Infinite Earth Radio – weekly conversations with leaders building smarter, more sustainable, and equitable communities

TOPICAnchor Institutions and Community Wealth BuildingGUESTTed Howard is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland. In July 2010, Mr. Howard was appointed the Steven Minter Senior Fellow for Social Justice at The Cleveland Foundation where he was a member of a team that developed the comprehensive job creation and wealth building strategy, which resulted in the Evergreen Cooperatives Initiative.Full Bio – http://democracycollaborative.org/content/ted-howardORGANIZATIONThe Democracy Collaborative is a national leader in equitable, inclusive and sustainable development through their Community Wealth Building Initiative. This initiative sustains a wide range of Advisory, Research and Field Building activities designed to transform the practice of community/economic development in the United States.Website – http://democracycollaborative.orgFacebook – https://www.facebook.com/democracycollaborativeTwitter – https://twitter.com/democracycollabTAKEAWAY QUOTES“Rooting wealth in communities is the future of economic development in America”“Ownership and control of capital is a key determinant of power in any economic system”“There are 50 million or more people living in poverty in the US.”“For profit with a social mission and a broadly shared ownership structure – that is what community wealth building is about.”“A job alone is not enough…how do you create assets in addition to income.”RESOURCESThe Democracy CollaborativeThe Spy Who Saved ClevelandEvergreen CooperativesThe Cleveland FoundationThe Cleveland ClinicNew Partners for Smart Growth ConferenceLocal Government CommissionTHANKS FOR LISTENING Thanks so much for joining us. Have some feedback or an idea you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave an honest review for Infinite Earth Radio on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are super helpful and greatly appreciated as it helps us expose this show to a wider audience – plus, we read each and every one of them!

TOPICEquitable Opportunities for All People and CommunitiesIN THIS EPISODE[1:50] Introduction of Ron Sims.[3:36] Ron describes his background and his motivation for his work on the environment and social justice.[5:26] Ron talks about the history and current status of the name change of King County.[9:21] Clarification that the official name is still King County, but it is now named after Dr. Martin Luther King, but the area also recognizes the role that other races and cultures play.[12:03] Ron will be giving the keynote address at the 2016 New Partners to Smart Growth Conference and a panel discussion.[12:26] Ron shares the major themes of his keynote.[14:02] Why do you think those who have been focused on improving the built and natural environments are only now realizing that the key to improving our physical environment is greater economic and social inclusion for under-served and disadvantaged communities?[17:09] Where have you seen the biggest advances on issues of access to economic and social inclusion?[23:40] Ron discusses how we can make investments that will fundamentally make a difference.[29:00] Ron shares what the Equity and Social Justice Initiative is trying to accomplish and how it’s working.[33:38] Ron shares one change that would lead to more sustainable and more equitable communities.[33:58] What one action could listeners take to help build a more equitable and sustainable future?[34:12] What does Martin Luther King, Jr. King County, Washington look like 30 years from now? GUEST Ron Sims is a civic volunteer active in health, education, environmental and social equity issues. Appointed by Governor Jay Inslee, Sims serves as the chair of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange Board. The board is responsible for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Washington State.Sims is on the Board of Regents of Washington State University. He was appointed to the board by former Governor Chris Gregoire. The Board of Regents is the university’s governing body. Sims is on the Board of Directors of the Washington Health Alliance, formerly the Puget Sound Health Alliance, a nonprofit organization he helped found where employers, physicians, hospitals, patients, health plan providers and others from throughout the region come together to improve healthcare quality.Sims served as the Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2011. He was appointed by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As the second most senior official at HUD, Sims managed the day-to-day operations of an agency with 8,500 employees and an operating budget of nearly $40 billion.Prior to his appointment at HUD, Sims served for 12 years as the elected Executive of Martin Luther King, Jr. County (also known as King County), in Washington State, the 13th largest county in the nation with over 2 million residents and 39 cities, including the cities of Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond. As County Executive, Sims was nationally recognized for his work on the integration of environmental, social equity, and public health policies that produced groundbreaking work on climate change, health care reform, affordable housing, mass transit, environmental protection, land use, and equity and social justice. Born in Spokane, Washington in 1948, Sims is a graduate of Central Washington University.ORGANIZATIONThe Equity and Social Justice Initiative of King County, Washington recognizes that economy and quality of life depends on the ability of everyone to contribute. They will work to remove barriers that limit the ability of some to fulfill their potential. They are committed to implementing their equity and social justice agenda, to work toward fairness and opportunity for all.TAKE AWAY QUOTES...

TOPICIncorporating Environmental and Economic Justice and Equitable DevelopmentIN THIS EPISODE[02:28] Introduction of Mustafa Ali.[02:52] Introduction of Carlton Eley.[03:23] What brings Mustafa and Carlton to their work and what motivates them to work on issues of equity, environmental justice, and community revitalization?[08:53] How would Mustafa and Carlton assess the progress made by the Smart Growth movement over the past 15 yrs?[12:58] Carlton explains why his focus of embedding the principles of environmental justice into the planning process resonates with him.[17:52] Have we exhausted the equitable development discussion?[25:01] If you could implement one change or pick one leverage point that would lead to smarter, more sustainable, and more equitable communities, what would it be?[27:45] Carlton explains what someone could do to help build a more equitable and sustainable future.[30:27] Mustafa explains whether you can achieve sustainability without achieving social justice.[32:11] Mustafa and Carlton explain what the world looks like thirty years from now, if they are successful in the work that they are currently doing.GUESTS Mustafa Ali has been a national speaker, trainer and facilitator on social and environmental justice issues for the past 17 years. During that time, Mustafa has worked with communities on both the domestic and international front to secure environmental, health, and economic justice. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization.Carlton Eley is an environmentalist, urban planner, and lecturer. While working to normalize environmental justice during the planning process, he has become an accomplished expert on the topic of equitable development in the public sector. He currently serves as Senior Environmental Protection Specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.ORGANIZATION The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to protect human health and the environment. Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. EPA has this goal for all communities and persons across this Nation. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.EPA’s environmental justice mandate extends to all of the Agency’s work, including setting standards, permitting facilities, awarding grants, issuing licenses and regulations and reviewing proposed actions by the federal agencies. EPA works with all stakeholders to constructively and collaboratively address environmental and public health issues and concerns. The Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) coordinates the Agency’s efforts to integrate environmental justice into all policies, programs, and activities. OEJ’s mission is to facilitate Agency efforts to protect environment and public health in minority, low-income, tribal and other vulnerable communities by integrating environmental justice in all programs, policies, and activities.TAKEAWAY QUOTES“No one should be creating activities, programs, policy without there being a strong voice from the communities of those folks who are not only being impacted by the choices that are being made but also can be strongly benefitted and can actually help to move their communities to a much...

TOPICInvesting in OpportunityGUESTAlan Jenkins is Executive Director of The Opportunity Agenda, a communications, research, and policy organization dedicated to building the national will to expand opportunity in America.LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/pub/alan-jenkins/5/634/570ORGANIZATIONThe Opportunity Agenda launched in 2006 with the mission of building the national will to expand opportunity in America. Focused on moving hearts, minds, and policy over time, the organization works with social justice groups, leaders, and movements to advance solutions that expand opportunity for everyone. Through active partnerships, The Opportunity Agenda synthesizes and translates research on barriers to opportunity and corresponding solutions; uses communications and media to understand and influence public opinion; and identifies and advocates for policies that improve people’s lives. To achieve their mission, they focus on racial equity, immigration, economic opportunity, reproductive health and rights, and African-American men and boys.Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/opportunityagendaTwitterhttps://twitter.com/oppagendaLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/the-opportunity-agendaTAKEAWAY QUOTES“The ideal of opportunity is the notion that everyone deserves a fair chance to achieve his or her full potential.”“Where the door of opportunity was cracked open a bit, Americans of all backgrounds have always rushed to get in the door.”“Ultimately it’s up to all of us to make sure that we move from concern, to action, to solutions and that those solutions are lasting.”RESOURCESSocial Justice Communications ToolkitAmerican Opportunity Communication ToolkitCompact for Home OpportunityOpportunity for Black Men and BoysTHANKS FOR LISTENING Thanks so much for joining us. Have some feedback or an idea you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave an honest review for Infinite Earth Radio on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are super helpful and greatly appreciated as it helps us expose this show to a wider audience – plus, we read each and every one of them!

TOPIC The Green Economy and Workforce DevelopmentGUESTTyi Johnson is a graduate of the Green Energy Training Services (GETS) program at Rising Sun Energy Center. She is a program administrator at Community Energy Services Corporation and previously served as a crew member and office assistant for Rising Sun Energy Services, the organization’s social enterprise. She also has served on Rising Sun Energy Center’s Board of Directors since 2015.ORGANIZATIONThe Smart Lights Program at Community Energy Services Corporation is designed to help small businesses become more energy-efficient. This program offers free start-to-finish technical assistance and instant rebates to help defray the cost of upgrading and/or repairing existing equipment. SmartLights can help with comprehensive lighting retrofits, refrigeration tune-ups, controls, and seals replacement, and referrals to appropriate HVAC programs.Services include: a no cost and no obligation energy-efficiency assessment, instant rebates (typically range from 25%-75% of total project costs), negotiated volume pricing with qualified installation contractors, free start-to-finish project management and quality control, rebates paid directly to your contractor to help defray your out-of-pocket costs, and referrals to other energy efficiency programs as needed. See some of our work on cafes,auto repair shops, facilities, and retail stores.Website – http://ebenergy.org/commercial-services/smart-lights-program/Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Community-Energy-Services-Corporation-610255012322031TAKEAWAY QUOTES“After the internship ended, it was hard-going for me. This is when unemployment was at an all-time high… I stayed the course, I was meeting with my case-manager week after week. I really appreciate the fact that Rising Sun continued to collaborate with me and to encourage me and work with me until I was gainfully employed.”“I feel like Rising Sun and the GETS program have put me in the prime position to be doing what I’m doing right now… I had three reasons why I joined GETS program: to learn about the green field, to learn about the energy efficiency field and by extension sustainability, and to learn how to save on my PG&E bill. And they did all three of those things for me. So it’s really great that I got all of those things, and got employed in the green energy efficiency field.”“If I can empower others to be good stewards of this one great beautiful planet called Earth that we have, then I’ll do so, and I’m so appreciative of Rising Sun for setting me on that path.”RESOURCESRising Sun Energy Center’s Best Green ResourcesRising Sun Energy Center’s California Youth Energy Services (CYES)Rising Sun Energy Center’s Green Energy Training Services...

TOPICThe Green Economy, Youth Employment and Workforce DevelopmentGUESTJodi Pincus is the Executive Director of Rising Sun Energy Center and a recognized expert in the green economy, youth employment, social enterprise and workforce development.ORGANIZATIONRising Sun Energy Center is a green workforce development and energy retrofit services organization working throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Their mission is to empower individuals to achieve environmental and economic sustainability for themselves and their communities. Rising Sun Energy Center runs three programs, which include the California Youth Energy Services (CYES), Leaders-in-Field-Training (LIFT) and Green Energy Training Services (GETS). The CYES program includes summer and after-school programs that train and employ young adults ages 15 to 22 to provide no-cost Green House Calls (energy efficiency and water conservation upgrades) to homes in their community. The LIFT program gives top employees in Rising Sun’s CYES program peer leadership roles and teaches business and leadership skills. The GETS program is a pre-apprenticeship training program that prepares adults for careers in construction, energy efficiency, and the solar industry.Website – http://www.risingsunenergy.org/Blog – https://risingsunenergy.wordpress.com/Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/risingsunenergycenterTwitter – https://twitter.com/RisingSunECTAKEAWAY QUOTES“We believe that you can’t solve climate change without addressing unemployment.”“Our youth, not only are they earning money and feeling a sense of purpose by doing the work but they’re gaining a lot of self-confidence, self-esteem; they’re going on to careers in business, social service, and environmental science.”“This wonderful young man… he was in the foster care system… he came out of prison and into our job training program, and he had never graduated from anything in his life, and he graduated from our program.”RESOURCESRising Sun Energy Center’s Best Green ResourcesRising Sun Energy Center’s California Youth Energy Services (CYES)Rising Sun Energy Center’s Green Energy Training Services (GETS)Rising Sun Bright Night 2015 (Participants of the California Youth Energy Services and Green Energy Training Services programs explain what Rising Sun means to them, and how it has affected their lives.)THANKS FOR LISTENING Thanks so much for joining us. Have some feedback or an idea you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave an honest review for Infinite Earth Radio on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are super helpful and greatly appreciated as it helps us expose this show to a wider audience – plus, we read each and every one of them!

TOPICRenewable EnergyIN THIS EPISODE[1:17] Mike introduces Tom Butt, Mayor of Richmond, CA.[2:06] Why was Chevron motivated to defeat Tom?[3:29] How the refinement project, Community Power and City Action: Solar Farming in the Refineries Backyard, came into existence.[6:13] What type of emissions impact will Richmond’s solar farm have on the city and surrounding cities?[7:55] How will the Environmental Benefits Agreement improve the lives of local citizens?[9:29] Tom discusses the holistic approach they took when developing the Environmental Benefits Agreement.[11:25] Tom shares advice to other community leaders who are looking to bring more sustainable energy to their city.[14:57] Tom discusses how Richmond successfully built strong relationships between the police department and low income communities of color.[17:29] What role did the Richmond police chief play in the positive response of the local Black Lives Matter movement?[18:08] How can others learn more about what Richmond is doing with the refinement project.[18:54] What one change would Tom implement to improve the future?[20:00] What action would Tom recommend that listeners take to make a difference?[20:25] What will Richmond look like 30 years from now if Tom’s plans are successful?GUESTTom Butt is a 20-year member of the Richmond, California City Council, and was elected to a four-year term as mayor in 2014. He serves on the board and is vice-chair of Marin Clean Energy (MCE), a Community Choice Aggregation joint powers authority serving parts of four California counties. He also serves on the board of the Local Government Commission.TAKEAWAY QUOTES“Statistically, people who come from low income neighborhoods don’t live as long, they don’t have as good health as people who live in wealthier neighborhoods. I think this example of the 50% local hire rule and training people from low income neighborhoods in Richmond be proficient in the solar industry and to find jobs in that is a way of essentially ultimately improving their health.”“Well, the big thing here really is getting control of your future. Once you can control your future, whether it is in energy or whether it is in agriculture or whether it is in heath or whatever, then you have an opportunity to make it better because you are no longer subject to somebody else’s decision making.”“About 80-85% of electricity users have chosen to stay with Marin Clean Energy. The way it’s set up, it’s an opt-out system, so once the city decides to make that change over then everybody gets changed over automatically unless they decide not to.”“This is an example of how people can get control of their destiny.”RESOURCESEpisode 019: Taking Back the Power – Community Choice Aggregation – In this episode, we speak with Alex DiGiorgio of MCE Clean Energy about how Community Choice Aggregation gives back the power to local residents, providing them with access to competitively-priced renewable energy.City of Richmond, CANew Partners for Smart Growth ConferenceLocal Government CommissionTHANKS FOR LISTENING Thanks so much for joining us. Have some feedback or an idea you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave an honest review for Infinite Earth Radio on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are super helpful and greatly appreciated as it helps us expose...

TOPICLocal Food SystemsIN THIS EPISODE [2:48] Laura explains the mission at The Center for Regional Food Systems[3:16] What is the Food and Community project?[9:43] The importance of creating local food systems[12:30] Laura defines food justice and sovereignty[15:30] What motivates Laura?[17:52] New Partners Pre-Conference Food System Activities[20:55] Learn more about The Center for Regional Food Systems[21:40] The one change Laura would like to see to lead to better food systems[22:34] Actions that listeners can take to build a more sustainable food future[22:53] 30 years from now: how Laura sees the future of food systemsGUESTThe Michigan State University (MSU) Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) engages the people of Michigan, the United States and the world in developing regionally integrated, sustainable food systems. CRFS extends MSU’s pioneering legacy of applied research, education and outreach by catalyzing collaboration among the diverse range of people, processes and places involved in regional food systems. Our vision is a thriving economy, equity and sustainability for Michigan, the country and the planet through food systems rooted in local regions and centered on food that is healthy, green, fair and affordable.Laura Goddeeris, AICP, is a Specialist at CRFS and coordinates outreach engaging national organizations in improving food systems and community environments, linking ground-level efforts and national stakeholders to inform policy and systems change. She is particularly focused on exploring opportunities for local governments to support regional food systems. As a part of this work, she has partnered with the Local Government Commission to develop a series of pre-conference workshops on healthy, equitable food systems in conjunction with the annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference. Laura’s background includes more than a decade of experience in research, outreach, and program administration around issues of economic development, community and social equity, and transportation planning, much of it within the context of food systems. She holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and is a graduate of the Great Lakes Leadership Academy Emerging Leaders Program.TAKEAWAY QUOTES“Access to good food, food that’s healthy, green, fair and affordable, I think it’s also important to note culturally appropriate, really should be a basic human right that is available to all of us regardless of differences in race, in gender, in ethnicity, in class, all of those things. But the idea of food justice exists because there are all these structural inequities in our food system that impede that access and they are often tied to those differences. So, I see food justice as a lens that we can apply to our efforts to work toward more equitable systems. Food Sovereignty refers to the idea that communities hold the power to determine what a just food system looks like. And I think you will most often hear about that in the context of communities that have been disenfranchised by the food system in the past.”“I think it’s important for communities to try and foster conversations about what people need and want in their community. I don’t think there is a one size fits all approach for how to incorporate, even just urban agriculture in all cities, it’s really place specific and as you mentioned before, the shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, think about how that has played out in Detroit and now you have this urban agriculture movement, but some people don’t want to see a city like that shift...

TOPICIntertwined Crises in AmericaIN THIS EPISODE [2:48] Manuel talks about his background and motivation[4:05] Spatial, political and intellectual segregation in America[5:57] Manuel talks about the three big crises in the US[9:23] Diverse, Dynamic Epistemic Communities[11:58] Examples of where these communities have come together[17:02] The key to economic growth[23:28] One change that would lead to better communities[24:08] One action listeners can take to build a better future[24:17] What does the world look like 30 years from now?GUESTDr. Manuel Pastor is Professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California (USC), where he also serves as the Director of USC’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and Co-Director of USC’s Center for the Study on Immigration Integration. He is the author of multiple books, including most recently, Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America’s Metro Areas, which he co-authored with Chris Benner from UC Santa Cruz.TAKEAWAY QUOTES“We are in a place where people don’t agree on the basic facts. An epistemic communities are about creating opportunities for people to know together so they can grow together. The thing that we sort of left out in this book is that it’s important for them to be diverse and dynamic. You can’t be surrounded simply by like-minded or like-raced people. You need to make sure that who is at the table is coming from different sectors, different communities, et cetera to be able to understand what it is that weaves us together and where our mutual interests lie.”“It’s basically a nerd fest. We consider ourselves to be nerds for social justice and we did this for a couple of different reasons. Essentially, it was born when Angela Glover Blackwell and I—she’s the head of PolicyLink—were at a meeting at the White House and we realized that while we had pretty good ideas about what to do, few people were paying attention because we didn’t have the kind of data that we needed behind the ideas. This created a way to sort of democratize data.”“Making sure that people understand that there is more than one leverage point; that we need to move the needle on multiple things at the same time; that we need to make sure that people are reentering from the criminal justice system successfully; that we are dealing with immigration reform. We are dealing with gender inequality. We need to get away from the idea that there is a silver bullet for our problems.”RESOURCESInfinite Earth Radio Ep. 011 Affordable Housing and Employment Patterns in the San Francisco Bay Area with Dr. Chris BennerUSC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII)National Equity Atlas ToolLocal Government CommissionTHANKS FOR LISTENING Thanks so much for joining us. Have some feedback or an idea you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave an honest review for Infinite Earth Radio on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are super helpful and greatly appreciated as it helps us expose this show to a wider audience – plus, we read each and...

TOPICSmart Growth and Sustainability in Communities in the U.S.IN THIS EPISODE[3:30] Kate explains her passion for her work with the Local Government Commission.[5:37] Matt talks about his motivation to start at The Office of Sustainable Communities.[8:08] The impact that the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference has had over the years.[11:43] What does the Office of Sustainable Communities do for the EPA?[14:33] How does the Smart Growth and Sustainability Act affect how we make community decisions now?[15:50] Where we are now, and where do we need to go?[23:02] One change that Kate and Matt would make.[24:49] Action steps for listeners to take to help their communities.[26:45] What will our country and communities look like 30 years from now?[29:15] New Partners for Smart Growth Conference InformationGUEST BIOS Kate Meis has served as the Executive Director of the Local Government Commission (LGC) since 2013. Since assuming directorship, her focus has been to strengthen partnerships and capacity to serve a growing number of community leaders across the state and the nation. Kate is a champion for local governments, a catalyst of early local climate change adaptation, mitigation and clean energy efforts, and an ardent coalition builder. Under Kate’s leadership LGC has become a forerunner on climate change – advancing the first California Adaptation Forum, developing a new Governor’s Initiative CivicSpark capacity building program and providing fiscal and staffing support for the new Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation. Kate is driven by the belief that given the right tools and partners people will innovate to improve their communities and respond to pressing challenges. Her unique background in agricultural research, social work, alternative transportation and community development has helped her to establish a rich network of partners and an integrated approach to assisting local governments.  Matthew Dalbey is the Director of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities. The Office of Sustainable Communities (OSC) collaborates with other US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs; federal agencies; regional, state, and local governments; and a broad array of nongovernmental partners to help communities become stronger, healthier, and more sustainable through smarter growth, green building, green infrastructure and related strategies. OSC leads EPA’s participation in the interagency (HUD-DOT-EPA) Partnership for Sustainable Communities, as well as EPA’s cross-Agency focus on Making a Visible Difference in Communities. This work is integral to EPA’s priorities of improving air quality, addressing climate change, protecting America’s waters, cleaning up our communities and promoting environmental justice. Take Away Quotes:“The trajectory of growth that we all relied on for generations is not there any longer fundamentally all across this country we are trying to reinvent our economy there are places that have done better since the great recession and there are many places that have not yet begun to move forward. And I think the big challenge for all of us that are working in the smart growth, sustainable communities, environmental justice space is how do we work in our communities to help reinvent the economies that are not the economies of the 20th century but are the economies of the 21st century. I don’t know what that is going to look like but we need to figure it out because the trajectory of growth is just not there any longer. We have to work on economic development in every single one of our communities. We have to become good stewards of not...

TOPICProviding Local Food to the Local CommunityGUESTStacey Givens is the farmer, chef and owner of The Side Yard Farm & Kitchen in Northeast Portland, Oregon’s Cully Neighborhood. Givens grows diverse organic produce for Portland’s top restaurants and provides food, education and opportunity to her community. Givens was raised the youngest of seven children in a large Greek family in Redondo Beach, California where she was instilled with do-it-yourself values from a young age, farming in their backyard garden and small orchard, foraging with her mom, picking and brining olives and helping prepare large Greek family-style suppers. Givens has been in the food industry since age 15. She worked her way up the West Coast, including at the nationally acclaimed Millennium in San Francisco, before landing in Portland in 2006. Givens established The Side Yard Farm in 2009. The Side Yard Farm & Kitchen currently consists of several urban farm lots maintained by Givens and her team, a farm-to-table private catering company, and the ‘Nomadic Chef’ supper club where she features her urban-grown goods. Givens also organizes invaluable community services at The Side Yard like DIY workshops, grief support groups and kids camps. While The Side Yard has a hyperlocal focus, Givens’ drive to build a strong community and make lasting connections with talented and passionate people is globally-minded, traveling around the world to meet fellow organic farmers and chefs. In 2014, Givens was the recipient of Portland’s Local Hero award in the chef category, and continues to give back to the community she loves through volunteerism and her indispensable work at The Side Yard. In 2015, she competed on the Foodnetwork’s ‘Chopped’ and brought home the win for Portland.Stacey Givens Twitter https://twitter.com/thesideyardpdxORGANIZATIONThe Side Yard is an urban farm, supper club and catering company located in the NE Cully Neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Since 2009 they have provided local restaurants with creative organic produce and the community with food, education and opportunity. The farm is largely operated by volunteers and interns who gain hands on experience with the urban seed to plate movement. The Side Yard offers urban farm suppers & brunches, private catering, nomadic pop-ups, educational DIY workshops, farm tours and grief groups. Their focus is to provide local food for the local community, from the seeds they sow, animals they raise, and to the craftsmanship they embrace.TAKEAWAY QUOTES“It’s all about the experience of seed to plate. All of that was harvested the day before, the day of. You can just taste the freshness and that connection of hyper local.”“After I lost my father I decided I’m done with going to grief groups in hospitals- why not have one at the farm. It’s such a beautiful place and I think it’d be easier for people to share the loss of their loved one…and we just become this big ole family.”“I hope that what we’re doing is we’re teaching people that being local is really important, being organic is extremely important, and I guess that’s what I would hope for is that we’re doing our job educating people and bringing them closer to their food.”RESOURCESThe Side Yard http://www.thesideyardpdx.com/Local Government Commission http://www.lgc.org/THANKS FOR LISTENING Thanks so much for joining us. Have some feedback or an idea you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below.If you enjoyed this episode, please...

As much as 40 percent of all the food produced in the United States never gets eaten and typically ends up in landfills or goes unharvested in the field, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Megan Burritt, Aspen Institute First Mover Fellow and director of sustainability and wellness at Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, saw an opportunity to address this issue, developing pathways that connect fresh food waste in the supply chain with food insecure consumers. This led the company to design a new program, dubbed “Real Good” produce, to sell imperfect fruits and vegetables to food insecure customers, at a highly discounted price. Learn more about this program here: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/about/blog/aspen-first-mover-fellow-tackles-food-waste-while-feeding-food-insecure#sthash.a2q39kN1.dpufTOPICDecreasing Food Waste Through the Real Good Produce ProgramGUESTMegan Burritt is Raley’s Supermarkets Director of Wellness and Sustainability. Passionate about creating sustainable food systems and bringing good, clean food to the everyday American, Meg has lived every link in the food chain, from working on the farm to line cooking to category management. Meg attended Stanford as an undergrad, majoring in Human Biology, and is a graduate of Presidio Graduate School where she obtained an MBA in Sustainable Management. As a 2014 First Movers Fellow with the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, Meg continues to learn and grow as an innovator. First Movers is a group of exceptional innovators in business who are creating new products, services and management practices that achieve greater profitability and positive social and environmental impacts. Meg lives in beautiful Curtis Park, Sacramento where she enjoys baking, riding bikes and spending time with her veterinarian wife, Amanda, and their family of rescue animals. Twitter – https://twitter.com/misskeen LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganburrittORGANIZATIONRaley’s Supermarkets (also known as Raley’s Family of Fine Stores) is a privately held, family-owned, regional grocery chain that operates stores under the Raley’s, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods, and Food Source names in northern California and Nevada. Raley’s operates 128 stores, 40 of them in the Greater Sacramento area and employs around 13,400 workers today. Headquartered in West Sacramento, California, Raley’s is the dominant supermarket operator in the Sacramento metropolitan area.TAKEAWAY QUOTES“Up to 40% of the food that we grow here in America is often wasted before it gets to the consumer. That’s the high end of the statistic, but it really is mind boggling when you think about that much food that we’re putting resources into growing, that isn’t getting into the hands of people who would like to eat it.”“At Raley’s we do still have some produce waste because some of it just goes off while it’s waiting to be purchased at the grocery store. And we actually divert from the landfill. We send all of our produce waste to an anaerobic bio-digester where it becomes essentially compost and then natural gas energy.”“We are used to selling only one type of very perfectly shaped, sized, and colored fruits and vegetables in conventional grocery stores. So to go out here with this what people sometime call “ugly produce” we were taking a little bit of a risk. But we did see a really positive reception with our consumers that they understand that every fruit and vegetable is unique and it’s still...

TOPICTaking a Look at Food InsecurityGUEST BIO Sharon Thornberry is the Community Food Systems Manager at the Oregon Food Bank. Sharon has been a grassroots organizer, trainer and advocate for community food systems, rural communities, and anti-hunger work in Oregon since 1986. She grew up on farms, was very active in 4-H and Girl Scouts, and was one of the first female members of Future Farmers of America. In 1979, she was a homeless mom with two small children. Sharon has served on the Oregon Hunger Task Force for 16 years, the board of the Community Food Security Coalition for six years (three as President), and the board of Bread for the World and Bread for the World Institute for six years. The sum of her experiences have come together to make her a passionate and knowledgeable community food security and anti-hunger advocate. She is the 2009 recipient of the Billi Odegard Public Health Genius Award from the Community Health Partnership of Oregon. She has worked for Oregon Food Bank for the past 16 years focusing on rural food systems and is the creator of “FEAST”, the nationally recognized community food systems organizing program. She has been a resident of Philomath, Oregon for 30 years. She is an avid gardener and loves to share the cooking traditions learned in the farm kitchens of her youth with friends and family.Sharon Thornberry Twitterhttps://twitter.com/ofb_sharont TAKEAWAY QUOTES“The statistics say that rural hunger is not as bad as urban hunger, I think people in rural communities are less likely to admit they’re hungry too. There’s a lot of pride that goes with living in rural communities.”“There aren’t equal opportunities for everybody and there’s a lot of deniers that say that all of this stuff is made up. But I’m here to tell you it’s not made up. We don’t think about the challenges of access. People with small children are the most financially insecure. Salaries have not kept up with the cost of living in this country.”“We’re leaving a lot of kids in a really bad place because it’s impossible for their parents to have a living wage, especially in rural communities. There’s a whole systemic thing that we need to look at and figure out how we solve it as a country.”“Just think: the food banks across this country, there are hundreds of Feeding America food banks, there are tens of thousands of food pantries across this country, they all have volunteers. If those folks had taken even a fraction of the hours they’ve taken handing out food and been saying to the powers that be: to congress, to their state senators, to their state legislators, even to their county commissioners, “This is wrong, we have to do this differently,” what do you think the picture would be? I think we’d be in a different space?”“It’s about keeping the discussion going, and people having success, and supporting small farmers. You can’t do enough to do that. Go out there and get to know your small farmer, find out what their issues are, and find out how you can help them stay in business.” RESOURCESOregon Food BankA Place at the Table book and filmLocal Government Commission