New publications from the California Institute for Rural Studies

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The California Institute for Rural Studies is pleased to announce new

publications - please click on the links below to access these documents.

Best,

Ron Strochlic

Executive Director

" If We Don't Speak, Our Voices Won't Be Heard " : Organizing

Farmworkers through Poder Popular by Gloria Sayavedra, Ron

Strochlic and Bertha Sarmina (9 pages)

In collaboration with Harder+Company

Community Research, CIRS is conducting a 3-year evaluation of

The California Endowment's

Promotores Communitarios de Salud Strategy, a grassroots education

and mobilization strategy for improving community health in agricultural

communities. The strategy, which is being implemented in eight regions

throughout California, utilizes a popular education approach to help

agricultural workers and other residents understand and respond to

physical and social environmental threats to their health. This brief

provides preliminary findings from this evaluation.

To view a powerpoint of evaluation findings presented at the 2008

American Evaluation Association meetings in Denver

click here.

An Assessment of

the Demand for Farm Workers Housing and Transportation in Mendocino

County by Ron Strochlic, Kresge, Don Villarejo, and

Wirth

Lack of access to decent housing and safe, affordable transportation are

some of the most significant issues affecting the health and well being

of agricultural workers in California. The Mendocino County Planning

Department contracted with CIRS to identify ways to improve agricultural

worker housing and assess the feasibility of a vanpool offering safe and

affordable transportation. The research is based on a survey of 200

farmworkers and 90 agricultural employers, and key informant interviews

with a range of experts familiar with farm labor housing and

transportation conditions in the region. The findings identify the

numbers and characteristics of farmworkers employed in Mendocino County

and their housing and transportation needs, with recommendations for

addressing these conditions.

Factors

Associated with Deregistration Among Organic Farmers in

California by Sierra, Klonsky, Ron Strochlic, Sonja

Brodt and Molinar

With funding from the Sustainable

Agriculture Research and Education Program and in collaboration with

University of California ative

Extension, CIRS conducted a survey of California growers that have

discontinued registration with the California Department of Food and

Agriculture (CDFA) Organic Program. The research findings shed light on

some of the principal challenges affecting organic growers and reasons

for exiting organic production. This study comes as a follow-up to

prior research

assessing factors associated with adoption and non-adoption of organic

farming practices among conventional, mixed and deregistered growers.

Ron Strochlic

Executive Director

California Institute for Rural Studies

221 G Street, Suite 204

, CA 95616

530-756-6555 x16

www.cirsinc.org