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Posts Tagged ‘Grow Smart’

Locally Grown Dinner Series: End of Season Thanks

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Last night friends and supporters of Sustainable Nantucket gathered at American Seasons to give thanks and celebrate an evening of beautiful food at the final Locally Grown Dinner of the 2011 Series.

Chef Michael LaScola artfully paired treats such as Nantucket bay scallops from Nantucket Fresh Catch and native pork belly from Faraway Farms with seasonal vegetables from our growers, while Orla LaScola and her team provided exceptional hospitality. Sustainable Nantucket would like to extend sincere gratitude to American Seasons, chef/owners Michael & Orla LaScola, Chef de Cuisine Derek Ronspies, Sous Chef Andrew Howard, Pastry Chef Natasha Misanko and the entire American Seasons team for making this evening truly special.

We would also like to thank our 2011 Locally Grown Benefit Dinner Series sponsors Bartlett’s Farm, B.E. Byrne, and Build Positive, as well as the following businesses for their generous in-kind contributions: Annye’s Whole Foods, Bartlett’s Farm, Cisco Brewery, Far Away Farms, Hummock Pond Farm, Moors End Farm, Nantucket Blooms, Nantucket Fresh Catch, Nantucket Mushrooms, and Pumpkin Pond Farm. Thanks to Straight Wharf Restaurant and the Club Car for hosting our September and October dinners. Lastly, thanks to all who purchased tickets and joined us for our 2011 Fall Locally Grown Dinner Series, we appreciate your support!

Tags: Agriculture, American Seasons, Annye's Whole Foods, B.E. Byrne, Bartlett's Farm, Benefit, Build Positive, Cisco Brewery, Club Car, Community Agriculture, Community Character, Cottage Industry, Economic Opportunity, entrepreneurs, Events, Far Away Farms, Farmers & Artisans Market, Farming, Grow Smart, Hummock Pond Farm, Local Economy, Local Food, Locally Grown Dinner Series, Nantucket, Nantucket Blooms, Nantucket Fresh Catch, Nantucket Mushrooms, Pumpkin Pond Farm, Straight Wharf Restaurant, Sustainability, Sustainable Farming
Posted in Uncategorized, Upcoming Events

SN Seeks Volunteers for Farm to School Gleaners

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Photo via Flicker by Vladislav Sabanov

SN Seeks Leaders and Members for Farm to School Gleaners
As part of the Farm to School Initiative that Sustainable Nantucket is developing in partnership with the Nantucket Public Schools, SN is now seeking members from the community to participate as Sustainable Nantucket Gleaners.

The Sustainable Nantucket Gleaners assume the task of harvesting surplus or unsalable crops (crops that are perfectly edible, but deemed unsalable to the public or restaurants for “cosmetic” reasons), and delivering that harvest to one of Nantucket’s schools for use in school lunches. Gleaning Programs have been implemented to great success in recent years in communities around the country. Sustainable Nantucket’s Program was formed with support and encouragement from the staff at Martha’s Vineyard’s Island Grown Initiative, an organization that has seen the benefits of such a program in their own school system.

Sustainable Nantucket is seeking members from the community to become Gleaners. All are welcome: students and adults, individuals and families. We ask that Gleaning volunteers make a once-a-week commitment during the growing season.

We are seeking:

Gleaning Leaders –members from the community with gardening experience and a flexible schedule who can lead the gleaning team onsite.

Gleaning Members to work under the guidance of the Gleaning Leader, picking and delivering the harvest.

If you are interested in participating, you can begin by clicking here to download an application. Please feel free to contact Morgan Beryl with any questions.

Tags: Agriculture, Community Agriculture, Education, Farm to School, Grow Smart, Local Economy, Local Food, Sustainability, Youth
Posted in Farm to School, Gleaning, News

SN Staff Tours Boston Area Farms

Monday, December 6th, 2010

On Tuesday, November 23 Sustainable Nantucket staff ventured off-island and headed North for tours of White Barn Farm in Wrentham, MA and Allandale Farm in Brookline, MA. The purpose was to observe first-hand some of the practices and programs implemented by these working farms, and to take that knowledge back to Nantucket for use in our Community Agriculture and Farm to School Programs.

White Barn Farm is a small, newly established farm in Wrentham MA that grows vegetables and cut flowers for it’s CSA program, wholesale restaurant clients and customers to its roadside stand. Farmer Christy Raymond gave us the tour of her fields, greenhouses, root cellar and barn, and gave us very detailed information about her sustainable growing practices, harvesting methods, the equipment she uses, and more. Many of Christy’s practices were of interest to us, including her rain water recovery system which is able to collect and store up to 4400 gallons of water for use in her fields. While White Barn Farm is not certified organic, they do not use pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers, instead they maintain healthy soil, carefully select the variety of plants they grow, and utilize fabric row covers to deter pests, among other practices.

Touring the greenhouses.

Drying seed pods, storing winter squash and collecting rainwater in a system of rain barrels in the greenhouse.

Some of the fields at White Barn Farm.

Christy talks to us about tractors.

Carrots in the root cellar.

Michelle, Tara and Morgan at White Barn Farm.

Allandale Farm has the distinction of being Boston’s last working farm. An oasis in the city, this beautiful property produces fruit, vegetables, herbs, eggs and more for the surrounding community. Allandale also sells a selection of prepared foods, such as baked goods and coffee, in its farm stand. The farm also runs a popular summer program for children ages four through ten to provide “comprehensive exposure to outdoor fun and learning on Boston’s last and only working farm”. The program teaches gardening, composting, bird and plant identification, walking, farm animals and outdoor games in the natural environment of the farm. The information shared with us by farm manager John Lee will help us as we consider additions to our programs for Nantucket youth.

Planters for the summer youth program.

Allandale chickens in their winter hoop house.

Tara, Michelle and John Lee of Allandale Farm.

Tags: Agriculture, Community Agriculture, Education, Farm to School, Farmers & Artisans Market, Grow Smart, Local Economy, Local Food, organic practices, SN Youth Council, specialty food production, Sustainability, Sustainable Farming, Youth
Posted in Community Agriculture, Farm to School, News

Sense of Place Film Series Schedule

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Our Sense of Place Documentary Film Series is co-sponsored by the Nantucket Athenuem. The series runs September through May, and films are shown once a month in the Great Hall of the Nantucket Atheneum. The film series focuses on issues of sustainability, environment, economy, agriculture and more. We are proud to be able to present Nantucketers with some of the finest award-winning documentaries that address issues that reflect Sustainable Nantucket’s mission.

Light refreshments and a Q&A or discussion period featuring local experts typically follow each film. The film series has become a wonderful community-building activity for our off-season population and visitors alike.

2010/2011 Film Schedule:

Films start at 7PM, admission is free, and all are welcome. Light refreshments are served.

October 22 - No Impact Man : Colin Beavan decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for the next year.

November 19 - Dirt! The Movie : DIRT! The Movie–directed and produced by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow–takes you inside the wonders of the soil. It tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility–from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation.

December 10 - Fuel : Eleven years in the making, FUEL is the in-depth personal journey of filmmaker and eco-evangelist Josh Tickell, who takes us on a hip, fast-paced road trip into America’s dependence on foreign oil.

January 14 - Tapped : Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? Stephanie Soechtig’s debut feature is a unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water.

February 11 - The End Of The Line : The world’s first major documentary about the devestating effect of overfishing premiered at Sundance Film Festival.

March 18 - Gasland : The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a “Saudia Arabia of natural gas” just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination.

April 29 - Fresh : FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Tags: Agriculture, Climate Protection, Community Agriculture, Community Character, Cottage Industry, Economic Opportunity, Education, entrepreneurs, Events, Grow Smart, Local Economy, Local Food, People, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, Transportation, Water Quality, Youth
Posted in Sense of Place Film Series, Upcoming Events

SN Focus is on Agriculture

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

From the November 4 issue of the Inquirer & Mirror:

Since Sustainable Nantucket’s formation in 2000, the organization, its staff and Board have continually reassessed SN’s role in the community, always with a mind to adapting its focus and leveraging its resources to provide the greatest impact and the most beneficial results for Nantucket and its residents.

With the launch our Community Agriculture Program and Farm to School in the summer of 2010, Sustainable Nantucket has completed a gradual transition — a natural progression in the evolution of the organization toward a more targeted approach to sustainability– that began with the incubation of our Farmers and Artisans Market in 2007.

Executive Director, Michelle Whelan states: “Our focus is now on cultivating a healthy Nantucket by expanding sustainable agriculture on island, and building a more locally based, self-reliant food economy –one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated. This, in turn, means a stronger economy for the island, reduces our overall carbon footprint, and helps to enhance our community’s unique sense of place.”

Our efforts include:

Connecting consumers to sources of locally grown food.
Advocating for greater local food production.
Providing training & education.
Expanding agricultural production and cottage industry

Our current programs include our Farmers & Artisans Market, Farm to School, Community Agriculture Program and our Youth Council. We also perform general outreach and education through our Film Series, Locally Grown Dinner Series and more. To learn more about our programs visit sustainablenantucket.org

Reflecting our sharpened focus, Sustainable Nantucket has a new logo and tag –line and has revised the look of its website home page.. In the coming months and years, expect to see expanded programs, classes and resources, all geared toward increasing sustainable agricultural production on island.

Tags: Agriculture, backyard gardening, Community Agriculture, Community Character, Cottage Industry, Economic Opportunity, Education, Farm to School, Farmers & Artisans Market, Grow Smart, Local Economy, Local Food, Organic Gardening, SN Youth Council, specialty food production, Sustainability
Posted in News

Sustainable Preservation Guidelines

Saturday, July 31st, 2010

In 2009, in order to assist residential homeowners and commercial business owners in their quest to green their buildings with wind and solar installations, Sustainable Nantucket, in partnership with Clean Air‐Cool Planet and funded by the 11th Hour Project, collaborated with the Nantucket Historic District Commission to facilitate the drafting of a set of “green building” guidelines, entitled Sustainable Preservation Guidelines which are an addendum to their longstanding publication “Building With Nantucket in Mind”. These guidelines delineate the HDC’s approach to renewable energy and energy efficiency inside and outside of the Old Historic District, in new and existing buildings. The Sustainable Preservation Guidelines were formally adopted in October of 2009 and are among the first of their kind in the nation.

The Guidelines address the HDC’s approach to energy efficiency & renewable energy as they relate to: windows and storms; solar-thermal and solar-photovoltaics (PV), wind energy, alternative materials, green roofs, rain-barrels, and strategies related to energy-efficiency.

An example of language from the Guidelines regarding Solar and Photovoltaic Installations:

Under Existing Buildings and New Construction:

Photovoltaic and solar thermal installations need to be designed carefully and positioned to be in scale with the structure’s roofline, while maintaining a balance, scale, proportion, and rhythm with other features of that elevation.
Systems should be on the same plane as the roof with the color of the panels in keeping with the surrounding roofing materials.

Recommended Materials:

Applications should include materials adequate to describe the proposed equipment, the structure, and the surrounding area. These may often include:

A sample of the product and supporting documentation if available.
Photographs of the installation site and surrounding area.
A scaled drawing of the proposed system including all supplementary equipment.

The full copy of the approved Guidelines are available at the HDC Office and by clicking here.

Background on the Guidelines

The creation of these guidelines was facilitated during the Summer of 2009 by Sustainable Nantucket (SN) in order to get a jump on one of the major goals of the Climate Protection Action Plan for Nantucket.

The guidelines were drafted with the input and review of representatives of the HDC via an ad hoc “Historic/Green” work group. The group consisted of representatives from the Historic District Commission and staff; several Sustainable Nantucket representatives including SN’s Historic/Green Fellow, Ginny Way; Nantucket Energy Study Committee representative, Mike Burns; and several members of the building community. The meetings of the Historic/Green Work Group were open to the public.

After the drafting process was completed, the guidelines went through a public comment and review by the Commission for a period of almost 6 weeks prior to adoption.

Funding provided in part by our generous partners:

Clean Air, Cool Planet

11th Hour Project

Tags: Community Character, Grow Smart, Preservation, Preservation Guidelines, Town of Nantucket
Posted in Achievements, Climate Initiative, Sustainable Preservation Guidelines

Town of Nantucket and Think Local First! to Form Local Procurement Committee

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

In response to the unanimous approval by Nantucket voters at the last Town Meeting, Think Local First! along with the Board of Selectmen and the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission have agreed to form a Local Procurement Committee. Members to date include Selectman Rick Atherton, with Chairman Patty Roggeveen as alternate representing the Board of Selectmen; Diane O’Neil representing the Town as Procurement Officer; Barry Rector and Linda Williams representing the NPDC, and Donna Hamel and Mary Wawro representing TLF!

The committee charter is to research and determine ways to maximize opportunities through communication and education for Nantucket’s local businesses to compete for public sector purchasing and contracts.

This is an exciting opportunity for our Town and businesses. If done correctly we could see a marked increase in the number of business opportunities made available to our local trade and service organizations allowing more money to be kept within the Nantucket economy – of key importance in these very dire economic times.

The committee plans to commence meetings in September 2010 and will set a meeting schedule at that time. If you are interested in working with or joining the committee we encourage you to contact us – we are also looking for input from our members to help guide us in our development. Understanding real life issues and experiences is of major importance if we are to get this right.

Contact: Donna Hamel e-mail: aldona.hamel@pnc.com, Telephone (508) 325-7743

The Think Local First! Campaign is an initiative of Sustainable Nantucket and the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce.

Tags: Economic Opportunity, entrepreneurs, Grow Smart, Local Economy, Sustainability, Think Local First!, Vibrant Downtown
Posted in Uncategorized

Welcome to Our New Web Site

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Greetings All -

You may have noticed a big change to our web site recently – we’re looking a lot more “current”, but we’ve also made some changes aimed at making out site easier to use.

This new site features improved navigation tools and interactive elements like “current news” on our home page, an events calendar, workshop listings, and for our Farmers & Artisans Market, in-season features like a produce guide, vendor profiles, weekly vendor lists and more. Our Programs – the Nantucket Farmers and Artisans Market, Community Agriculture Program, Climate Initiative, and the Sustainable Nantucket Youth Council – are clearly highlighted and defined in the new format.

The intent behind the redesign was to provide visitors to the site with an interactive, user-friendly way to stay connected to our organization and our Programs on a regular basis. Here at Sustainable Nantucket, we have ongoing projects and programs aimed at supporting and enhancing the community, economy and overall quality of life on the island. We hear the response from you, our members, the seasonal and year round community on Nantucket, and visitors to the island that the mission of our organization is important to you, and we know you are looking for a way to stay informed of our efforts and progress. This new web site is our key to maintaining that connection with you.

The web site redesign is the product of a collaborative effor between SN staff and long-time Sustainable Nantucket supporter: Novation Media, the design and computer business owned and operated by Al and Mary Novissimo. Novation Media went above and beyond to design a completely new template for us, based on our highly detailed specifications. They worked overtime to meet our deadline and to coach us through the setup process. We are so grateful for their energy and efforts.

You will notice this site features many photos, the use of which was generously given by islanders Greg Hinson, Cary Hazelgrove, Rob Benchley, Mitch Blake and Kelly Knight. Local restaurants and growers provide recipes that are featured in the Farmers & Artisans Market section, and Dane Decarlo of Perennial Gardens provides the bi-monthly seasonal produce guide. We plan to invite more community involvement in the site in the future with the introduction of ”guest bloggers” on specific topics relating to our mission.

Please browse and enjoy, and please let us know if you have any feedback or questions.

Sincerely,

Michelle Whelan

Executive Director, Sustainable Nantucket

Tags: Agriculture, Climate Initiative, Climate Protection, Community Agriculture, Community Character, Cottage Industry, Economic Opportunity, Education, Events, Farmers & Artisans Market, Grow Smart, Local Economy, Local Food, People, SN Youth Council, Sustainability
Posted in Uncategorized

Background

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

Background

The First Step – Nantucket Joins the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign

In 2008 – Sustainable Nantucket formally requested that the Town of Nantucket join the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. This request was unanimously granted by the Board of Selectmen. Nantucket joined over twenty-seven participating communities in Massachusetts alone, including, among others: Amherst, Barnstable, Boston, Falmouth, Gloucester, Hull, Kingston, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Salem, Somerville, Springfield, Williamstown and Worcester.

What is the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI’s) Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (CCP)?

The International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI’s) Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (CCP) is a performance-oriented campaign that offers a framework for local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve livability within their municipalities. It is designed to educate and empower local governments worldwide to take action on climate change.

What are the Milestones of the ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection Campaign?
Milestone One: Conduct a baseline greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the entire community and municipal operations.
Milestone Two: Set an emissions reduction target.
Milestone Three: Develop and adopt a local action plan or a collection of initiatives to reach the target reductions. These initiatives will include finding efficiency and technological improvements available to the municipality.
Milestone Four: Implement actions. This milestone involves municipal government to formally adopt individual emission reduction initiatives. Further, various municipal departments may be called upon to coordinate and implement the adopted initiatives.
Milestone Five: Monitor emission reductions. Perform follow-up inventories.

Tags: Climate Protection, Grow Smart, Sustainability
Posted in Background

What is a Climate Action Plan?

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

What is a Climate Action Plan?

It is a collection of initiatives to reach the target reductions. These initiatives will address both primary and secondary sources of carbon emissions, and include finding efficiency and technological improvements available to the municipality. Areas addressed will include buildings, (Historic District Commission guidelines; incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources) lighting, town fleet, public transportation, community policies (e.g., idling policy), life cycle cost analysis for purchases, composting program, gray water /lo-flow toilet program, bio-degradable plastic trash bags; biker/pedestrian friendly community; public education campaign for the environment; school curriculum…

Why create a Climate Protection Action Plan?

There are many benefits economic and environmental benefits to creating a Climate Protection Action Plan including

Cleaner air and water.

Cost Reduction Through:

increased energy efficiency
development of renewable energy
reduced dependency on fossil fuels

Reduced traffic congestion & pollution, benefiting tourist economy and downtown revitalization.

Economic benefits of becoming an eco-tourism destination.

Increased availability of locally-grown & produced food & specialty products.

Potential for economic benefits through agri-tourism.

Nantucket has a strong motivation for joining this Campaign and making a definitive commitment to reducing fossil-fuel use and carbon emissions. Unlike many of these other towns and cities, our unique geographical situation makes us particularly vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change – advanced erosion should sea-levels rise as predicted, and devastating storm damage if the wind and water currents are altered. Yet it also gives us access to significant renewable energy resources (wind-power and tidal-power) and makes energy independence a real possibility for us in the not-too-distant future. Completion of the Climate Protection Action Plan will fulfill criteria set by the Massachusetts Green Communities Act, thereby significantly increasing the Town of Nantucket’s eligibility to receive state funding toward renewable energy development on Nantucket.

Tags: Climate Protection, Grow Smart, Sustainability
Posted in What is a Climate Action Plan?

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