CFSC is a nonprofit, membership-based national coalition of over 600 organizations and individuals
that focus on food and agriculture issues.CFSC’s mission is to bring about lasting social
change by promoting community-based solutions to hunger, poor nutrition, and the globalization
of the food system.
Institute for Food and Agricultural Policy (Food First)
(see above)
International Forum on Food and Agriculture
www.ifg.org/IFA/ifa.html
IFA was created by the IFG to address how global issues are linked to how we grow, process, market,
consume, and dispose of food. IFA works to articulate the full range of consequences of the rapid
global conversion to industrial agriculture, to develop international cooperative strategies to
counter this dangerous trend, and to demonstrate successful alternative models.
International Forum on Globalization
www.ifg.org
IFG is an alliance of sixty leading activists, scholars, economists, researchers and writers formed
to stimulate new thinking, joint activity, and public education in response to economic globalization.
International Institute for Ecological Agriculture
www.permaculture.com
IIEA offers courses in permaculture design to help farmers and others create a natural, healthy
environment.
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
www.oaec.org
OAEC is a non-profit educational center and biodiversity focused farm founded in 1994 by a group
of biologists, artists, activists, educators, and horticulturists. OAEC’s programs offer
innovative and practical solutions to the pressing environmental, economic and social challenges
of our day.
Political Ecology Group
PEG is a grassroots, multi-racial and multi-issue organization working for environmental justice
locally, nationally, and internationally. PEG works toward a future in which our environment,
healthy communities, and human rights come first. PEG’s campaigns build alliances to confront
racism, corporate power, and environmental destruction.
United Farm Workers Union (AFL-CIO)
www.ufw.org
The national farm workers’ union started by Cesar Chavez in central California.
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