Straightforward business planner and tutorial. Not sustainably oriented, but handy nonetheless.

Explore natural choices for self-managed health care.

American Farmland Trust is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to protect our nation's farmland. AFT works to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment.

Mission: AEO supports the development of strong and effective U.S. microenterprise initiatives to assist underserved entrepreneurs in starting, stabilizing, and expanding businesses.

Vision: Every entrepreneur in the U.S. has access to resources and services for creating wealth, assets and healthy communities.

History: AEO was founded in 1991 during a convening, in Berkeley, California, where of over 150 practitioners from over 100 microenterprise development organizations nationwide convened. Recognizing the opportunity and value of learning together, the convening participants decided AEO’s mission would be to serve as the forum and voice for individuals and organizations committed to expanding enterprise opportunity for people and communities with limited access to economic resources, and to serve as the catalyst for responsible industry growth.

Also at that time, AEO defined microenterprise development and coined the word "microentrepreneur" to describe a particular kind of business owner. Today, microenterprise is defined as a business with five or fewer employees, which requires $35,000 or less in start up capital. Microenterprise development is the provision of support to microenterprise owners (or microentrepreneurs).

The roots of U.S. microenterprise development sprung from economic programs that arose as a result of the women’s movement in the late 1960s. By the 1980s it was evident that an important new economic strategy was developing. As microenterprise development practitioner pioneers began innovative programs in scattered rural and urban areas nationwide, it became evident that an organized communication structure was needed to share knowledge, resources, challenges, and best practices among established and developing microenterprise development programs.

From 1991 to 1999, AEO was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. During the late 1990s the microenterprise development field identified the need for stronger advocacy efforts in support of federally funded microenterprise development programs. In 1999, to have closer access to policy makers on Capitol Hill, AEO moved to its current location in Arlington, Virginia– just across the Potomac River from the Washington, DC.

Today, AEO is an exciting and flourishing organization and the only national member-based association in the microenterprise development industry. Its membership has grown to include not only practitioners, but also advocates, public agencies, funders, individuals, and others who share in AEO's mission.

"Bioneers are an improbable collection of visionary innovators working with nature to heal nature and our relationship as human beings with the natural world." The conference offered practical solutions for our most pressing environmental and cultural crises, and left our hearts, minds, and souls spinning with new ideas. Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature, is available on their website.

"Building Better Rural Places" is a 160-page online resource guide to federal programs offering assistance in sustainable agriculture, innovative forestry, land conservation, rural community development and sustainable land and resource management. Published in January 2001, the guide provides descriptions and contact information for 80 federal programs that offer support to farmers and others seeking technical assistance, information, or financial resources.

This extensive directory of federal programs for sustainable agriculture, forestry, conservation and community development was compiled in 2004 by U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies working together for sustainable rural development, in collaboration with The Michael Fields Agricultural Institute and the National Center for Appropriate Technology. Contains summaries of each program, contact information and grant-writing tips. 

The Center for Informed Food Choices (CIFC) advocates for a diet based on whole, unprocessed, local, organically grown plant foods through personal and political tactics. CIFC believes that: placing these foods at the center of the plate is crucial for promoting public health, protecting the environment, and assuring the humane treatment of animals and food industry workers.

CFSC is a North American organization dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people at all times.  Website highlights include information on past and upcoming annual conferences.

ecoSmart is a Web-based software program designed to evaluate the economic trade-offs between different landscape practices on residential parcels (and adaptable to commercial lots). The program estimates the impacts of strategic tree placement, rainfall management, and fire prevention practices. Users work in a computer-simulation environment to test various landscape and hydrologic alternatives to arrive at environmentally and economically sound solutions. Fire is operational now; stay tuned for the availability of water and energy.  A free product of the USDA and the Center for Urban Forest Research.