On Nov. 4, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced a grant of $3.15 million to A&T and N.C. State universities and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) that merited a press conference and remarks from UNC System President Erskine Bowles, the chancellors of both universities — Dr. Stanley Battle of N.C. A&T and Dr. James Oblinger of N.C. State — as well as the chair of the CEFS Board of Advisors, Simon Rich, and Ricardo Salvador, a program director for the Kellogg Foundation.

Much of the Kellogg grant will be channeled to the CEFS, a 2,000-acre research and Extension facility near Goldsboro operated jointly by A&T, N.C. State and the N. C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. With a focus on sustainable agriculture, the CEFS was ahead of the curve when it was established in 1994, and the head start it had on public concern for environmentally friendly agriculture and the local foods movement has positioned the CEFS as a national leader in research and educational outreaches in those areas.

Dr. M. Ray McKinnie, associate dean and administrator for The Cooperative Extension Program at A&T, says that, "The CEFS has made A&T Extension and research integral partners. SAES horticultural scientists and Extension specialists have taken advantage of CEFS resources for research and demonstrations, and one of the six research units at CEFS is a Small Farm Center, in support of the SAES's commitment to small-scale agriculture. What has been good for CEFS has been good for the SAES, so a generous Kellogg grant to enhance CEFS programs and resources is something more than good news for the SAES. It’s good news about the SAES."

The recently announced Kellogg grant was a stimulus to the universities to establish endowed chairs in both the SAES and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State. Dr. John O'Sullivan, currently Extension Farm Management and Marketing Specialist, has been named to the SAES's Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems.

Of immediate plans for the new role, O'Sullivan says, "We are looking to build a partnership focused at the CEFS that will give faculty and students better access to resources. I also hope to build some new undergraduate courses and programs that take contemporary and diverse approaches to agriculture, and bring the SAES into a network of institutions, including Iowa State, Michigan State, Ohio State and the University of California at Davis, which also have Kellogg endowed chairs in sustainable agriculture."