Evergreen Cooperatives

evergreencooperatives.com/

We met with Mary Donnell (CEO of the Green City Growers Cooperative) from the Evergreen Cooperative Tuesday, September 5, 2012:

Context: Cleveland has gone from a population of 1,000,000 to 400,000 due to job losses from the automobile industry. There was an initiative in 2008 called Re-imagining Cleveland (http://reimaginingcleveland.org/) that made the case for developing more urban agriculture as the highest and best use of vacant land as a way to create jobs, and improve health outcomes in the inner city. This set the stage for Cleveland to become number two in the nation for local food according to Michael Shuman author of The 25% Shift (www.neofoodweb.org/video/25-shift-regional-food-authorities). They have put in place very farm friendly policies and organized extensive funding through institutional collaborations and regional foundation funding.

Evergreen Cooperatives: The Evergreen Cooperatives are businesses that are designed to not only create jobs but also develop wealth through business ownership by the employees. They are the result of a coalition between Case Western Reserve University, the hospitals, and the Cleveland Foundation aimed at bringing more jobs into the inner city. Ted Howard from the Democracy Collaborative identified community needs through surveys and helped design the coop structure to be a multi-stakeholder cooperative. There are 3 cooperative businesses that are being developed: a laundry business that will service the hospitals and hotels, a solar company and a hydroponics greenhouse agricultural business. Employee/owners will have $65,000 worth of equity in the laundry company at the end of 3 years. We met with Mary Donnell who is developing a 4 acre hydroponics greenhouse in the inner city of Cleveland. It will employ 20 people when the greenhouse is built and expand to employing 40 people. Construction is already far along on the project and she anticipates hiring 20 people in November.

Oberlin Project

www.oberlinproject.org/

We met with Heather Adelman (Assistant Director) and Bryan Stubbs (Managing Director) of the Oberlin Project Wednesday, September 6, 2012 and toured a building that has a “living machine” that monitors the efficiency of the building. It was designed so it that it created no ugliness upstream or downstream.

Context: Oberlin Project – partnership between City & 4 Educational Institutions (Vocational school, community college, K-12 school system, Oberlin College). They have a total of approximately 100 volunteers that they organize with a staff of four full time people.

Goals: 1) educational goal- build sustainability into all of the curriculum, 2) create a 70% shift to local food through creating midsize farms (500+ acres) and selling food to Oberlin College and retirement communities and others.. 3) Create a climate positive energy city that is carbon neutral by 2050 in partnership with the Clinton Foundation, 4) high road economic development – 10-20% local investment within the county. Create a LED Platinum + city block and have it re-use 80% of its water. 5) Create an economically viable model that can be replicated.

Local Food: Goal- 20,000 acres in productive farm use (forestry, carbon sinking, and farm land) through market transactions- not actual ownership.

3 Main Agricultural Projects:

1) Extend growing season through greenhouses and aquaponics

2) Become a regional food hub for colleges, junior colleges and other institutions

3) create a communal commercial kitchen so any farmer can create other products to sell as well thus increasing the capacity of local food market specialty items secured through institutional buyers creating a secure market.

How Do We Grow the Growers?

Average age of farmers is 62 years old. Need young people to become farmers.

Possible approaches:

-Establish a 2 yr. community college program that starts them growing on the land and at

the end of two years FDA will help finance their operation.

- Set up mentorships where 22 year olds take over old farms.

- Key to success is technical expertise embedded in program.

- Go to old farms and covert them – many farmers want out of the old system but don’t

know how to do it.

- Essential to create a market for local food and then the production will increase. – -

- Institutional anchor institutions buying will help solidify the market.

Benefits for Increased Local Food:

217 jobs will be created through this shift to 70% local food in Oberlin.

Improved health through more accessible local food. ( There are currently 20 yr differences in mortality rates in Cleveland between inner city residents and other parts of Cleveland)

Oberlin College found a tip in their enrollment such that 80% of the student essays talked about sustainability after the Agricultural project went on line.

Brad Masi, Leslie Schuller and Michael Shuman found that regions could experience extensive benefits by creating a 25% shift towards local food. In their research study The 25% Shift, (www.neofoodweb.org/…/the25shift-foodlocalizationintheNEOregion.., pg 2) they found that a 25% shift towards local food across a 16 county region in Ohio “could create 27,664 new jobs, providing work for about one in eight unemployed residents. It could increase annual regional output by $4.2 billion and expand state and local tax collections by $126 million. It could increase the food security of hundreds of thousands of people and reduce near-epidemic levels of obesity and Type-II diabetes. And it could significantly improve air and water quality, lower the region’s carbon footprint, attract tourists, boost local entrepreneurship, and enhance civic pride.”

Living Machine graywater purification

Solar array over parking lot

The post Notes from Visit to Cleveland Evergreen Cooperatives and the Oberlin Project appeared first on Transition Durham.

You can park at the end of the driveway, or along the side. If' there's not enough room there, park along Stephens Lane (one house away – see aerial view below).

Please come and bring a friend!

The post Transition Durham Meeting appeared first on Transition Durham.

Date: Tues 15 May 2012

Start Time: 6:00 pm

End Time: 8:00 pm

Location:

Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4907 Garrett Road, Durham
Room 1, CARE Building

Description:

A meeting for people interested in learning more about, and possibly becoming members of, the forming ecovillage in Efland, NC

Web Address: http://carolinacommonwell.org/

Contact info: http://carolinacommonwell.org/

The post Carolina Common Well EcoVillage Introductory Meeting appeared first on Transition Durham.

You can park at the end of the driveway, or along the side. If' there's not enough room there, park along Stephens Lane (one house away – see aerial view below).

Please come and bring a friend!

The post Transition Durham Meeting appeared first on Transition Durham.

A gathering of community-oriented seekers, organizers, citizens, and activists

9:30 am-5 pm, April 21, 2012

The post The Future of Community appeared first on Transition Durham.

A public hearing on fracking in North Carolina will be held in the auditorium of East Chapel Hill High School, 500 Weaver Dairy Road (map) from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m., this Tuesday, March 27.  It's recommended that you get there by 5:15 if you want to testify. Here are links to recent articles from the Raleigh Public Record, Independent Weekly, and  Pilot . The official NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently released a draft report concluding (p.298) "After reviewing other studies and experiences in oil and gas-producing states, DENR believes that hydraulic fracturing can be done safely as long as the right protections are in place." The site for public comment and to sign up for DENR's listserv is http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/guest/public-input.

The post Fracking Public Hearing – Chapel Hill appeared first on Transition Durham.

You can park at the end of the driveway, or along the side. If' there's not enough room there, park along Stephens Lane (one house away – see aerial view below).

Some of possible next steps to consider at meeting:

Bringing groups together for Transition Training.
Building Energy, Economic, Food, other groups.
Working with Recyclique and Occupy and others to create events.
Doing Reskilling workshops with Recyclique.
Others? – bring your ideas.

The post Transition Durham meeting appeared first on Transition Durham.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!

Transition Congregations:
Transforming our Communities to Meet the Future
First National Training and Workshop

January 21, 2012, 8:30am to 4:30 pm
United Church of Chapel Hill

In the coming years, peak oil and climate change will challenge our communities to adapt to new energy choices, new ways of making decisions, and new relationships of support. The popular and mostly secular Transition Town movement promotes building resilience with local food, transportation, and systems of communication. In the midst of planning for a just and abundant future, can our local congregations also prepare for change and provide leadership and inspiration? What are the gifts we have to offer to our communities, and do we invite all our neighbors to become members of The Beloved Community?

Tina Clarke, an experienced Transition Town trainer from New England, and Rev. Jim Deming, UCC Minister for Environmental Justice, will combine their experience and skills to bring an all-day workshop to faith leaders, lay and clergy, in North Carolina to help form Transition Congregations. They will present the ideas, processes, and opportunities to transform the internal and external ministries of congregations to become ready to embrace an uncertain future.

Space is Limited so register early at www.unitedchurch.org (instructions below) for this first time ever training event! If you need assistance call the church office at 919-942-3540. Scholarships are available upon request.

Please register for the Transition Congregation Workshop the website of United Church of Chapel Hill. Instructions are below. If you need assistance, you may call the United Church office, 919-942-3540.

1. Go to the website for United Church of Chapel Hill (www.unitedchurch.org)

2. On right side of the homepage click on the TICKETS / EVENTS button

3. It will take you to a secure financial site with Vanco Services

4. On the list of possible events, the 2nd item is "Transition Congregations." Enter the number of registrations at $50 each.

5. Click on CONTINUE

6. It will take you to the next page for DONATION INFORMATION as you are asked for your name, address, phone and email. While an email address is shown as optional, please offer your email so we have an address with which to communicate with you.

7. Then you will be asked for how you will pay and typically for one time events it is through your credit card. Complete and click on PROCESS.

The post Transition Congregations – Training and Workshop appeared first on Transition Durham.

Thursday, January 19th from 7PM – 9PM

Community Family Life & Recreation Center at Lyon Park
1313 Halley Street, Durham (map)

Agenda:

1. Transition overview and update

   • Excerpts from film "In Transition 1.0"

   • Recent developments in the Transition movement

   • News from other Transition initiatives in North Carolina and elsewhere

2. Discussion: How does Transition fit in with other organizations and initiatives in Durham?

3. Formation of Participatory Action Research Groups to work toward creating more resilience in the Durham community in these challenging times. Groups will focus on self-chosen topics such as growing and access to more local, affordable healthy food; clean energy, transportation, creating healthier communities, and local economic resilience.
   These groups will start by mapping all existing efforts in a particular area and interviewing those involved. Then we will work collaboratively with already existing groups to envision and carry out action to help the Durham community create more abundance and resilience in each area addressed.
   If you have friends who might be interested in being part of one of the groups, please bring them along.

[contact-form-7]

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Presentation and discussion

Community Family Life & Recreation Center at Lyon Park
1313 Halley Street, Durham

Click here for printable PDF of flyer.

The post Food Resilience in Durham appeared first on Transition Durham.