National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups

The regional Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups (SAWGs) play a special role in the National Campaign as "organizations of organizations" in five regions — the Midwest, South, Northeast, West, and California.

The National Campaign provides support for federal policy work in the regions, including information, materials, a framework for cross-region policy dialogue and coordination, policy analysis, and suggestions for approaches to advocacy, training and organizing support.

The regional SAWGs are very different in nature, and are engaged in a broad range of sustainable agriculture related activities. On the federal policy front, the SAWGs provide a forum for their member organizations to discuss and develop regional policy priorities that inform the strategies and initiatives of the National Campaign's policy committees.

Many of the SAWGs also work with the National Campaign to seek input from, educate, organize and mobilize the grassroots in the regions along with other National Campaign partners, many of which are also participants in the SAWGs. These interrelationships strengthen the grassroots — empowering them to explore sustainable alternatives in agriculture at home, and giving them the strength of a collective national voice through the National Campaign.

These relationships are summarized in "How We Work Together", a statement jointly crafted in May and June, 2003.

NORTHEAST Roger Doiron NESAWG 7 Flintlock Dr. Scarborough, ME 04074 P: (207) 883-5341 www.nesawg.org/	SOUTH Lydia Villanueva, Policy Coordinator Southern SAWG 309 E. 6th St. Hereford,TX 79045 806-364-4445 http://www.ssawg.org/	MIDWEST Jeanne Merrill Michael Fields Agricultural Institute W2493 County Rd ES PO Box 990 East Troy, WI 53120 Fax: 262-642-4028 Phone: (608) 256-1859 http://www.msawg.org/
WEST Bonnie Eberhardt Bobb Western SAWG PO Box 223 Austin, NV 89310 775-964-1027 www.westernsawg.org	CALIFORNIA Stacie Clary California Coalition for Food and Farming (Formerly CA SAWG) P: (831) 763-2111 www.calfoodandfarming.org