We are convinced that the results communities can achieve at a grass roots level are both positive and quantifiable.


Measuring Value Short Term

• Eco tourism to the ACÁ center and organic farm encourages some on the spot donations for improvements of the farm training models which inspire a deeper grasp of safe alternatives, for students, farmers, volunteers or consumers.
  
  
• The extent to which we are able to mobilize investment and negotiation for the support (economic and otherwise) will determine the extent to which ACÁ Eco Center can provide its projects and programs and continued outreach for growers, projects, indigenous groups.
  
  
• The ACÁ website (with interactive map) provides information for farmers and the public about production issues, seminars, registration for eco-courses and educational field studies, available internships, and organic co-operative markets throughout Mexico.

Measuring Value Long Term

• Creation of safe employment for women and children and provide a home grown solution and opportunities to provide fresh produce for those in need within each community and the extent to which ACÁ fosters new community based farms to practice environmentally responsible methods of food production.
  
  
• The degree to which the students from rural schools, communities, gardeners and growers are the catalyst for an ongoing ripple effect of active alliances and partners networking with other regional, national, international organizations and universities.
  
  
• The extent to which the association achieves self sufficiency for each of the on-site operational models, projects and programs and the degree to which each contributes to general operating revenue.

With internships and future researchers the actual Ecological footprint can be established. This measure of how much productive land and water an individual, city, country, or humanity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb all the waste it generates. The ecological footprint is measured in "area units", or units that correspond to one hectare of biologically productive space with world average productivity.

Project evaluation will be accomplished by means of documenting actual results such as numbers of people trained by subject as well as an analysis of the benefits achieved by such education. In the area of micro-enterprise training, we look for number of jobs that were created along with documented improvement of income. For “zero net-energy” home construction, the evaluation factor is the numbers of families that actually improve their housing along with an estimate of total energy saved. The training in organic food production, and environmental protection, will be evaluated by keeping records on the health improvements for local populations.