Centering and Belonging

At Northeast SARE, our Centering and Belonging vision aims to explore new agricultural markets and connect with new farming stakeholder audiences.

What do we mean by Centering and Belonging?

Thinking of a circle, we conduct farmer/agriculture stakeholder outreach throughout the region to provide information about our research programs and educational materials.

What do we center around? Northeast SARE is a research and education organization that is administered through the University of Vermont and funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA. Northeast SARE provides competitive funding for, and education about, sustainable agriculture.

To become centered, we create a community where farmers/agricultural stakeholders
are welcome.

• We practice active listening and decenter personal identity so that we can better know and understand each other when designing our programming.
• We are data-driven and do not rely on assumptions of what we think we know about people and places in our region.

Through these practices we aim to value each other’s humanness and our interconnectedness, critical first steps when expanding new markets and audiences.

Once again, envisioning the circle, the more welcoming we are as an organization, the less agriculture in our region will be segmented and sectioned. Silos are smashed in our efforts to assist in the identification of new markets and audiences.

Thus, while reaching out and letting people know about Northeast SARE, we draw this audience towards the center that abounds with opportunities and resources.

By centering around sustainable agriculture, we participate as part of the agricultural community contributing to our nutritional and textile needs. This approach supports the partnership we have with our environment and all living organisms comprising our ecosystem. Through sustainability, we strive to protect nature’s flora and fauna for generations of farmers to come.