The City of Davis has long supported open space and agricultural land preservation around the City's perimeter. The Davis Greenway Plan, produced in 1990 (Jones, Francis, & Dawson, 1989), as well as the City's Farmland Preservation Program (City of Davis, 1995) and mitigation measures within the 2001 General Plan update, further cement its commitment to combining natural resource management, recreation and growth management while working to support continued agricultural use.

Passage of an innovative open space acquisition measure in November 2000, termed Measure O, has enabled the City to pursue these goals through the purchase and preservation of lands within the Davis planning area. Given their location within the fertile Sacramento Valley, the majority of these lands are currently under irrigated row or field crops, utilizing conventional, highly mechanized production techniques. As awareness regarding the environmental and human health impacts of conventionally grown foods increases and with it demand for locally grown foods, Measure O also provides the opportunity to demonstrate support for a new and increasingly sustainable model of agriculture.

What follows is a proposal for the establishment of community farms on lands acquired through the City's Open Space and Agricultural Preservation program. Specifically, this plan recommends making these publicly managed lands available for community-based multifunctional agriculture (CBMA) by providing incentives for practices that enhance ecosystem services and help the City of Davis to achieve its planning goals. Through a set of site-specific and overarching management recommendations, this plan proposes an innovative new use regime for current lands and future acquisitions in support of the following three objectives: (1) Agricultural land preservation (2) Enhanced ecosystem services (3) Increased food security

This plan is informed by ongoing collaboration with City staff and Open Space and Habitat Commissioners as well as stakeholder interviews, a foodshed assessment, case studies, and considerations for implementation. It is intended to support human and ecosystem health within the City of Davis and neighboring communities, while facilitating new entries into farming and improving the local food economy.