Agricultural futures alliance

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The Santa Barbara County Ag Futures Alliance is dedicated “to promoting the long-term viability of agriculture in Santa Barbara County while addressing environmental and social concerns through an alliance that values dialogue and collaboration.”

The AFA was formed in 2007 when leaders from the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau and the Environmental Defense Center invited a small group of growers, environmentalists, and community activists to find common ground for a better future for agriculture and the environment. Previously, EDC was a co-founder and participant on the Ventura County AFA. Since its launch, the Santa Barbara County AFA has focused on building trust and understanding across the historic divide between agriculture and the environmental community.

The AFA membership was selected carefully to ensure representation of both the environmental and agricultural communities, and includes farmers/ranchers, farm bureau representatives, community representatives from UCSB’s food services, League of Women Voters, SBCAN, a real estate developer, the Orfaela Foundation’s S’cool Food Representative, and EDC.

The AFA has demonstrated that agricultural interests, such as the Farm Bureau, and environmental interests can work together to protect ag into the future. In her capacity under EDC’s OPEN program as an active member of the AFA, Ms. McGinnis worked with other AFA members to develop an Agricultural Buffer Policy for the County of Santa Barbara. A buffer policy ensures that when development is proposed adjacent to agriculturally-zoned land, a large setback is required in order to allow farmers to continue conducting their operations without conflicts from new development. The Agricultural Buffer Policy was crafted after reviewing every buffer policy throughout the State of California and gleaning the most useful policies from various jurisdictions. Implementation of an Agricultural Buffer Policy in Santa Barbara County will help ensure that farmers and ranchers can continue to operate and function without the threat of conflicts from encroaching urban uses. It will also reduce the threat of urban sprawl to long-term agricultural viability. The proposed policy has been submitted to the Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, and Ag Advisory Committee.  The buffer policy will be reviewed and hopefully adopted by Santa Barbara County decision makers in 2012.

Since the Agricultural Buffer Policy is now completed and submitted to the County for consideration, the AFA has been conducting a series of “Town Hall” meetings and agricultural tours to educate the community on issues facing agriculturalists in the region and the State.