![\"Farmers](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2017\/03\/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-2-225x300.jpg\")
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I\u2019m spending time on this year\u2019s National Ag Day<\/a> thinking back gratefully to a recent meeting I had with farmers.<\/p>\n I was attending the annual farm exchange program offered through the\u00a0California Agricultural Leadership Foundation<\/a>, which facilitates learning opportunities on California farms. This year\u2019s program brought together state environmental policy professionals and growers from the Central Coast, an epicenter for growing the nation\u2019s specialty crops, such as lettuce, broccoli, and strawberries. My aim was \u201cto see sustainability through the eyes of farmers.\u201d We toured various agricultural operations, had thoughtful discussions, and stayed with host families in the local farm community.<\/p>\n My host was Erin Amaral, who manages 1,170 acres of vineyards near San Luis Obispo. Erin and I got along immediately \u2013 and our conversations kept coming back to one central tenet: farmers and environmentalists want the same things.<\/p>\n [Tweet “Farmers and environmentalists want the same thing, via @rebeccalhaynes @GrowingReturns.https:\/\/edf.org\/7nr”]<\/p>\n Shared interests<\/strong><\/p>\n Erin told me about growing up on her father\u2019s Central Valley almond orchard and how she developed an interest in sustainable farming during college. I too became interested in agriculture\u2019s potential to protect the environment during college. We both carried that interest over into our careers \u2013 and during my stay, we shared a profound appreciation for the beauty of the vineyard landscape.<\/p>\n Erin strives to make her vineyard as sustainable as possible. A specialist in pest control, she and her colleagues at Pacific Vineyard pioneered a sustainable way to lower the population of mealybugs, a particularly noxious pest that transmits plant viruses, in their vineyards. Over time, this innovative solution allowed them to completely eliminate the use of high risk pesticides with toxic ingredients. They\u2019ve also reduced their use of herbicides by implementing vine tillage, a process that destroys weeds with blades rather than chemicals.<\/p>\n Erin and her colleagues are careful stewards of their natural resources, conserving water and planting cover crops to prevent soil erosion.<\/p>\n Shared agendas<\/strong><\/p>\n At EDF, I work on creating protocols and market mechanisms<\/a> to reward growers who implement sustainable agricultural practices, such as preserving grasslands and applying fertilizer more efficiently. These methods allow growers to create carbon offsets that can be sold into carbon markets. My colleagues and I are also working to scale up private investments into agricultural carbon offset projects, in part to guarantee payments for growers<\/a> that implement these practices. Erin agreed with me on the importance of creating secure, low-risk financial incentives to motivate\u00a0sustainable practices on farmlands.<\/p>\n We all want healthy food produced in ways that preserve land and natural resources. We all want farms to preserve the quality of their soil so that they can generate high crop yields for generations into the future. We all want to keep pollutants out of waterways and out of the air. Loving the land and loving the earth are the same.<\/p>\n Related:<\/em><\/p>\n There’s good reason to end the agriculture versus the environment fight >><\/a><\/p>\n Farmers’ voices are essential to figuring out sustainability. Let’s listen up. >><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Farmers](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2017\/03\/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-3-300x225.jpg\")
Public perception tends to pit environmentalists and farmers against each other. But over the four days of this meeting, no disagreements took place. Instead of creating conflict, we formed friendships.<\/p>\n