New publications from the California Institute for Rural Studies

[Guest guest]

The California Institute for Rural Studies is pleased to announce new

publications and media releases.

Please check out our current projects as well:

http://cirsinc.org/CurrentProjects.html.

As always, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with colleague

organizations and are available to help with program evaluations,

planning and feasibility studies, general research and other

informational needs. Please contact

Gail Wadsworth us for further

information.

We're also happy to announce our new Facebook page - we invite you to

become a fan!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/California-Institute-for-Rural-Studies/168617428772?ref=ts

New publications and media:

Organizing for

Community Health: The Poder Popular Promotores Comunitarios de Salud

Strategy by Gloria Sayavedra, Ron Strochlic, Elliot and

Carrillo (50 pages)

In collaboration with Harder+Company

Community Research, CIRS conducted a three-year evaluation of

The California Endowment's

Promotores Communitarios de Salud Strategy, a grassroots education

and mobilization strategy for improving community health. The strategy,

which is being implemented in seven agricultural communities throughout

California, utilizes a popular education approach to help agricultural

workers and other community residents understand the community-level

threats to their health and provide them with the skills to bring about

policy and systems changes that will result in improved community health.

Vente, Vamos a Hacer el Cambio! Come, Let’s

Create Change!

As part of the evaluation of Poder Popular CIRS produced a

video in which participants tell the story of Poder Popular in their own

words. You can view this 19 minute video, which is filmed in five

segments, by clicking on the following links. The video is in Spanish

with English sub-titles.

Part 1: Quiénes

Somos? / Who are We?

Part 2: Retos /

Challenges

Part 3: Nuestros

derechos, nuestro poder / Our Rights, Our Strengths

Part 4: Nuestras

s / Our Victories

Part 5: Vente a

hacer el cambio! / Come Let’s Create Change!

La Flor del Sin

Nombre

: A Telenovela Promoting Improved Diet and Nutrition

La Flor del Sin Nombre is an hour-long telenovela style video

promoting improved nutrition among agricultural workers and other

Spanish-speaking immigrants. Using an entertaining and engaging format,

it seeks to educate viewers about the importance of increasing fruit and

vegetable consumption, cutting fat intake, and reducing high-sugar

beverage consumption. It also seeks to promote increased

utilization of food stamps among eligible individuals.

The story takes place in the town of “Sin Nombre” (literally, “No Name”),

a small San Joaquin Valley community in California that is predominantly

occupied by farmworker families. Xochitl Sandoval, a daughter of

farmworkers and a community organizer, is the main protagonist. Xochitl

is committed to improving the diet and nutrition of community members,

particularly since she lost both of her parents to complications from

type 2 diabetes. The nutrition education and food stamp access themes are

interwoven in this traditional telenovela story complete with suspense,

drama, love and betrayal.

A project of the California Institute for Rural Studies in collaboration

with UC Berkeley & UC ative Extension’s Building Food Security

Workgroup and Fotonovelas del Valle, this production was funded in part

by the Food Stamp Program of the United States Department of Agriculture,

an equal opportunity employer.

Click here to view La Flor del Sin Nombre (64:19) on YouTube

(please note that there are closed captions).

An Assessment of

the Demand for a Vanpool Program Serving Agricultural Workers in Napa

County by Ron Strochlic (21 pages)

With funding from the Napa County

Transportation & Planning Agency, CIRS assessed the feasibility

of a farmworker vanpool system for Napa County. Based on a successful

model currently being implemented by the

Agricultural Industries Transportation

Services project, the vanpool system will provide farmworkers with

safe and affordable transportation to and from the fields and wineries.

The assessment, based on surveys and focus groups with farmworkers

throughout Napa County indicates the feasibility of this effort.

Breaking Down

Market Barriers for Small and Mid-sized Organic Growers

by Alida Cantor and Ron Strochlic (40 pages)

Organic farms and land in organic production have not kept up with

overall growth in the organic sector. Previous CIRS research has

identified marketing challenges as a key factor limiting the growth of

the organic sector. Through a cooperative agreement with the

USDA Agricultural Marketing

Service, this study explores the principal marketing barriers facing

small and medium organic growers in California. Through interviews and

surveys with growers, buyers and others, the findings provide a detailed

picture of the principal marketing barriers affecting small and medium

organic growers, and how they vary by factors including farm size, length

of time farming, crops, location, marketing channels and immigrant

status.

Ron Strochlic

Executive Director

California Institute for Rural Studies

221 G Street, Suite 204

, CA 95616

office: 530-756-6555 x16

cell: 530-867-3704

www.cirsinc.org