Cal Poly College of Agriculture
History of the
Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium

The Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium (SARC) was conceived in the spring of 2000 by two Cal Poly College of Agriculture (CAGR) students, Hunter Francis and Terry Hooker. Originally the Sustainable Agriculture Resource Center, the SARC was developed under the supervision of select CAGR faculty and with the explicit support of the Associate Dean of the College, Dr. Mark Shelton. The SARC was sanctioned by then Provost, Dr. Paul Zingg, and the Dean of Graduate Studies, Research and Centers and Institutes, Dr. Susan Opava, in the summer of 2000. The appellation ‘Center’ was changed to ‘Consortium’ by Opava’s office in October, 2002.

Creation of the SARC was the culmination of extensive discussions concerning the need to establish an umbrella organization at Cal Poly to promote sustainable agricultural activities, and in particular, to coordinate activities at the existing organic farm [the Student Experimental Farm (SEF)].

The SEF was established in 1989 and certified organic in 1995 by CCOF. Largely student managed, the SEF underwent boom-bust cycles in the 90’s and was lacking as a demonstration model for organic agriculture at the nation’s third largest agricultural college. One of the SARC’s first goals was to assist and stabilize the farm through fundraising, intra-collegiate support and outreach. This has been achieved under the leadership of Farm Manager Terry Hooker and Dr. John Phillips (Faculty Advisor to the farm for over a decade).

The farm is now referred to as the Cal Poly Organic Farm, comprising 3 parcels totaling 11 acres, including the 2-acre SEF site. Prompted by its current size (over $100,000 in sales in 2005), the Organic Farm became a commercial enterprise of the Cal Poly Corporation in that year. Organic Farm management and decision-making is now largely independent of the SARC, though the SARC continues to provide financial support and oversight on behalf of the College of Agriculture.

The SARC’s first project in terms of curriculum development was the creation of the annual Organic Agriculture class (AG 315), taught initially in the spring of 2000 by Professors Tom Ruehr and John Phillips. The class has been instrumental in bringing new ideas into CAGR through its hosting of many of California’s leading practitioners of organic agriculture. The class was approved for General Ed credit in 2003, now enrolling 50 students annually and drawing from virtually every major within the University.

Since the outset, SARC was envisioned to serve objectives within the realm of sustainable agriculture going beyond the needs of strictly organic agriculture. As a result, numerous other offerings have been developed and engaged to serve this purpose, most notably the annual Pest Control Advisors (PCA) Conference, as well as a wide range of lectures, seminars, workshops and Continuing Education classes on topics ranging from backyard composting to xerophytic native landscaping to natural foods cooking.

Oversight of the SARC in the past was provided by an informal Steering Committee comprised of six CAGR faculty. Dr. Neal MacDougall of the Agribusiness Dept. became SARC’s first Faculty Director in 2002, and has been instrumental in broadening the SARC’s scope and visibility within the College and University.
The formation and early history of the SARC is documented in the Masters thesis of Hunter Francis, ‘The Establishment of the SARC at Cal Poly’ (Francis, 2005), and available at the Cal Poly library as of May, 2006.