Article 1366 of alt.sustainable.agriculture:
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From: ghegyes@nalusda.gov (Gabriel Hegyes)
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture
Subject: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE NETWORK
Date: 10 Sep 1993 10:46:19 -0400
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The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) was formed in 1990 to 
extend a community that encourages and supports its members 
searching for alternative agricultural solutions.  

That same year, Chuck Francis and Garth Youngberg wrote, 

"Sustainable Agriculture is a philosophy
based on human goals and on understanding  
the long-term impact of our activities on 
the environment and on other species. Use 
of this philosophy guides our application 
of prior experience and the latest scienti-
fic farm systems.  These systems reduce en-
vironomental degradation, maintain agricul-
tural productivity, promote economic viabil-
ity in both the short and long term and main-
tain stable rural... quality of life.
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN TEMPERATE ZONES


SAN is a cooperative effort of organizations as diverse as the
National Agricultural Library, CENEX Land O' Lakes,  Utah State
University's Agricultural Systems Technology  and ATTRA 
(Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas). It was developed
by a "SAN-Link" Committee with support from the United States
Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Sustainable Agriculture Research
and Education (SARE) program.  

J. Patrick Madden, SARE Associate Director believes that, 

     "SAN was the first, and is so far the most successful, 
     national initiative started in the early days of the Low 
     Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) program later renamed
     SARE.  Motivated by a desire to make the results of LISA
     projects available to all kinds of users, SAN was estab-
     lished on the principle that the process of disseminating   
     information must decentralized, participatory and multi-
     media .  So we focus on  a combination of hard copy publicati-
     ons plus various electronic forms, including Internet and
     Almanac".

SAN has an electronic mail group "sanet-mg" with over 380 individu-
als interested in, and knowledgeable about, sustainable agricul-
ture. Members of the group share sources of information and help
answer each others' questions.  ECONET, a non-profit electronic
service runs a mirror of the conference, expanding participation.
SANET-mg postings are also available through the newsgroup
"alt.sustainable.agriculture."

Subscribe to sanet-mg by sending the message:  subscribe sanet-mg 
To:  almanac@ces.ncsu.edu

One week a graduate student asked for model state programs for
pesticide regulation in lumbering.  During that same period, the
conference followed the progress of a questionnaire designed to
measure farmer commitment to environmentally benign pest management
practices.  On any given day, sanet-mg participants may receive the
names of House Agriculture Appropriations Committee members to
contact, the newsletter of the Wallace Institute for Alternative 
Agriculture or a list of sustainable agriculture publications in Spanish.

SAN has three databases available for searching through Almanac
Mail Servers, GOPHER or WAIS:

* SARE/ACE projects (summaries of the projects funded by the USDA
SARE program and the EPA/USDA Agriculture in Concert with the
Environment (ACE) program).

* "The Showcase" (annotated bibliography of educational and
informational materials, emphasizing information readily useful to
farmers).  

*"The Yellow Pages" (The Directory of Sustainable Agriculture
Experts and Expertise).  COMING SOON.

*"Managing Covercrops Profitably" (Handbook for farmers who are interested
in low-cost fertility management and erosion control).

With simple email commands these publications are available to be
searched like a database, and ordered by filename or as whole
publications.  

GOPHER or WAIS access is available by telneting to: twosocks.ces.ncsu.edu
Login as:  gopher; or as:  swais.  (PLEASE CONTACT ghegyes@nalusda.gov FOR
THE PASSWORD.  Unwelcomed hacking has required some security on the system).

A calendar of sustainable agriculture meetings and events is
updated monthly by Gabriel Hegyes, SAN-Link Coordinator. 
The calendar is broadcast over SANET-mg,  and can be retrieved
through the Almanac at North Carolian State University, or through FTP.

"SAN is organizing several types of information:  the who ("Yellow
Pages" Directory), the what (SARE-project and Showcase databases),
and the where and when (Calendar) of sustainable agriculture", says
Jill Auburn, from the California Sustainable Agriculture Research
and Education Program (SAREP) and chair of the SAN-Link Committee.
"You can 'join' SAN simply by participating in its activities: 
contribute information to one of the publications, follow the
electronic discussion group, volunteer yourself or another expert
for the Directory, use the calendar and LET US KNOW WHAT YOU
THINK"!

Best regards,
----                                
                            """""""""""
                         Gabriel A. Hegyes
                        SAN-Link Coordinator
                  c/o Alternative Farming Systems
                    Information Center, Rm. 304
                   National Agricultural Library
                       10301 Baltimore Blvd
                     Beltsville, MD 20705-2351
                  301-504-6425   301-504-6409 FAX
                    ghegyes@nalusda.gov INTERNET
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