Resource Organizations

Web Resources

A Year of Food Life

Organizations with relevance to local,

sustainable and responsible food.

Local Food, Eating and Food Security

Sustainable Agriculture and Farming

Food Policy, Consumer and Advocacy Organizations

Government Agencies

Local Food, Eating and Food Security

Local Harvest
220 21st Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062

FoodRoutes
37 East Durham Street, Philadelphia, PA 19119
National non-profit dedicated to reintroducing Americans to their food.

Slow Food International
Slow Food USA
Slow Food UK

Via Mendicità Istruita, 8, 12042 Bra (CN) - Italy
20 Jay Street, Suite 313, Brooklyn, NY 11201

USDA Food and Nutrition Service
3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302

The Community Food Security Coalition
P.O. Box 209 Venice, CA 90294
dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems

Sustainable Table
215 Lexington Ave, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10016

Edible Communities
PMB 441, 25 NW 23rd Place, Suite 6, Portland, OR 97210-5599

The National Farm to School Network
1600 Campus Road, Mail Stop M1, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Local Food Works (UK)
40-56 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6BY UK

Sustainable Agriculture and Farming

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program
Waterfront Center, Room 4462, 800 9th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
P.O. Box 3657, Fayetteville, AR 72702

The Land Institute
2440 E. Water Well Road, Salina, KS 67401

The Ecological Farming Association (EFA)
406 Main St., Suite 313, Watsonville, CA 95076
Promotes ecologically sound and economically viable agriculture.

The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture
P.O. Box 396, Pine Bush, New York 12566

The Rodale Institute farming resources
611 Siegfriedale Road, Kutztown, PA 19530-9749

Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming (UK)
94 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF UK

Organic Farming Research Foundation
PO Box 440, Santa Cruz, Ca 95061

City Farmer - Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture
Box 74567, Kitsilano RPO, Vancouver, B.C. V6K 4P4 Canada

American Community Gardening Association
1777 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43203

Food Policy, Consumer
and Advocacy Organizations

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA)
Public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability.
6771 South Silver Hill Drive, Finland MN 55603

National Family Farm Coalition
110 Maryland Ave. N.E., Suite 307, Washington, DC 20002
Advocates for Family Farms and Rural Communities

Farm Aid
11 Ward Street, Suite 200 Somerville, MA 02143
Promotes Good Food from Family Farms

GrassRoots Action Center for the Environment
The GRACE Factory Farm Project
215 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10016

The Center for Food Safety
660 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, #302, Washington DC 20003
Challenging harmful food production and promoting sustainable alternatives.

CropChoice
PO Box 33811, Washington, DC 20033
Alternative news and information source for American farmers and consumers.

The Food Trust
1201 Chestnut Street, 4th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Works to increase access to affordable and nutritious food.

American Society for Nutrition
9650 Rockville Pike, Suite L-4500, Bethesda, MD 20814

Pesticide Action Network North America
49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102

Union of Concerned Scientists
2 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02238-9105

International Food Policy Research Institute
2033 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006-1002

The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First
398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94618 USA

The True Food Network
2601 Mission St, Suite 803, San Francisco, CA 94110
Dedicated to stopping the genetic engineering of our food.

Three Fair Trade Organizations are:
TransFair USA
Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO)
IFAT - the global network of Fair Trade Organizations

Agriculture Bio-Tech Information Network
Information on BioTech in Agriculture

La Via Campesina
Jl. Mampang Prapatan XIV No. 5 Jakarta Selatan DKI Jakarta Indonesia12790
International Organization supporting rural farmers

World Neighbors
4127 NW 122nd Street Oklahoma City, OK 73120
International Organization that builds communities through teaching sustainable agriculture

Journey to Forever
P.O. Box 6, Tamba-cho, Funai-gun, Kyoto Pref. 622-0291 Japan
International Aid through sustainable agriculture

Heifer International
1 World Avenue, Little Rock, AR/USA 72202
International Aid through sustainable agriculture

Government Agencies

The U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20250

The National Agricultural Statistics Service
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250

USDA Economic Research Service
1800 M Street NW, Washington, DC, 20036-5831

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville MD 20857-0001

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy

National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation
1111 South Mason Street, Fort Collins, CO 80521-4500
conserves genetic resources of crops and animals important to US agriculture.

The National Agricultural Library (NAL):
Abraham Lincoln Building, 10301 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705-2351

Speaking Up
The increased availability of local food in any area is a direct function of the demand from local consumers. Most of us are not accustomed to asking about food origins, but it’s easy enough to do.

First: in grocery stores when the cashier asks if you found everything you were looking for, you could say, “Not really, I was looking for local produce.” The smaller the store, the more open a grocer may be to your request. Restaurants may be even more flexible about food purchasing, and your exchanges with the wait staff or owner can easily include questions about which entrees or wines are from local sources. Restaurateurs do understand that local food is the freshest available, and they’re powerful participants in the growing demand for local foods. You can do a little homework in advance about what’s likely to be available in your region.

Local and regional policymakers need to hear our wishes. Many forums are appropriate for promoting local food: town and city hall meetings, school board meetings, even state commissioner meetings. It makes sense to speak up about any venue where food is served, or where leaders have some control over food acquisition, including religious groups, social clubs or day-care centers. Federal legislators also need to hear about local food issues. Most state governments consider farming-related legislation almost weekly. You can learn online about what issues are being considered, to register your support for laws that help local farms. In different parts of the country the specifics change, but the motives don’t. As more people ask, our options will grow.

-SLH