(The following is a contribution from Chris Bajuk about the benefits of urban farming for sustainable livelihoods, and sound business practices. Posted 3/09/12)
Imagine a future where you know where your food is grown, can actually see it being grown and where the majority of your produce comes from farms within five miles of your local grocery store. Urban farming holds promise for providing a sustainable supply of fresh produce to city residents. A sustainable farm will meet all three facets of the triple-bottom-line:
• People - Farming proximate to the locus of demand affords urban residents new employment opportunities. These jobs cannot be outsourced. Municipalities benefit from increased payroll and sales tax revenues and increased property values and utilization of underutilized land space. Hourly wages for part-time farm hands may be in the $12-15/hr range. Salaries for full time support positions range from $30,000-$80,000 per year, depending on position and size of the farming business. Local farming also provides excellent educational outreach opportunities for urban schools, colleges, and youth programs. The City of Seattle recently released an online survey for residents to fill out to gauge interest in using vacant City-owned land for farming. Some of the questions pertain to educational outreach. The City’s goal is to encourage urban farming and help educate its residents. The survey is open for anyone to take: City of Seattle Municipal Lands for Agriculture.
• Planet - Farming locally reduces the logistics in getting produce to market. The average item of produce in the U.S. travels 1500 miles from farm to grocery store. The cost of transportation can account for up to half the price of a head of lettuce in the retail store. Also, conventional agriculture is the largest user of land and water, the greatest source of water pollution, and the second largest source of carbon emissions.
• Profit - A sustainable farm must be able to sustain itself financially and generate returns for the farmer and shareholders. Some successful examples of urban farming come from the non-profit and civic sectors, but they do not grow sufficient quantities of produce to meet demand. They rely on volunteer laborers and donated land used on a temporary basis, so the farm cannot install the type of fixed infrastructure necessary for year round production (i.e. greenhouses). A for-profit farm, in contrast, hires employees and provides training to maximize productive output. They have long term rights to use their land through lease or purchase. The high upfront cost of installing greenhouse systems counterbalances some of the risk by creating larger yields and more efficient production. When their produce is sold within a short distance, local farmers can capture significant cost savings.
There are several, very successful companies currently engaged in hyper-local farming. The following are a few examples that show how entrepreneurs can create value by growing food locally:
• Gotham Greens is a rooftop farming company in Brooklyn, NY. It operates on top of an old bowling alley and sells its produce to local grocery stores and restaurants. It started selling its produce last year and is already considering expansion.
• Hantz Farms is the largest urban farm in the U.S. The founder is taking advantage of severely depressed land values to purchase blighted urban land and convert it to productive agricultural space. Detroit’s city government is trying to downsize the geographic footprint of its municipal services coverage, so using the blighted areas for farming makes a lot of sense. It’s helping to create new jobs and educational opportunities for Detroit residents and the output is a healthy product: fresh vegetables.
• Bright Farms is one of the companies trying to completely eliminate the food supply chain. Their farms will be co-located with urban grocery stores. The produce they grow will not require any fossil fuels to reach market. Instead, their produce will move a few footsteps.
Chris Bajuk is a graduate student at the University of Washington. He completed an MBA in June of 2011 and will complete a M.S. in real estate in June of 2012. Along with an MBA classmate, Chris is starting UrbanHarvest, a hyper-local urban farming business with operations in Seattle and surrounding areas. He is using his urban farming business concept for competing in the UW Environmental Innovation Challenge and the UW Business Plan Competition.
Mar 9, 2012
Mar 8, 2012
More opportunities for learning about rain gardens
Posted 3/8/2012
Learn how to design and install a rain garden that will fight pollution, reduce flooding, add beauty, and attract beneficial pollinators. Rain gardens function like a tiny forest to soak up and filter polluted runoff from downspouts, driveways, and other hard surfaces.
Learn how to design and install a rain garden that will fight pollution, reduce flooding, add beauty, and attract beneficial pollinators. Rain gardens function like a tiny forest to soak up and filter polluted runoff from downspouts, driveways, and other hard surfaces.
Feb 20, 2012
Rain garden projects, and opportunities for more!
posted 2/20/12 - Amy Waterman, Sustainable Rain Project Manager
(Sustainable Rain is currently accepting applications from individuals and groups in our target communities for $1000 rain garden scholarships. Learn more in this post and on our workshop page.)
The largest contributor of pollution to the Puget Sound is stormwater pollution. It is estimated by the Washington Department of Ecology that at least 14 million pounds of toxic pollutants annually enter the Sound annually from our streets, roofs, driveways, sidewalks, yards, and farms. So much of our landscape is hard and impervious. One of the ways that we can help alleviate the problem of runoff is by encouraging the water to soak into the ground.
One way to do that is to construct rain gardens which are built in a depression, and are designed to imitate the forest floor and soak up stormwater runoff. They are designed with special soil mixes and native plants are used to infiltrate runoff from roofs, driveways, sidewalks, or any impervious surface. When Rain gardens are constructed, they reduce the amount of stormwater pollution that enters Puget Sound. In addition, they are aesthetically pleasing and can create some wildlife habitat. (Image shows drainage bed before additional soil and planting.)
Sustainable Rain is a project of Sustainable Seattle, whose objective is to promote the installation of rain gardens and other ways of using the landscape to infiltrate stormwater, called low impact development (LID). The larger goal is to encourage LID techniques as sustainable practices for businesses and organizations.
Sustainable Rain is moving into its second year after the successful installation of five rain gardens in the summer, and a series of educational workshops on stormwater pollution and rain gardens in the fall of 2011. The rain garden hosts are a very interesting group of organizations in our target neighborhoods of Beacon Hill, Central District, West Seattle, and White Center.
These rain gardens were built with the work of some great volunteers (thank you!!) and the cooperation of our partners: Stewardship Partners, Ground Up/Creatives for Community, Homegrown Organics, Alleycat Acres and Rain Dog Designs.
Each of these neighborhoods had a workshop on rain gardens, where we brought in Sustainable West Seattle’s excellent stormwater slide show (developed with a Russell Family Foundation grant), showing the links between the health of the Puget Sound and stormwater runoff. Then we shared photos and stories from our rain garden installations. We ended with an hour-long training on how to select an appropriate site and build a rain garden on private property.
Now, we are following up with this work with educational signs for each of the rain gardens, designed with Stewardship Partners. At El Centro de la Raza, this sign is in Spanish and English. Homegrown Organics, a local landscaping firm in the Central District, will install these signs.
We are also still accepting applications for rain garden scholarships, where we are going to fund $1,000 towards a rain garden in any of our target communities. Ideally, we are looking for businesses or organizations that can serve as demonstration and inspiration sites; however, we will consider residential sites. We will be selecting these sites in the next couple of months, so get your applications in.
We are exploring several different directions and possible funding sources for Sustainable Rain in 2012. One of the exciting possibilities is in Ballard, where we have been asked by the Russell Foundation to submit a full proposal on our Sustainable Neighborhood project. The idea behind this project is to find rain garden “champions,” a neighborhood advocate who helps find neighbors interested in having a rain garden installed, in a few neighborhoods.This is the approach that our partners, Stewardship Partners, have used successfully in some of their project areas. Using this excitement and the rebates from Seattle Public Utilities in certain parts of Ballard as incentives, we would get clusters of about 10 rain gardens installed on certain streets. Getting this many rain gardens together makes installation more cost effective, builds community as neighbors help plant the gardens, and gives more water quality benefit than one stand-alone rain garden.
Then, our project would differ from anything done in the past, because we would use the idea of creating a “sustainable neighborhood” to urge residents to take additional steps. The first would be to get homeowners in the neighborhood to do energy audits and some retrofits, again using existing public incentives to make these affordable. Next, we would survey gardeners in the neighborhood and develop ways for sharing knowledge, tools, bulk buying, and plant materials.
We have lots of other ideas for Sustainable Rain, and they will be integrated into the neighborhood projects of Sustainable Seattle. We also plan to be as responsive as we can to the needs and opportunities that we hear about in networking with the many government and non-profit agencies working in this area now.
(Sustainable Rain is currently accepting applications from individuals and groups in our target communities for $1000 rain garden scholarships. Learn more in this post and on our workshop page.)
The largest contributor of pollution to the Puget Sound is stormwater pollution. It is estimated by the Washington Department of Ecology that at least 14 million pounds of toxic pollutants annually enter the Sound annually from our streets, roofs, driveways, sidewalks, yards, and farms. So much of our landscape is hard and impervious. One of the ways that we can help alleviate the problem of runoff is by encouraging the water to soak into the ground.
One way to do that is to construct rain gardens which are built in a depression, and are designed to imitate the forest floor and soak up stormwater runoff. They are designed with special soil mixes and native plants are used to infiltrate runoff from roofs, driveways, sidewalks, or any impervious surface. When Rain gardens are constructed, they reduce the amount of stormwater pollution that enters Puget Sound. In addition, they are aesthetically pleasing and can create some wildlife habitat. (Image shows drainage bed before additional soil and planting.)Sustainable Rain is a project of Sustainable Seattle, whose objective is to promote the installation of rain gardens and other ways of using the landscape to infiltrate stormwater, called low impact development (LID). The larger goal is to encourage LID techniques as sustainable practices for businesses and organizations.
Sustainable Rain is moving into its second year after the successful installation of five rain gardens in the summer, and a series of educational workshops on stormwater pollution and rain gardens in the fall of 2011. The rain garden hosts are a very interesting group of organizations in our target neighborhoods of Beacon Hill, Central District, West Seattle, and White Center.
- Helen B. Ratcliff, a woman’s transitional facility and El Centro de la Raza, a Latino cultural center, are our Beacon Hill sites.
- Green Plate Special, a hands-on cooking and gardening program for middle school children, is our Central District site.
- Alexandria Melchior’s property, a combined business/residential site is our West Seattle site.
- In White Center, we put in a rain garden in a commercial/industrial area, which sits next to the asphalt outside “beer garden” they have in the summer at Big Al Brewery.
These rain gardens were built with the work of some great volunteers (thank you!!) and the cooperation of our partners: Stewardship Partners, Ground Up/Creatives for Community, Homegrown Organics, Alleycat Acres and Rain Dog Designs.
Each of these neighborhoods had a workshop on rain gardens, where we brought in Sustainable West Seattle’s excellent stormwater slide show (developed with a Russell Family Foundation grant), showing the links between the health of the Puget Sound and stormwater runoff. Then we shared photos and stories from our rain garden installations. We ended with an hour-long training on how to select an appropriate site and build a rain garden on private property.
Now, we are following up with this work with educational signs for each of the rain gardens, designed with Stewardship Partners. At El Centro de la Raza, this sign is in Spanish and English. Homegrown Organics, a local landscaping firm in the Central District, will install these signs.
We are also still accepting applications for rain garden scholarships, where we are going to fund $1,000 towards a rain garden in any of our target communities. Ideally, we are looking for businesses or organizations that can serve as demonstration and inspiration sites; however, we will consider residential sites. We will be selecting these sites in the next couple of months, so get your applications in.
We are exploring several different directions and possible funding sources for Sustainable Rain in 2012. One of the exciting possibilities is in Ballard, where we have been asked by the Russell Foundation to submit a full proposal on our Sustainable Neighborhood project. The idea behind this project is to find rain garden “champions,” a neighborhood advocate who helps find neighbors interested in having a rain garden installed, in a few neighborhoods.This is the approach that our partners, Stewardship Partners, have used successfully in some of their project areas. Using this excitement and the rebates from Seattle Public Utilities in certain parts of Ballard as incentives, we would get clusters of about 10 rain gardens installed on certain streets. Getting this many rain gardens together makes installation more cost effective, builds community as neighbors help plant the gardens, and gives more water quality benefit than one stand-alone rain garden.
Then, our project would differ from anything done in the past, because we would use the idea of creating a “sustainable neighborhood” to urge residents to take additional steps. The first would be to get homeowners in the neighborhood to do energy audits and some retrofits, again using existing public incentives to make these affordable. Next, we would survey gardeners in the neighborhood and develop ways for sharing knowledge, tools, bulk buying, and plant materials.
We have lots of other ideas for Sustainable Rain, and they will be integrated into the neighborhood projects of Sustainable Seattle. We also plan to be as responsive as we can to the needs and opportunities that we hear about in networking with the many government and non-profit agencies working in this area now.
Feb 13, 2012
The many facets of the sustainable development discussion
How have we come to believe that seeking the equilibrium of sustainability is the right thing to do? Some might argue that it is obvious, given the state of our natural world and the disruption of healthy ecosystems. Certainly, growing awareness of our global interconnectedness and quality of life issues made more difficult through economic hardship have shed light on society’s dysfunction.
However, during this election year there is another nuance in the sustainability conversation that lies hidden in rhetoric from both camps of the political divide. An example from the right is John Anthony’s narrated slide presentation entitled Agenda 21 for public officials: False Choices.
In this fourteen minute presentation he frames his opinion based on threats to individual property rights that he believes stem from the 1987 Brundtland Report to the U.N. In a multitude of ways he suggests that social equity will be achieved by dismantling vital characteristics of U.S. law. For example, he believes free enterprise will be replaced with public/private partnerships. A restructuring of American life will take place and we will have to conform to the views of planners and developers promoting sustainable design. The environmental movement is being used to promote a political agenda, and if that weren’t enough, he claims: “ordinary people will be left unprotected from de facto decrees placing nature above man while relegating man to a biological resource.”
This sounds familiar as a rallying cry for those who see rights pitted against environmental concerns. The two are always irreconcilable. By keeping his argument within the realm of government manipulation he can rouse sentiment without needing to give validity to why sustainable development efforts have emerged in the first place.
On the flipside is this Good Lifestyle commentary. We are trending toward a different world view in terms of choosing where and how we live, but that is clearly a good thing. Apparently, the so-called American dream, that we presumably all embrace, is being revised according to survey results noted in the article.
Both camps make sweeping assumptions about what Americans have agreed on as their predominant cultural value. In one case, it is individual property rights, on the other, the chase to own “the biggest house possible”. The danger in taking such a single, streamlined point of view on a very complex issue is the tendency to support that view with far-reaching, inaccurate logic.
The trending downsizing of housing isn’t just for the youngest generation. Why isn’t it for anyone taking the long view of their living situation? By suggesting that living in a densely populated city is a sacrifice that forces us to redefine our ideal habitat, the author seems to say that we would otherwise gravitate toward “our outsized fantasies”, as if the majority already had them.
If there is one thing to be noticed about trends, it is that they extend not only to behavior, but also to expression in public discourse. It has long been noted that the public is growing weary of negative, polarizing views. We absorb a multitude of warnings and advice on how to live until we are exhausted by all the fearmongering. There must be an alternative to the us versus them argument or the feel-good-if-you’re-on-the-bandwagon slant.
The messages that will win the day are ones that mold opinion with a thorough, well-reasoned approach, rather than cloaking statements in terms of self-denial, sacrifice, or impending governmental threats to civil liberties.
posted 2/13/12 by Marcella Van Oel
However, during this election year there is another nuance in the sustainability conversation that lies hidden in rhetoric from both camps of the political divide. An example from the right is John Anthony’s narrated slide presentation entitled Agenda 21 for public officials: False Choices.
In this fourteen minute presentation he frames his opinion based on threats to individual property rights that he believes stem from the 1987 Brundtland Report to the U.N. In a multitude of ways he suggests that social equity will be achieved by dismantling vital characteristics of U.S. law. For example, he believes free enterprise will be replaced with public/private partnerships. A restructuring of American life will take place and we will have to conform to the views of planners and developers promoting sustainable design. The environmental movement is being used to promote a political agenda, and if that weren’t enough, he claims: “ordinary people will be left unprotected from de facto decrees placing nature above man while relegating man to a biological resource.”
This sounds familiar as a rallying cry for those who see rights pitted against environmental concerns. The two are always irreconcilable. By keeping his argument within the realm of government manipulation he can rouse sentiment without needing to give validity to why sustainable development efforts have emerged in the first place.
On the flipside is this Good Lifestyle commentary. We are trending toward a different world view in terms of choosing where and how we live, but that is clearly a good thing. Apparently, the so-called American dream, that we presumably all embrace, is being revised according to survey results noted in the article.
Both camps make sweeping assumptions about what Americans have agreed on as their predominant cultural value. In one case, it is individual property rights, on the other, the chase to own “the biggest house possible”. The danger in taking such a single, streamlined point of view on a very complex issue is the tendency to support that view with far-reaching, inaccurate logic.
The trending downsizing of housing isn’t just for the youngest generation. Why isn’t it for anyone taking the long view of their living situation? By suggesting that living in a densely populated city is a sacrifice that forces us to redefine our ideal habitat, the author seems to say that we would otherwise gravitate toward “our outsized fantasies”, as if the majority already had them.
If there is one thing to be noticed about trends, it is that they extend not only to behavior, but also to expression in public discourse. It has long been noted that the public is growing weary of negative, polarizing views. We absorb a multitude of warnings and advice on how to live until we are exhausted by all the fearmongering. There must be an alternative to the us versus them argument or the feel-good-if-you’re-on-the-bandwagon slant.
The messages that will win the day are ones that mold opinion with a thorough, well-reasoned approach, rather than cloaking statements in terms of self-denial, sacrifice, or impending governmental threats to civil liberties.
posted 2/13/12 by Marcella Van Oel
Feb 10, 2012
A Co-op for urban farmers
Have you heard? A new kind of co-op is up and running in Seattle that caters to urban farmers!
Begun just three years ago by a small handful of Seattlites interested in the intersection of city life and hyper-local food, the mailing list grew quickly, and now has nearly a thousand members. Some have goats, some have sheep, some have rabbits, many have chickens or bees—and nearly everyone gardens. The list is a lively and generous place, with 10-20 messages daily, filled with questions and astonishingly knowledgeable answers (if you ever wanted to know under what circumstances the different varieties of camellia or laurel are edible or poisonous to goats, you’ve come to the right place).
For some of the people on the list, these interests have been lifelong and/or professional; for others, the list is a way to tap into a wide and deep body of knowledge while doing these things for the first time. For all, it’s a welcoming and good-hearted place where people immediately offer up their extra feed if someone’s in a bind when the weather is dreadful. As of October 2011, Seattle Farm Co-op is now a full fledged member owned and run co-op located in the International District! We are 100% volunteer run.
The co-op warehouse, run by member-volunteers, is open a couple times a week usually; you can check the schedule at http://www.seattlefarmcoop.com/. There, both nonmembers and members (who get a discount with membership & additional discounts for volunteering) can pick up local and/or organic feed, basic farming supplies, and specialty coops and waterers made by other co-op members. Co-op members can also take part in group buys organized several times a year, direct from seed companies and WA state farmers: organic #2 heirloom tomatoes for $1/lb., organic apples for $10 for 20 lbs….extraordinary deals abound. Other benefits include the tool library, barter fairs, and other social gatherings.
A lifetime membership is only $50 (or $25 and 2 3-hour volunteer shifts). Belonging to the yahoo listserv is free, so dip your toes in the water, and join us…. Becoming a member is easy, an application can be found on the website or you can come visit us at 1817 S Jackson Street, Seattle, WA. Access to the warehouse is from the alley, S. Jackson Place. If you have any questions about what Seattle Farm Co-op has to offer or you would like to get involved as well as volunteer, please e-mail us at info@seattlefarmcoop.com. Join us in our quest for healthy, sustainable, and local food!
posted 2/10/12 - A big thanks to Beth Hayes for letting us spread the word on the Seattle Farm Co-op.
Begun just three years ago by a small handful of Seattlites interested in the intersection of city life and hyper-local food, the mailing list grew quickly, and now has nearly a thousand members. Some have goats, some have sheep, some have rabbits, many have chickens or bees—and nearly everyone gardens. The list is a lively and generous place, with 10-20 messages daily, filled with questions and astonishingly knowledgeable answers (if you ever wanted to know under what circumstances the different varieties of camellia or laurel are edible or poisonous to goats, you’ve come to the right place).
For some of the people on the list, these interests have been lifelong and/or professional; for others, the list is a way to tap into a wide and deep body of knowledge while doing these things for the first time. For all, it’s a welcoming and good-hearted place where people immediately offer up their extra feed if someone’s in a bind when the weather is dreadful. As of October 2011, Seattle Farm Co-op is now a full fledged member owned and run co-op located in the International District! We are 100% volunteer run.
The co-op warehouse, run by member-volunteers, is open a couple times a week usually; you can check the schedule at http://www.seattlefarmcoop.com/. There, both nonmembers and members (who get a discount with membership & additional discounts for volunteering) can pick up local and/or organic feed, basic farming supplies, and specialty coops and waterers made by other co-op members. Co-op members can also take part in group buys organized several times a year, direct from seed companies and WA state farmers: organic #2 heirloom tomatoes for $1/lb., organic apples for $10 for 20 lbs….extraordinary deals abound. Other benefits include the tool library, barter fairs, and other social gatherings.
A lifetime membership is only $50 (or $25 and 2 3-hour volunteer shifts). Belonging to the yahoo listserv is free, so dip your toes in the water, and join us…. Becoming a member is easy, an application can be found on the website or you can come visit us at 1817 S Jackson Street, Seattle, WA. Access to the warehouse is from the alley, S. Jackson Place. If you have any questions about what Seattle Farm Co-op has to offer or you would like to get involved as well as volunteer, please e-mail us at info@seattlefarmcoop.com. Join us in our quest for healthy, sustainable, and local food!
posted 2/10/12 - A big thanks to Beth Hayes for letting us spread the word on the Seattle Farm Co-op.
Feb 8, 2012
Sound and vision
The Seattle aquarium is hosting a screening of Sound and Vision, a locally produced documentary about the health of Puget Sound. You don't need to look any further than this video clip to understand the importance of why we want to encourage the creation of rain gardens. See for yourself the effluent from one pipe just off Alki. The particulate matter that makes its way from storm water runoff is ever present in the sound.
So save the date: Wednesday, February 15th, 6:30 p.m. Purchase tickets at BrownPaperTickets.
Sound & Vision: TOXIC RUNOFF | CSOs in PUGET SOUND from eric becker on Vimeo.
posted 2/08/12
So save the date: Wednesday, February 15th, 6:30 p.m. Purchase tickets at BrownPaperTickets.
Sound & Vision: TOXIC RUNOFF | CSOs in PUGET SOUND from eric becker on Vimeo.
posted 2/08/12
Feb 6, 2012
A Hands-On skills fair
If you're in the Ravenna or Meadowbrook neighborhoods this Saturday, you might want to sign-up for the hands-on community skills fair sponsored by SustainableNESeattle and Seattle Parks and Recreation.
The event, starting at 10:00 a.m. is a collection of workshops to help you "learn the skills your grandparents knew".
Here is a sample of what's on offer:
The event, starting at 10:00 a.m. is a collection of workshops to help you "learn the skills your grandparents knew".
Here is a sample of what's on offer:
- basketry
- fixing electrical stuff
- fermentation
- repurposing clothes and materials
- bike repair
- building solar cookers
- making soap
- knitting
- food preservation
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