We are pleased to announce that Rose Hayden-Smith has agreed to lead the Sustainable Food Systems initiative.

Hayden-Smith is Cooperative Extension county director and youth, family and community development advisor for Ventura County. In her advisor role, she develops programs for youth and adult extenders that focus on agricultural literacy and gardening. She previously worked with the Master Gardener Program and the UC Hansen Agricultural Center as educational programs coordinator. Recently she served as a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow. As a Kellogg fellow, Hayden-Smith developed a national media and educational campaign to promote school, home and community garden efforts and public policies that would support those...

The Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) conference, originally planned for January 25-27, is being postponed until fall 2011. The new date will allow the appointment of a new SFS initiative leader to succeed Joe DiTomaso, who has stepped down, and for broader participation by interested groups in development of the conference activities.

Program Council has been working with various ANR colleagues to develop a more inclusive structure to support the strategic initiatives, workgroups and coordinating conferences to increase collaborations, develop efficiencies, streamline logistical processes and maximize the use of ANR resources. Considering these circumstances, ANR and collaborating partners agreed to postpone the SFS conference...

The draft plan for the Sustainable Food Systems Strategic Initiative is posted on the SFS website at  http://ucanr.org/sites/SFS and can be directly accessed at http://ucanr.org/sites/SFS/files/51288.pdf.

Anyone with an interest in the Sustainable Food Systems initiative should review the draft plan. Please submit comments about the Sustainable Food Systems draft plan on the survey at https://ucce.ucdavis.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=5392. Comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 30.

The initiative’s...