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Annual Showcase honors
Diversity award to Ostrom, Small Farms Program
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010
WSU's Small Farms Program, led by faculty member Marcia R. Ostrom, is the 2010 recipient of the university’s Faculty Diversity Award.
Representing more than 45 county and campus-based extension, research and teaching faculty, Ostrom will be recognized during WSU’s Showcase event on Friday, March 26.
The Small Farms Program was established by a state legislative initiative in 2000 to develop education and programs targeted specifically to the needs of small-scale and underserved farmers. The program’s mission is to work with farmers and communities across Washington to foster profitable and equitable farming systems, land and water stewardship, and widespread access to healthy foods.
Much of its work is grounded in the fact that immigrant and women farmers are the fastest growing demographic sector of U.S. agriculture.
The Small Farms Program conducts a variety of educational field trips
and workshops for underserved farmers, above and below.
and workshops for underserved farmers, above and below.
Ellen Gray, executive director of the Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network, said that while many of these farmers are highly skilled agriculturalists, they often have limited access to basic resources such as land, water and farm financing. Sometimes they also lack essential business and environmental risk-management skills.
Most of their farms are small, with more than 75 percent of Latino-, Hmong-, or women-owned farms having fewer than 50 acres and less than $50,000 in annual sales. According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, Washington has 35,269 farms that meet U.S. Department of Agriculture criteria for a small farm. They represent 89.9 percent of all farms in the state.
Ostrom and her team have secured more than $4 million in grants during the past six years to develop and implement many research and educational programs to assist underserved farmers.
"The Small Farms Program has deliberately sought resources and developed effective outreach, recruitment, and culturally and language-appropriate training programs,” said Linda Kirk Fox, associate dean and associate director, WSU Extension. "One of greatest contributions of the program is the collective awareness of the needs of diverse and underserved populations.”
Such awareness is evident in the letters of support for Ostrom and the program sent by 14 agencies across Washington.
For example, Carol Gregory from the Renton-based BuRSST for Prosperity organization wrote that East African refugees in South King County are suffering in poverty due to lack of education and understanding of the English language. But in collaboration with WSU’s Small Farms Program, they are building assets in their community by leveraging the skills and knowledge the East Africans have in farming.
"For this, we are proud to recommend the WSU Small Farms Team for the Faculty Diversity Award,” stated Gregory.
"Finding ways to support this new generation of aspiring farmers will be critical to preserving the future vitality of Washington’s agriculture and rural communities,” said Gray in her letter of support.
"Through their teaching, research and outreach activities, Dr. Ostrom and her team have made a significant difference in the lives of diverse communities across the state,” said Alex Tan, WSU Diversity Faculty fellow. "They truly exemplify the spirit of the award.”
Ostrom, the Small Farms Program leader and extension educator based in Wenatchee, came to WSU in 2000 from Madison, Wis., where she worked as a research outreach coordinator for the University of Wisconsin. In 2007 she received the Extension Award for Excellence from the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, Western Region.
The award Ostrom will receive during WSU's annual Showcase celebration in March will include a $1,000 honorarium sponsored by the Western Journal of Black Studies (edited by WSU Professor Lincoln James), the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, and the Division of Student Affairs, Equity and Diversity.
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