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Monday Mailing

Year 20 • Issue 38 23 June 2014 1. A New Bike Lane That Could Save Lives and Make Cycling More Popular 2. ODOT Sets Aside Millions for Columbia County Coal, Oil Projects 3. Oregon Groups Land $90M to Spur Rural Investment 4. The ‘Natural’ Label’s Impact on Organic Farmers 5. Weeds Make Their Way from Garden to Gourmet 6. Farm Incubator Best Practices 7. Parasites, Killing Their Host 8. Upcoming Webinar: A Place for Food in Public Spaces - Wisdom from Community Builders 9. Gorge Commission Looks at City Lines 10. Tear Down ‘Deadbeat’ Dams 11. Funding Opportunities 1.

In the past few years, U.S. cities have come a long way to make sure bicyclists are safe on the road, but even protected bike lanes have an achilles heel: the intersection. Most protected bike lanes—lanes that have a physical barrier between bicyclists and drivers—end just before the intersection, leaving bicyclists and pedestrians vulnerable to turning vehicles. Nick Falbo, an urban planner and designer from Portland (one of the most bike friendly cities in the nation), is proposing a new protected intersection design that would make intersections safer and less stressful than they are today. Falbo’s design is taken from the Dutch way of doing things. The bike community has already been building protected intersections into their bike lanes for years. Falbo’s adapted design has four main components.

Quote of the Week: “Whether fuel cell system development in central Oregon, wind power generation along the Columbia Gorge, or geothermal energy in southern Oregon, investing in new energy sources makes America more energy independent while creating good paying, environmentally friendly jobs.” ~Greg Walden Oregon Fast Fact: The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest is one of the largest long-term ecological research sites in the United States.

A New Bike Lane That Could Save Lives and Make Cycling More Popular Biking through a city can feel like navigating a video game staked upon your life. You’re avoiding pedestrians and potholes all the while making sure cars don’t run into you. For all the benefits commuting by bike have, getting to your destination can be terrifying.

To access the full story, click here.

2.

ODOT Sets Aside Millions for Columbia County Coal, Oil Projects Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber might not want coal in the state, but someone must have forgotten to tell state transportation officials.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is recommending about $6 million in projects for Columbia County transportation projects related to coal and crude oil.

ODOT is recommending $3 million in funding for Rainier’s A Street rail project.

It also is recommending $2 million each for ship berth extension and reconstruction projects at Port Westward.

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The projects are among 37 proposals that ODOT this week recommended for funding through its ConnectOregon program. More than 100 projects competed for $42 million. The Rainier project was ranked No. 23, while the Port Westward projects both were ranked in the top 10.

To access the full story, click here.

3. Oregon Groups Land $90M to Spur Rural Investment Two Oregon agencies will share $90 million in New Market Tax Credits, part of a $3.5 billion allocation announced this week by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

Ecotrust CDE LLC and National Community Fund 1 were two of the 87 organizations to receive New Market allocations, of 310 who applied. Both will deploy the tax credit allocations in projects that boost rural communities.

Congress established the New Market Tax Credit program in 2000 to encourage investment in distressed communities by providing federal tax credits to private investors. New Market Tax Credits play a key role in bringing investor dollars to challenging projects in Oregon's most economically distressed communities.

To access the full story, click here.

4. The ‘Natural’ Label’s Impact on Organic Farmers It’s only natural to get swept up by the allure of products marketed as “natural.” We resonate with that term for a number of reasons: it implies pure, unadulterated goodness. It sounds comforting.

There’s an ease—a lightness implied to it. And above all else, we associate it with being healthy for us.

But when it comes to food, we know nothing is more “natural” than something growing in our backyard vegetable garden, yet we take solace and comfort in foods that appeal to our desire for “natural.” But nowadays we’re learning the consequences of that term all too well.

To access the full story, click here.

5. Weeds Make Their Way from Garden to Gourmet Common weeds that gardeners spend time and money combating may soon be finding their way into kitchens. The rise in popularity of incorporating plants commonly thought of as weeds into culinary repertoires is thanks in large part to recent interest in foraging. Noma, a Danish restaurant whose menu is crafted around locally foraged edibles, has solidly held a top spot as one of the world’s best restaurants for the past eight years and boasts two Michelin stars. Integrating herbage such as dandelion and stinging nettle into diets not only fosters biodiversity of gardens, but may also be a way to enrich meals with unique flavors and valuable nutrients.

The idea of weeds as food has steadily been creeping into mainstream discussions of sustainability, farming, and nutrition. This past February, weeds made it to the main stage of the TEDxManhattan Changing the Way We Eat event, where corporate attorney-turned-weed forager Tama Matsuoka Wong expounded on the environmental and health benefits of regularly incorporating weeds into one’s diet. In her presentation, "How I Did Less and Ate Better, Thanks to Weeds", Wong claimed that “weeds are the ultimate, opportunistic, sustainable plants.” She places the cultivation of weeds as food in direct opposition to the nutrient-depleting monoculture systems currently dominating Page 2 of 6

agricultural landscapes. Weeds naturally exist among and alongside other species, and with their presence, biodiversity of the growing area is often increased, and the soil subsequently enriched.

To access the full story, click here.

6. Farm Incubator Best Practices The National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) provides training, technical assistance and professional development resources to over 100 land-based beginning farmer training programs – both urban and rural – across North America. We offer one-on-one technical assistance, a comprehensive resource library, toolkits, and an annual field school, as well as a dedicated list serve with over 200 subscribers. Our 3rd Annual NIFTI Field School will take place this year in Portland, OR – Oct 1st – 3rd.

Visit the New Entry Website to find out more, fill out an intake form for a personalized referral to the best resources for your organization.

7. Parasites, Killing Their Host You can buy food from farmers — directly, through markets, any way you can find — and I hope you do. But unless you’re radically different from most of us, much of what you eat comes from corporations that process, market, deliver and sell “food,” a majority of which is processed beyond recognition.

The problem is that real food isn’t real profitable. “It’s hard to market fruit and vegetables without adding value,” says Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “If you turn a potato into a potato chip you not only make more money — you create a product with a long shelf life.” Potatoes into chips and frozen fries; wheat into soft, “enriched” bread; soybeans into oil and meat; corn into meat and a staggering variety of junk.

To access the full story, click here.

8. Upcoming Webinar: A Place for Food in Public Spaces - Wisdom from Community Builders In this webinar, we’ll explore different ways community-builders are using food programs like community gardens, markets, public suppers, and bake ovens to animate local parks, and we’ll highlight how the principles of placemaking can transform public spaces by highlighting local assets and serving common needs.

On the panel are Jutta Mason, who for over 20 years has led the transformation of Dufferin Grove Park to a vibrant, community-supported park, and Sabina Ali, who alongside a Women's Committee in her culturally diverse neighbourhood of Thorncliffe Park, started a plein air South Asian bazaar and community Tandoor oven. Moderator Liz Curran, the Manager of the Regent Park Community Food Centre at CRC, is developing a suite of food programs to animate the newly re-developed Regent Park neighbourhood, including gardens, a greenhouse, and bake ovens.

We hope you can join us! Feel free to Share it on Facebook, forward via email, or Tweet about it (we’re @aplaceforfood and you can use the #placemaking tag) When: Thursday, July 3, 2014 from 12 to 1 p.m. EDT Where: Your Computer How Much: Free!

For more information and to registar for this webinar, click here.

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9. Gorge Commission Looks at City Lines As Gorge commissioners prepared to tackle a tough issue, urban area expansion, facilitators on Monday, June 9, first asked them to list significant events that have impacted the gorge.

A relatively short brainstorming session later, the varied experiences and knowledge of the 13member group were put on impressive display.

Facilitators — who said the level of complexity presented was “jaw-dropping” — organized the flood of input into distinct “chapters.” They started with post-World War II growth, then a 1970sera of rising awareness of the environmental impacts of that growth, followed by a 1980s and ‘90s era of chaos and turmoil as a host of protective land use rules — including the federal scenic area act the Gorge Commission implements — are put into place, followed by a 2000s era period of increasing acceptance of those rules.

The history lesson is a prelude to work on urban area policy, or deciding how the commission will handle requests to expand the boundaries of the 13 urban areas in the gorge. The Dalles has spent years preparing the groundwork to seek approval for a boundary expansion, and will likely be the commission’s first customer when it begins accepting requests.

To access the full story, click here.

10. Tear Down ‘Deadbeat’ Dams VENTURA, Calif. — OF the more than 80,000 dams listed by the federal government, more than 26,000 pose high or significant safety hazards. Many no longer serve any real purpose. All have limited life spans. Only about 1,750 produce hydropower, according to the National Hydropower Association.

In many cases, the benefits that dams have historically provided — for water use, flood control and electricity — can now be met more effectively without continuing to choke entire watersheds.

Dams degrade water quality, block the movement of nutrients and sediment, destroy fish and wildlife habitats, damage coastal estuaries and in some cases rob surrounding forests of nitrogen. Reservoirs can also be significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

To access the full story, click here.

Additionally, I want to put in the plug for a documentary I recently watched called Damnation.

Stellar piece of work… well worth the purchase!

11. Funding Opportunities Community Facility Loans Loans to help create and improve essential community facilities in the rural West.

Geographic coverage: Available in 13 western states. See program website for details.

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Rural Community Assistance Corporation (Western RCAC) Environmental Infrastructure Loans Loans to finance water and waste facility projects in the rural West.

Geographic coverage: Available in 13 western states. See program website for details.

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Rural Community Assistance Corporation (Western RCAC) Page 4 of 6

Ford Family Foundation Grants Offers grants to small, rural communities for community development; technical assistance; critical needs; and programs that offer increased access to health or dental services, youth development, or child abuse prevention.

Geographic coverage: Oregon and Siskiyou County, California Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Ford Family Foundation Gannett Foundation Community Action Grants Supports local organizations with funding priority given to programs that focus on education and neighborhood improvement, economic development, youth development, community problemsolving, assistance to disadvantaged people, environmental conservation, and cultural enrichment.

Geographic coverage: Limited to certain areas of 35 states and U.S. territories, see sponsor's website for more details.

Application Deadline: Aug 29, 2014 Sponsor: Gannett Foundation Georgia-Pacific Foundation Grants Grants for organizations projects that focus on education, the environment, community enhancement, affordable housing, arts and culture, and entrepreneurship.

Geographic coverage: Offered in 28 states in areas where Georgia-Pacific does business.

Application Deadline: Oct 31, 2014 Sponsor: Georgia Pacific Foundation Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation Offers grants to projects that support community and social services, youth, health, seniors, education and civic and culture.

Geographic coverage: Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon Application Deadline: Sep 1, 2014 National Network of Libraries of Medicine Pacific Northwest Region Funding Provides funding for National Network of Libraries members located in the Pacific Northwest region to assist them in conducting outreach and technology projects.

Geographic coverage: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region Northwest Health Foundation Event Sponsorships Provides sponsorship for events that promote health or contribute to the determinants of health in Oregon or southwest Washington.

Geographic coverage: Oregon and southwest Washington.

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Northwest Health Foundation Rural Community Assistance Corporation Housing Loans Offers loans to create, improve, or expand the supply of affordable housing for communities in the rural West.

Geographic coverage: Available in 13 western states. See program website for details.

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Rural Community Assistance Corporation (Western RCAC)

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Sojourns Pathway Program: Hospital-Based Palliative Care Innovation Grants Grants to respond to unmet, local palliative care needs through new or expanded community partnerships.

Geographic coverage: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Program Implementation Grants Grants to start a hospital-based palliative care program or to explore palliative care partnerships between hospitals and communities.

Geographic coverage: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Cambia Health Foundation Sunderland Foundation Grants Supports capital improvement projects in the areas of higher education, churches, youth serving agencies, health facilities, community buildings, museums, civic projects, and housing projects.

Geographic coverage: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Montana.

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Sunderland Foundation Wells Fargo Corporate Giving Programs Funding for nonprofit organizations in the areas of community development, education, human services, arts and culture, civic responsibility, and environmental consciousness.

Geographic coverage: Available in 40 States.

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis Sponsor: Wells Fargo Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund Funds programs that work in the areas of affordable housing and shelter; education and youth development; environmental stewardship; and human services.

Geographic coverage: Available in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Application Deadline: Aug 1, 2014 Sponsor: Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation

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