Sacramento Post-carbon Action Network (SPAN)

Mission:
Our mission is to elevate consciousness of the primal relationship between humans and the land by actively fostering public awarness of the benefits of orgnically grown food; promoting sustainable, organic gardening and farming techniques; and creating a resource center of organic information for farmers, distributors, consumers, educators, business purveyors, and other organic advocacy groups, as well as to achieve these goals through loving compassion, open communication, honesty and respect.

Our Draft Vision Statement:
Working with others, Organic Sacramento will lead California and the nation in promoting organic and sustainable technologies to afford safe and healthy foods for people in Sacramento, California, the nation and the world, paving the way to an organic future.

Our Three Year Goals are:

Information Gathering and Publishing
We will build a network and clearinghouse of organic and sustainably produced products, including information on and for food purveyors, farmers, gardeners, consumers, and activist organizations promoting the use of organic products and sustainable technologies and techniques. This includes an extensive web site, of which this is only the beginning, which will act as a clearinghouse of organic information and contacts, and will help facilitate the easy access and ready availability of organic products and activities for the interested public. We intend to gather a resource library of information related to organic topics and post them here, as well as provide a forum for the growing organic community to discover each other and build an organic future for everyone.

Education and Community Outreach
Organic Sacramento will work to provide education and community outreach services to encourage the interest in organically grown products and sustainable agricultural practices. This includes working with local governments, businesses and citizens groups to encourage organic parks, organic community gardens, tastings and festivals of organic foods, as well as distribute information directly to citizens. We intend to work with legislators to encourage and facilitate healthier meal choices for schools and children, healthier farming practices and policies, and other organic issues that need to be addressed at the legislative level. We also plan to educate the public through the creation and distribution of fliers, t-shirts bumper stickers and other merchandise promoting organic products and practices.

Address Biotechnology Issues
We will address issues associated with biotechnology including the effects of the use of pesticides, genetically engineered organisms and nanotechnologies. We hope to encourage awarness of questionable practices and behaviors of the industries developing these technologies, investigate the dangers associated with current testing procedures, lack of long term safety studies, as well as the impact of lack of containment of genetically engineered organisms. We also intend to explore the impacts of these technologies on developing nations, biodiversity and world hunger.

The mundane details
Of course we have to deal with housekeeping issues including fundraising needs, organizational structure, developing a monthly meeting program, managing the mailing list system, managing phone lists, and collecting member information.

Contact: Kim Glazzard: kimg@organicsacramento.org or 916-455-8415
for up to date info about this groups activities.