September 2011

Agricultural Center for Responsible Environmental Sustainability Studies

Know Today, Grow Tomorrow

Special points of interest:
What is ACRESS? Why Agriculture? Why ACRESS? Our Plans Our Need

What is ACRESS? /krs/

We started with a girl, a dream, and passion. Since then we have grown to become a group of people who care about securing Californias agricultural future. We decided wed be the change we wanted to see and now were a nonprofit organization on the road to incorporation and 501(c)(3) status. vocational programs especially targeted at underrepresented segments of our community including but not limited to low-income children/families and people with disabilities. Our services will help empower our community to live sustainably themselves while showing them the value of actively participating in the food to table process. Through hands-on education we aim to plant the seeds of a new generation of farmers that will inspire, produce, and collaborate on this agricultural revolution.

Volume 1, Issue 1

What Were About

ACRESS was designed to create a comprehensive, sustainable, organic farming venture that will educate Santa Cruz County. We plan to do this by offering educational and

Sustainable farms mean profitable America

Were social!
Read our blog at acressfarms.blogspot.com Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter @acressfarms Email at acressfarms@gmail.com

Why Agriculture?
Agriculture is something that sets our region apart from the rest of the world. We grow world renowned fruits, vegetables, and unique native plants. Food production is not only a vital business but a valuable resource, one of our most important. The more active we all are in the food to table process, the more we participate in our own sustainability. A society that can last is ultimately the most profitable , so we decided to invest our time in a profitable and ethical future for America that focuses on local, personal, and community agriculture systems.

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Why ACRESS?
Santa Cruz County has nearly 275,000 people and is comprised of rural and suburban communities. ACRESS supports agriculture. Not enough of our children are taught about our agricultural history, nor are they being prepared for the agricultural shift that is happening. We plan to change this. By having a large scale, functional farm dedicated to teaching sustainability and sharing our agricultural resources we hope to inspire the farmers of tomorrow and empower our community. Interest and need for community focused farming is projected to increase as fuel prices rise and it becomes more difficult or expensive to transport food between regions. The age of super farms where quality and the good of the environment are sacrificed in favor of ruthless efficiency is coming to an end. People are speaking up and were all interested in the quality of our food. ACRESS aims to be a learning conduit for children and adults of our community to get involved, to give them the opportunity to take charge of what they eat and how it got to their table. We recognize that there are many agricultural organizations and our goal is to utilize the existing framework of sustainable agriculture already present in Santa Cruz County while developing programs in

Volume 1, Issue 1

Having the opportunity to grow our own food this year really changed how we ate. We had more fresh food that tasted better and we got to garden as a family

- Recipient of donated plants

Our Plans For the Future

Over the rest of 2011 we will fundraise in preparation for incorporation in early 2012. Once incorporated we will seek grants for acquiring land in the county and then begin construction. We plan to have several different areas of the farm including aquaponics setups in greenhouses, a vineyard, a berry patch, a chicken coop, an orchard, a mushroom farm, and a community kitchen. All these programs would help our students to see and feel the rich variety of Californias agricultural possibilities.

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Our Need
October 22nd is national Make a Difference day and were celebrating it by working with local nurseries and garden center to bring vegetable plants to low-income families. Were also collecting donations of soil and pots. We will deliver the plants and give a brief lesson to the family on how to care for the seedlings. Our ongoing needs include company partnerships, volunteers, and funds. We want to work with businesses in our community to foster mutually beneficial relationships. If your business could benefit from some positive environmental publicity, contact us! If you or someone you know would like to donate their time and/or expertise to our project, set up an appointment on our blog or send us an email. And if time is money and youre very busy, we have a secure donation button on our blog powered by Paypal.

Join us in our exciting journey to sustainability!

Exciting Times
Urban farms are cropping up in cities across America. Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) is a growing business. Sustainability is trending toward the masses world wide. We live in an exciting time. There is also a lot of fear. Our economic situation looks bleak for middle America and the uncertainty of global business and trade has a lot of us worried. What will this country be like for our children? We all want the best for our children and thats why ACRESSs time is now. We want to leave an agricultural legacy for the next generation to endorse and build on. As our organization is born we hope you can join us and share in our excitement for what is to come.

Know Today, Grow Tomorrow

Know Today, Volume 1, Issue 1

Our mailing address: 307 Cabrillo Dr. Santa Cruz, CA 95065 Phone: 831-247-1796 Email: acressfarms@gmail.com

ACRESS was founded in 2011 by a husband and wife team that decided to share their love of food and growing things. Our purpose is to make agriculture accessible to all through the

Read our blog at acressfarms.blogspot.com

construction of a teaching farm in Santa Cruz County where our community can learn and grow.

A Girl and A Dream, Excerpt From Blog by Co-Founder

I start with my passion. I have that and a plan. I also start with all the s*?! I own, from here I will try to only trade up. Then I switch to: what do I want? I used to stop and think, "I want a farm someday" and it gradually transformed into, "I want everyone to have the choice to farm". That essential principle propels me forward. So one day a community farm pops into my head. It grew and it snowballed through my imagination and became this cause. The loving support of my partner helped me incubate the ideas until I could release them to my trusted peers. The spawn of this collaboration is the Agricultural Center for Responsible Environmental Sustainability Studies, or just ACRESS, for short. I owe a huge thank you to everyone I've ever encountered as they've all helped me facilitate my dreams. Thank YOU, the knowledge you gave one day became a maze of ideas the next and allowed me to grow into now. What better way, then, to show our commitment to agriculture, community, and sustainability than our favorite tagline, "know today, grow tomorrow". -Tatiana Stone, Co-Founder

I start with my passion...I want everyone to have the choice to farm