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September/October 2023 Issue #50
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| Urban Horticulture/ Master Gardener Program
SHADE Conference
Michael Chamberland, Assistant Agent, Urban Horticulture / Master Gardener Program
Assistant Agent for Urban Horticulture, Michael Chamberland and Associate in Extension, Shaku Nair managed an information table at the Southwest Horticulture Annual Day of Education (SHADE) Conference sponsored by the Arizona Nursery Association. Both Michael and Shaku gave presentations at the event. The SHADE Conference is the major annual professional meeting for the horticulture trades in the Phoenix area, attracting 525 participants this year. The event announced the launch of a new Maricopa County Reference Tree Guide which had been under development through the summer. The Guide is now available on the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Urban Horticulture web page.
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SNAP-Ed Program
Transforming SNAP-Ed: Trauma-Informed Approach to Healthier Lifestyles
Berenice Quiroga, Program Support, SNAP-Ed
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The SNAP-Ed program’s main goal is to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP will make healthy food choices even within a limited budget and choose physically active lifestyles. Individuals with limited resources may be more likely to have experienced negative social determinants of health such as poverty, unequal access to health care, and lack of education that lead to adverse experiences such as food insecurity, homelessness or housing instability, or substance use disorders. These conditions, sometimes experienced as trauma, can influence how and why SNAP-Ed participants make choices related to food and activity.
For us to reach our goal, Arizona Health Zone, our grant funder, has adopted a Trauma-Informed Approach for SNAP-Ed programming. This approach acknowledges the potential role of trauma in food and physical activity choices and addresses these barriers in an appropriate way by creating a more empathetic and supportive framework. Doing so increases the likelihood that programming meets people where they are, does not cause unintended harm, and supports individuals and families to make positive changes that are realistic for them.
To help us move in that direction, we are aligning our programming and our work environment with the Six Guiding Principles by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These principles are part of a framework created for the behavioral health specialty sectors looking to take a Trauma-Informed Approach.
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SAMHSA’S Six Guiding Principles of Trauma-Informed Care
1. Safety: Creating safe and welcoming environments lays the groundwork for effecting positive changes.
2. Trustworthiness and Transparency: Establishing trust by setting clear expectations with our participants by communicating transparently and consistently to demonstrate reliability.
3. Peer Support: We work with integrating peer support for our participants by enhancing collaboration and utilizing their stories and lived experiences to promote positive behavior change. This helps build a sense of community and belonging.
4. Collaboration and Mutuality: Encouraging collaborative relationships with our communities with shared power and decision-making.
5. Empowerment Voice and Choice: Recognize our communities’ strengths and experiences and build upon them.
6. Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues: Eliminating stereotypes and biases. Embracing our communities’ traditional cultures and diverse backgrounds.
The journey to becoming a trauma informed program is very long, but as a program we are in a recognition, awareness, and knowledge phase. By aligning with the Guiding Principles of Trauma-Informed care and embarking on an internal journey of becoming trauma aware, we elevate the impact of our efforts. Through this comprehensive approach, we move forward to lasting positive changes in policy, systems, and environments, empowering both our team and SNAP recipients to thrive in healthier, more resilient communities.
Photo Sources: unsplash.com by Elaine Casap (tomatoes), by Brook Lark (cooking)
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Arizona Center for Rural Leadership
Scott Koenig, Executive Director
Arizona Center for Rural Leadership has kicked off its Class 32 over the past several months. To see a full list of the sixteen leaders from across the state, visit www.centrl.org/Class32 Their first few seminars already have them traveling the state to Prescott for Effective Communication and the White Mountains for Natural Resources and the Rural Economy.
At every seminar they work to build personal leadership skills, learn the issues that are facing rural Arizona and connect with other leaders and experts. In particular we thank VP Burgess for joining the class in Prescott and Assistant Area Agent Anita Thompson for providing a tour in Pinetop-Lakeside about healthy forests.
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Turf Science Program
Pest Management and Pesticide Safety Seminars for Turf and Landscape
Shaku Nair, Associate in Extension, UA Turfgrass Science The Annual Pest Management and Pesticide Safety Seminars are some of the signature events organized by the UA Turfgrass Program and held every winter. The seminars bring together experts in the field of turf and landscape pest management and pesticide safety in these environments. Topics are presented through lectures and interactive hands-on activities.
The UA Turfgrass Program provides technical advice and educational resources and opportunities for learning how to decrease or improve inputs and improve turf quality with techniques that conserve water resources, implement integrated pest management, and reduce their environmental footprint.
This year, the seminars will be offered on two dates and locations in person:
Tuesday, November 28th at Ocotillo Golf Club Pavilion, 3751 S. Clubhouse Drive, Chandler AZ 85248
Wednesday, November 29th at Lecture Hall, Recreation Centers of Sun City West, 19803 R.H. Johnson Blvd, Sun City West, AZ 85375
Both events will feature the same or similar content, with presentations by experts on various aspects of turf and landscape pest management and pesticide safety. Six AZ Dept. of Ag. ESD (Ag.), PMD (OPM) and GCSAA CEUs will be applied for.
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Urban Agriculture Production, Small-Scale, and Beginning Farmer Program
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The Urban Agriculture Production, Small-Scale and Beginning farmer Program hosted three recent events in collaboration with the USDA-NRCS and FSA to provide resources and technical expertise to urban, small-scale and beginning farmers in Arizona. The Program’s signature event, Urban Ag Hour in August featured two Zoom presentations; one by Arizona Department of Agriculture's Program Manager Danielle Runion on Food Safety, followed by a talk on registering with FSA for a Farm/Tract Number and eligibility for FSA programs with USDA-FSA's Farm Loan Chief Fred San Nicolas. September’s Urban Ag Hour on Zoom featured a talk by University of Arizona Cooperative Extension's Integrated Pest Management Post Doc Dr. Avik Mukherjee, followed by a talk on Accessing Land with USDA FSA's Urban Agriculture Program Technician Alyssa Crijns. One September 17 we had our Urban Ag Field Day hosted in-person at the Urban Orchards and Farming in Prescott, Arizona. It included an immersive farm tour on local fruit production at two sites with urban farmers Steve Miller and Sandy Lockwood, a Viticulture presentation by Viticulture Extension Area Agent Matt Halldorson, and a Bee-keeping presentation by Urban Agriculture Program Coordinator Sharrona Moore and Assistant Agent, Horticulture, Anne LeSenne. 126 attendees participated across events, participating in beneficial networking, and discussion with 65% of attendees surveyed (N=43) reporting the education received will probably or definitely change their behavior! Also, we are connecting with our clientele, collaborators and UArizona colleagues for more events, projects, and introduction of USDA services to our communities state-wide.
To ensure the resources to continue our educational and applied research activities, the program secured over $750,000 through funding from the USDA, the state of Arizona and UArizona Cooperative Extension during this quarter of 2023. The program and UArizona Cooperative Extension are partnering with the USDA for establishing an Urban Agriculture Service Center here at our MCCE. This addition will make MCCE a one stop for technical opportunities from our Program, as well as all sorts of USDA services to our communities.
Want continual updates? Follow us on Instagram @urbanandsmallagproduction!
Program Team
Ayman Mostafa, Area Agent, Regional Specialist & Program Leader
Colleen Hanley, Assistant in Extension & Program Manager
Trixy Struck, Farm Manager
Jared Williams, Program Coordinator
Sara Hipperson, Program Coordinator
Sharrona Moore, Program Coordinator
Tiffany Drake, Program Coordinator
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Field Crops Integrated Pest Management Program
The Field Crops IPM team is currently planning for the “Central Arizona Farmer Field Day”, a signature Program event in its 13th year. The event will be held at Mariopca Ag Center (MAC), in person, on November 15th. Expertise from UArizona Cooperative Extension Ag Team will highlight their current trials at MAC to answer specific relevant topics for the low desert region including agronomy, pest management, soil health, irrigation aspects, and quality of field and forage crops, and much more!
The 2023 Annual Alfalfa & Forage Tent Talks held at the Jason Rovey Farm in Buckeye on August 28th. We had a good crowd and some great questions! Thank you to Mr. Jason Rovey for hosting the event once again.
We had an opportunity to voice the concerns and give a glimpse of the magnitude of work of efforts and efficiency of our Arizona agriculture community to public radio audiences. In an interview with KJZZ, one of our state agriculture leaders, Paul “Paco” Ollerton, put clear the challenges and opportunities before Arizona agriculture. He explained the efforts carried out by our agriculture communities to continue producing food and fiber to our state and our nation. The mega drought, the increase in temperatures, and cutback of ag water resources are some of many challenges UArizona Cooperative Extension is tackling alongside our growers. These efforts bring results, resources, and new technology to enable our farmers and ranchers doing their exceptional work. CLICK HERE for the interview involved Mr. Ollerton, along with Dr. Debankur Sanyal and Dr. Ayman Mostafa of UArizona Cooperative Extension.
The program continues conducting multiple field pest efficacy trials as well as multiple pest focused bioassays to address a growing concern of insecticide resistances as well as the effect of these pesticides on the natural enemy populations of alfalfa and forage pests. Some of these are annual trials and some are a part of a recently funded project by the USDA-NIFS to better understand the relationship between pest populations, their natural enemy predators, and the decision-making practices of growers on which pesticides offer the most pest protection while also preserving the natural enemy populations.
Program Team
Ayman Mostafa, Area Agent, Regional Specialist & Program Leader
Kyle Harrington, Associate in Extension
Avik Mukherjee, Postdoctoral Associate
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Interim Director CutDr. Ayman Mostafa
You can feel some change in the weather and temperatures are going down a bit, but our Maricopa County Cooperative Extension (MCCE) programs are in full gear with the varieties of educational activities and applied research that designed to the need of our clientele. The long waited 2022 Annual Report of Maricopa County Cooperative Extension is now available online. The report features the tremendous programming, education and applied research efforts of our core focal points of the Cooperative Extension: 4-H Youth Development, Family, Consumer & Health Sciences, and Agriculture and Natural Resources. With various Extension activities and over 70 team members, our programs offer a diverse range of applied research and educational opportunities tailored to meet the documented needs of our community. MCCE Programs are doing so while seeking sources of funding to meet the growing needs of our communities. Nearly 80% of our team is supported through these funding sources, resulting in an impressive return on investment (ROI) of slightly over $9 for every dollar from our county budget. This exceptional ROI reflects the dedication, commitment, and excellence of our MCCE team as they strive to acquire resources and provide research-based, high-quality educational programs that enhance the lives of youth and adults throughout Maricopa County.
Something that showed the outstanding quality of our MCCE team is the recognition of some of us. Two of our MCCE team, Tamara Floyd and Kyle Harrington were bestowed with the Heart of Extension Award during the 2023 University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Annual Conference in Tucson.
And we can not continue our successful Extension programming without planning for the future. For two days, our MCCE program team and Community Research, Evaluation, & Development Team dived deep into Strategic Visioning Session to identify Key needs in Maricopa County and reviewing the resources available. The team identified a list of priorities for programming, staffing, funding and collaborators. We are planning to act on the results of this Strategic Visioning Session to ensure the continuing success of our MCCE programs. We are committed to impactful community engagement and growth through our world-class quality of our educational and applied research at MCCE.
I invite you to read about what is happening at our MCCE, follow our social media accounts for the office and programs, and as always, please stop by and see what’s new at the office.
Thanks to everyone for their continued support of Maricopa County Cooperative Extension!
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