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2012 Farmers Market Promotion Program Grants Now Available
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the 2012 Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP). Approximately $10 million is available for marketing operations such as farmers markets, community supported agriculture and road-side stands. The grants, which are administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), aim to increase the availability of local agricultural products in communities
throughout the county as well as to help strengthen farmer-to-consumer marketing efforts.
The grants, administered by the FMPP, are targeted to help improve and expand domestic farmers’ markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agri-tourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. The maximum amount awarded for any one proposal cannot exceed $100,000. Entities eligible to apply include agricultural cooperatives, producer networks, producer associations, local governments, nonprofit corporations, public benefit corporations, economic development corporations, regional farmers’ market authorities and Tribal governments.
As part of our ongoing efforts to assist communities within our core service area,
Abonmarche would like to make you aware of this announcement, to ensure our
clients continue to enjoy a high level of insight and experience that Abonmarche’s seasoned and progressive staff brings to the job. If you should have any questions or are
interested in more information on applying for the FMPP grant, you may contact
me at 269-927-2295, ext. 125. Applications will only be accepted via grants.gov and must be received by May 21, 2012. The FMPP is part of USDA’s commitment to support local and regional communities.
GPR Update
This is an update on our Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) equipment: what it is capable of, and some of the successes and failures Abonmarche has experienced since we’ve begun using it. Abonmarche has a 400mhz antenna with our unit, which is best suited for utility location surveys and can penetrate around ten (10) feet underground in good soil conditions. We have access to other antennas for concrete scanning, deeper penetration, scanning the top twelve (12) inches, and for structure scans and building wall use.
The main factor in successfully completing GRP work is the site conditions, including the weather, soil type, location of the water table, and what material the target is. Dry sand is the best condition for using GPR. Saturated soils and clays slow the signal and cloud the data to a point where it can be difficult to filter them, rendering us unable to see the target. GPR also does not work if the target is below the water table. Abonmarche had a couple of projects where the water table was not where it was expected to be, which prevented accurate readings. Salt slows the signal, making the data unreadable. The signal will not penetrate metal at all. Any slag or panels, rebar, or wire mesh can distort the signal – the metal shows up but the signal isn’t able to pass it.
Abonmarche has completed numerous utility projects with our GRP technology, one of which included a large 3D GPR survey for Martin Marietta, encompassing approximately 60,000 square feet. Martin Marietta needed to run a 12” pipeline through their plant, and they had many utilities present but were lacking as-built maps. The project was a success and their engineers were able to use the data to design a safe route for the pipeline. The production department head at Martin Marietta says GPR is worth its weight in gold; they call us each time before breaking ground at the plant.
Abonmarche did GPR work on five (5) cemetery projects in 2011. All yielded their respective municipalities with results which enabled them to identify areas where they could continue selling lots. Abonmarche received an ACEC award for the Woodside Cemetery project.
Currently, Abonmarche is working on a pilot project for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Shipping Containers as Housing Solutions
Earlier this month, I gave a lecture at the Krasl Art Center (Krasl) in St. Joseph on the rehabilitation of shipping containers, primarily for housing purposes. This event was part of the Creativity and Sustainability Lecture Series provided on a monthly basis by the Krasl. Locally based Lake Michigan College is currently undertaking an initiative to determine a sustainable use for shipping container in the community, an initiative funded by a Greenforce Initiative Mini Grant.
Recycled shipping (or freight) containers bring efficiency and innovation to green building practices. Shipping containers are water tight, stackable and incredibly strong: ISO standards require the roof to be able to withstand 300 pounds per square foot and each corner of a container is able to take a vertical weight of 150,000 pounds. These steel boxes are between 8.5-9.5 feet tall, 8 feet wide and between 20 and 40 feet in length. They are made of corten steel and therefore rust-proof and, in many ways, an engineering marvel.
ISO standards limit the number of shipping cycles for which these containers may be used and recycling them is exceedingly cost prohibitive – melting one down requires 8,000 kilowatt hours of energy. There are approximately 1,000,000 surplus containers worldwide at any given time and since the United States imports more material than we export, we have a surplus of shipping containers that are no longer eligible for use in shipping cycles. Shipping containers have been creatively employed through a variety of ways to assist in providing creative housing solutions across the globe. Shipping containers provide structure and a strong roof, though to make them inhabitable, they still have to be insulated; wired for electricity, heating and cooling; and have plumbing installed. In addition to being developed for residential use, shipping containers are being utilized for commercial and storage purposes as well.
Follow the link for more examples of shipping container re-use in the United States and around the world. You may also view the powerpoint presentation I gave at the Krasl. Pictured below are some examples of how shipping containers can be transformed into comfortable living spaces.
USDA Releases New Plant Zone Hardiness Map
Last week the USDA released a new version of its Plant Zone Hardiness Map. Plant hardiness zone designations represent the average annual extreme minimum temperatures at a given location. Low temperature during the winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants. This is the first update of the map since 1990. The new map has much greater accuracy and detail than the previous version. Many of the zones have shifted, showing much of the country one five-degree half-zone warmer than the previous iteration. The USDA says this is because this map is based on 30 years of data from weather stations around the country, where the 1990 map was only based on 13 years of data. Also, areas between weather stations are now more accurately mapped via algorithms that consider changes in elevation, nearness to large bodies of water, and position on the terrain, such as valley bottoms and ridge tops.
The map is still available at a national scale, but there are also individual state maps, a “find your zone by ZIP code” function, and a web-based interactive GIS version. With the interactive version you can overlay the hardiness zones over a satellite image, a terrain map or a road map. You are able to see some interesting jogs and bends to the zones, as well as some pockets of micro-climates that are warmer or cooler than the surrounding area. For example, according to the map, my house is zone 6b, but ½ mile north, ½ mile east are both zone 6a. Some of this variation is probably based on the fact that the zones are based on 5 degree increments. The average low temperature at my house could be -5 degrees, while its -6 degrees at my neighbors.
Does this mean that a whole new realm of plants are now available for our planting region? Probably not. For example, according to reference sources, the Crape Myrtle, a staple of southern landscapes, will survive to minimum temperatures of about -5 degrees. So, according to this new map, my house is at that border. I could conceivably plant a Crape Myrtle in a sheltered area of my yard and have it survive. But if we have an unusually cold winter, I’d likely lose the tree. That’s a risk I might take as a home gardener, but as a Landscape Architect I would never plant Crepe Myrtle on a public or commercial project because of that risk. We need to review this new map, but will cross reference the data with conventional wisdom to determine what plants are truly regionally hardy.
American Energy and Infrastructure Job Act
Abonmarche has been a longtime proponent for smart growth and long term planning for communities. As a firm, we value non-motorized transportation as a community and economic development tool that promotes healthy living and long term sustainability. Abonmarche has worked on multiple projects in the communities we serve to promote non-motorized transportation and pedestrian safety, including streetscapes, non-motorized trails, bike lanes and sidewalk construction and Safe Routes to School Programs.
Tomorrow, February 2nd, Congress will vote on the American Energy and Infrastructure Job Act, presented by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on whether to approve this bill or amend it to include bicycling and walking programs.
Some of the provisions in the bill that negatively impact issues that are important to us include: removing dedicated funding for Transportation Enhancements; repealing the Safe Routes to School program, leaving communities without basic tools and funding to protect kids on the trip to school; allowing states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles; and eliminating bicycle and pedestrian and Safe Routes to School coordinators in state DOTs.
This is a nonpartisan issue but one that affects the livability and long term sustainability of every community across our country.
We at Abonmarche urge you to contact your local representative and express to them the impacts on your community of eliminating funding for pedestrian, non-motorized transportation and enhancement programs. Take action now—tell your representative the importance of bicycling and walking in the Transportation Committee. Click here to sign the online petition, or you may directly contact your representative to express the impact this bill will have on your community.
Emerald Cities
The Natural Resources Defense Council has published their report Rooftops to Rivers II on stomrwater runoff. It features guidelines for infrastructure changes that municipalities can make in order to become so green that they qualify as “Emerald Cities.” One of the 15 case studies in the report is Syracuse, New York – home of the only hockey team to skate on ice made from rain water! Read the report here for more exciting, creative ideas for reversing hundreds of years of abuse and neglect of our nation’s water supply.
A green street in Nashville featuring bio-retention planters and bumpouts, landscaped median, porous sidewalks and 102 shade trees
“Our Town” Grants Available
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is offering Our Town arts grants for creative placemaking projects that contribute toward the livability of communities through the arts. The NEA is interested in funding creative and innovative projects in which communities seek to improve their quality of life, encourage creative activity, create community identity and a sense of place, and revitalize local economies. Projects may include planning, design, and arts engagement activities. Grants will be awarded between $25,000 and $150,000 and all grants require a nonfederal match of at least 1 to 1.
Applicants must consist of partnerships that involve a nonprofit organization and a local governmental entity. One of the partners must be a cultural organization and one of the partners must act as the official or “lead” applicant. Eligible lead applicants are:
- Local governments, including counties, parishes, cities, towns, villages, or federally recognized tribal governments. Local arts agencies, local education agencies (school districts), and local government-run community colleges are eligible local governments.
- A public entity or a nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization with a documented three-year history of programming.
Additional partners beyond the two primary partners are encouraged. Our Town grantees from 2011 and their officially named partners are not eligible to apply. Applications must be submitted electronically no later than March 1, 2012.
If you’re interested in more information regarding Our Town grants or would like to start the application process for your community, contact me at smurray@abonmarche.com to get started on your creative placemaking project.
Buchanan Grant Award
The City of Buchanan and the Friends of McCoy Creek submitted a grant application to the Michigan DNR Trust Fund for a new bike and pedestrian trail that will make the final link between the downtown area and the Nature Preserve (FEN).
The application ranked Number 1 in scoring points, and we are now waiting to see how much of the $288,000 grant request will be funded. The Friends of McCoy Creek has raised $100,000 of local match with public fund raisers, donations and matching grants.
The City expects construction to begin in late spring of 2012 and be completed in the summer.
Farm to School
As a growing number of our municipal clients are increasingly seeking to provide their residents better access to local foods as a mean of fostering economic growth and opportunity for local farmers, this week I attended the Farm-to-Community Meet & Greet in South Haven, coordinated by the Michigan State University Extension. Attendees included representatives from local schools, universities, restaurants and hospitals, as well as local farmers. The event presented information about how institutions can incorporate more local foods into their menus and provided the opportunity to discuss local food products one-on-one with the farmers who were present, displaying their wares.
Agriculture is a fundamental component of the Michigan economy as its second largest industry, accounting for $71 billion in economic activity and 1.05 million jobs, annually. There is a multitude of initiatives emerging across the state to improve access to local, fresh foods while providing Michigan farmers with market opportunities. Farm to School is an initiative headed by the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University designed to connect schools with local agriculture. Schools and school districts, food service professionals, farmers, and distributors are working together to improve the distribution of local products and the availability of seasonal produce for school meal programs and collectively address challenges of its implementation.
Resources are available to assist schools with starting their farm to school initiative. Michigan K-12 schools/districts can apply for up to $2,000 from the Michigan Farm to School Grant Program to plan for and implement farm to school programs. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is conducting a pilot program exclusively in the states of Michigan and Florida to build on farm-to-school initiatives with the goal of giving schools additional options to purchase fresh, locally grown food for their meal programs.
The following youtube video was used at the event to demonstrate an institution in Southwest Michigan that has already incorporated local foods into its menus and how the challenges of Michigan’s limited growing season are addressed.
Tell us about the availability of and access to locally produced foods and Michigan food products in your community.
15 to the River
Check out this video from Fifteen to the River, a Grand Rapids-based non-profit whose name refers to the 15 minutes it can take rainwater contaminated by pollutants to flow from the non-porous pavement and concrete in the City to the Grand River. Stormwater runoff is the main cause of nonpoint source pollution – currently the biggest threat to clean water in West Michigan – and includes contaminants like fertilizer and pesticides, human and animal waste, oil and grease. When this runoff is able to soak into the ground (instead of being blocked by pavement or concrete) before it reaches water or wetlands, much of the toxic material is filtered out. This video does a great job of explaining why pervious pavement, rain gardens, rain barrels and other strategies to reduce runoff are effective and important.
Fifteen to the River is a collaboration among partners including the West Michigan Environmental Action Council and the City of Grand Rapids. Follow them on Facebook for regular updates on their efforts to protect Michigan’s water resources.
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