Sustag

Guidelines for Subscribers

MISA's intent for the Sustag listserve is to provide a way for people with an interest in sustainable agriculture to keep each other informed about events, research, learning opportunities, books, journal articles, or other pieces of knowledge relevant to sustainable agriculture.

What's allowed?

  • Informational posts about field days, workshops, courses, seminars, research results, books, journal articles, or any other educational resources or learning opportunities, are all very welcome on Sustag.

  • Events that are also fundraisers are allowed, so long as there is educational value to the event and the educational aspect is emphasized. Combination educational + fundraiser events should have educational information first, and information about the fundraising aspect toward the end of the post. Do not put the words "Sale" or "Fundraiser" in the subject line of the post.

  • Job announcements, internship announcements, and volunteer opportunities are allowed on Sustag.  

  • Farmland for sale and farmland wanted notices are allowed.  

  • Carpooling offers to educational events are allowed.  

  • You may post information about a timely issue. This should be general information in neutral language. You may include a link out to a different location that has opinion and calls to action about the issue, but please do not include the opinions or calls to action in the Sustag post.

What's not allowed?

  • Sustag's purpose is not to be a discussion forum. We think discussions are great (healthy debate is one of our guiding principles!), but in response to list users' wishes, we made a decision to keep this list informational. Opinion sharing and subsequent discussion can swell the number of posts and change the tone of posts beyond the intention of this forum.  

  • Media articles for a general audience are typically intended to spark discussion and should not be posted on Sustag. Post these on Healthy Debate instead.

  • Advocacy action alerts are not allowed. Calls to action should not appear in Sustag posts. Post these on Healthy Debate instead.  

  • Buy, sell, trade, or donate posts are not allowed. Do not post notices about livestock, seedstock, or any other goods or services offered or sought (except for notices about farmland available or carpooling to educational events.) Post these on SustagMarket instead.

  • Business advertising* is not allowed.  Post this on SustagMarket instead.  

  • Fundraising appeals are not allowed. You may post an informational announcement of an event or resource that includes, at the end of the message, a brief line about fundraising with a link to further information. You may post fundraising appeals on SustagMarket.

  • Do not include the Sustag listserv address in a MailChimp, ConstantContact, or other automated list unless ALL posts from that list will ALWAYS meet Sustag guidelines. Do not post automated sign-ups to Sustag. Those will appear to come from Sustag, which is misleading.

*What is "business advertising?"

We ask that non-profits not abuse their status by advertising services that compete with businesses. Offers for one-on-one consulting services that people have to pay for should be considered "business advertising" and not posted on Sustag. CSA shares offered by non-profits should be considered "business advertising" and not posted on Sustag.

On the other hand, new publications that offer instruction on some aspect of sustainable agriculture should be posted, even if they are offered for sale. Educational services such as courses and workshops should be posted, even if they require payment of a registration or attendance fee.

Business advertising and fundraising appeals can be posted on our SustAgMarket listserv.

What if something that appears on Sustag really needs to be discussed?

If discussion is what interests you, please check out our Healthy Debate listserv. Healthy Debate is for discussion of sustainable agriculture as it relates to politics, society, and advocacy. If you think that something posted on Sustag requires discussion, please re-post the item to Healthy Debate and begin the discussion there.

When in doubt, please check with the MISA staff before posting!

To subscribe to Sustag:

Read the Guidelines for Subscribers

  • Send an email message to: [email protected]

  • Leave the subject line blank.

  • Starting on the first line in the body of the message, type the words: Subscribe Sustag your name
    Example: Subscribe Sustag Donald Duck

To unsubscribe from Sustag:

  • Send an email message to: [email protected]

  • Leave the subject line blank.

  • Starting on the first line in the body of the message, type the words: Signoff Sustag

  • Do not include your name in the Signoff message.

  • Please be sure to use the same email address for sending the Signoff message as you originally used to sign on.

  • If you have trouble, contact Kate Seager: [email protected]

To post a message on Sustag:

Send your email message to: [email protected].

*** PLEASE NOTE:  You will not see your own post come through on your email. You should see a notice that your post was made.  If you have a question about whether your message came through to the list, please contact Jane Jewett: [email protected].

To make changes to your list options:

Go to the University of Minnesota Listserv Page to find detailed instructions. Contact [email protected] if you need assistance.

To access the Sustag archives:

Go to the Sustag List main page. Click on "Log In" and enter your email address and password. If you do not already have a password for Sustag, you will be able to choose one.

To avoid having your messages marked as "SPAM:"


The University of Minnesota hosts this listserv, and has installed SpamAssassin software as another layer of protection for all of its listservs.  In rare cases, a legitimate message will get marked as "SPAM."  Read these materials from SpamAssassin to find out how to avoid this for your messages:

http://spamassassin.apache.org/users.html

http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/AvoidingFpsForSenders