Lessons from Sacramento and Central California

Metropolitan Washington will be home to 1.5 million more people by 2045, and the region aspires to direct most of this growth to less than 10 percent of its land area. How do we plan for the vibrancy and health of communities in other parts of the region, including its peri-urban and rural communities? Since 2008, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) has built a Rural-Urban Connections Strategy with agriculture at its core to do just this.

Please join the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) for a presentation on SACOG’s strategic planning for agriculture. This interactive afternoon will also include an overview of COG’s Regional Food Systems Program, increasing connections between local farmers and consumers since March 2016. Interest in local food is at an all-time high. Could agriculture contribute even more to the region’s economy with sustained regional coordination and COG member engagement?