Madison, WI, April 29, 2009 -- Leonardo Academy is seeking applications for three vacant seats on the National Sustainable Agriculture Practice Standards Committee within the ‘User’ Interest Category. Individuals or representatives of entities that use agricultural products - including retailers and restaurants, food service companies, product handlers, manufacturers, processors and distributors - and have an interest in engaging in the national dialogue on sustainable agriculture practices are encouraged to apply.

The SCS-001 Standards Committee has been charged with developing a national standard for sustainable agriculture under the rules of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Leonardo Academy, a nonprofit organization that works to advance sustainability, is providing facilitation and process support for the standard development initiative.

The 58-member Committee consists of a skilled, diverse membership representing a wide range of perspectives from across all areas of agriculture, including commodity producers, specialty crop producers, agricultural processors, food distributors, food retailers, environmental institutions, labor organizations and industry trade associations, as well as government representatives, academics, regulators and certifiers.

Committee members, with support from process observers, have been working together since December 2008, under the framework of six Task Forces, to define the need for the sustainability standard, outline the
sustainability principles upon which the standard will be built, gather and compare relevant references and metrics, create tools for guiding the standard development process moving forward, identify outreach opportunities for engaging additional stakeholders and to seek funding to support stakeholder participation in the process. The Task Forces will present their recommendations at the upcoming Standards Committee meeting in St. Charles, Illinois (May 27-28, 2009).

How to Apply

To receive an application for the open Standards Committee seats, please contact Amanda Raster at Leonardo Academy (Tel:  608-280-0255, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). PLEASE NOTE that only applications for the User Interest Category will be considered at this time. Individuals who have previously submitted applications for this interest category will be considered in this round of selections.

Applications should be submitted by 12:00 pm CDT on Monday, May 1, 2009. The new Committee members will be announced on Wednesday, May 13, 2009.