Here is another great opportunity for local gardeners new and experienced to learn more about growing their own food!  As part of his internship in the Iowa Master Gardener program, MUM Sustainable Living professor Alex Kachan is offering a series of workshops on various aspects of small-scale, organic gardening to the entire community for free.  The only requirement is that you register at least one week in advance because each workshop is limited to 15 participants.  If Alex gets more than 15 requests for a workshop he will schedule a repeat for the overflow members.

I had the great pleasure of both attending one of Alex’s lectures on Vermicomposting (using composting worms to biologically break down organic matter) and working with him at the Ecovillage CSA two summers ago.  He is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about growing food sustainably from every step in the cycle, so I am sure these workshops will be not only informative but inspiring.

Here is a brief listing of workshop times and topics.  Email Alex at the address below for complete descriptions and to reserve a spot in the ones that interest you.

Sunday, March 14th, 2010: Starting Seeds
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept., room 111 & SL greenhouse

Sunday, April 18th, 2010: Making your bed – the art of Double Digging!
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: MUM Community Garden

Sunday, May 30th, 2010: Compost – learning to grow soil!
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: MUM Community Garden

Sunday, June 13th 2010: Compost Tea – pampering your soil & vegetables!
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept. room 111

Sunday, June 20th, 2010: Garden Q&A’s
Workshop length: 2:00– 4:00 PM (2 hours)
Location: MUM Community Garden

Sunday, July 11th, 2010: Seed Saving
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept. room 111

August 15th, 2010: Vermicomposting
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept. room 111

Workshops will be filled on a first come, first served basis.  To register, choose the workshops you wish to take and send their titles, dates & your name to Alex at: akachan @ mum.edu

Click here to download a flyer providing more details on the workshops.

MUM students & staff enjoy all-organic, vegetarian, fresh-cooked meals everyday

If you want a healthy fresh-cooked meal, a college cafeteria isn’t the first place that comes to mind.

Anyone who’s subsisted on college cuisine for extended periods of time probably doesn’t consider those days a culinary high point. Heck, coupled with late-night pizza runs, a standard university diet is partly to blame for the infamous “freshman fifteen” (i.e. those extra 15 pounds that seemingly appear out of nowhere during your first year on campus).

Yet at MUM, students and staff enjoy all-organic, vegetarian, fresh-cooked meals daily. While many campuses are starting to offer healthier menu options, MUM is the first U.S. college to serve exclusively organic, vegetarian food in its dining hall (officially, Annapurna Dining Commons). It’s part of the university’s commitment to inner and outer sustainability (for the record, many students aren’t vegetarian).

Local ingredients are used whenever possible, including produce grown right on campus at MUM’s greenhouses and nearby organic farms. It’s not uncommon for food to be picked and served the same day. Milk, yogurt, and ice cream come from Radiance Dairy right here in Fairfield. Everything is made from scratch, and the kitchens participate in a composting program. Meals are also prepared according to Ayurvedic principles, an ancient science of health and natural medicine. Thanks to these efforts, the MUM dining hall was a finalist in the “Best Local Food” category of Iowa Source magazine’s annual restaurant contest.

As student enrollment has increased—MUM now serves over 1,600 meals per day—the university brought in Aladdin Food Management Services to handle operations. Aladdin has been so inspired by MUM’s program that the company decided to make organic food service its niche, leveraging its experience with MUM to extend organic offerings at other accounts. Food Management magazine wrote a good article about the collaboration.

“I’m happy this worked out, and frankly, MUM was the catalyst to make it happen,” said Jim McKee, Aladdin’s regional VP of operations. “MUM’s 100% organic program is 10 years ahead of where the rest of the world needs to be. It is the right thing to do, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Anyone is welcome to eat at the dining hall, and you’ll find people of all ages—not just students. It’s located upstairs in the new Argiro Student Center (the big building on 4th street that looks like a cruise ship). The walk-in price is $8 flat, though it’s less if you buy a multi-meal punch card. Lunch is served everyday from 11:45-1:30, and dinner from 6:30-8:00. There’s a pretty big line at lunch by about 12:15, so I recommend getting there at noon or after 12:30 (though you’re almost certain to be standing next to a nice, interesting person in the queue). You can also check the menu online before you come. Happy dining!

The new Hy-Vee store planned for Fairfield will be the company’s second store built in accordance with LEED certification standards, Hy-Vee officials announced today.

This fantastic news is not only exciting for the quality of service the facility will bring consumers; but means that this site, identified as a priority site for storm water runoff capture, will incorporate best practices in sustainable construction.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the nationally accepted benchmark for environmentally sustainable construction. Developed and administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED certification program provides independent, third-party verification that a building project meets certain standards for lowering operating costs, reducing waste, conserving resources and providing a healthy environment for occupants and visitors.

In October, Hy-Vee opened its first LEED-eligible retail store in Madison, WI and is awaiting word on the status of its LEED certification application, said Jeff Markey, Assistant Vice President, Engineering/Construction for Hy-Vee. Markey said Fairfield will become the company’s second LEED-eligible project when construction on the new store begins this spring.

Hy-Vee previously had announced plans to build a new 64,000-square-foot store (almost double the size of the current store it replaces) at Burlington and South 14th Street, behind the Burger King. Plans for the new store have not been completed, but it is expected to include a pharmacy with drive-up service, a wine & spirits store, a floral shop and a food court with Chinese and Italian departments.

Many conservation groups in town have been eyeing this site with hope and concern. The Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District received a watershed development grant to study the Indian Creek watershed, and Pathfinders RC&D coordinated with the Iowa Conservation Corps to do an urban assessment.

After this six month process the new Hy-Vee location was identified as a top priority site to capture and infiltrate storm water runoff because of its position above a tributary of Indian Creek. Ongoing conversations between the Sustainability Coordinator for Hy-Vee, Mike Smith, and the Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Fairfield, Scott Timm, have built a relationship that highlights the City’s commitment to sustainability as well as the strong dedication of Hy-Vee to engage with our community.

Seeking LEED certification means that design of construction will take into account impact on waterways – thus this is a big win for the city and those who are located downstream of our watershed.

Commenting on the Hy-Vee decision to go LEED Certified, Mayor Malloy stated, “We have all contributed to building an environment where these decisions are made because of the commitment our city has made.”

On Thursday, February 11th the Center on Sustainable Communities will bring their entire team to visit Fairfield to scout out the city as a potential site for their summer programming.

The Center on Sustainable Communities had a connection with Fairfield from its inception. Lynnae Hentzen, their Executive Director, moved to Iowa in 2004 and wanted to perform a green upgrade on her “new old home”. She had a difficult time finding anyone who knew what she was talking about – until she came to Fairfield and linked up with Joel Hirschberg at Green Building Supply. She was amazed at the wealth of resources in a town that she considers to be the “greenest spot in Iowa”.

She was a stay at home mom for two years, and began thinking about how she could help create a satellite of green buildings in Des Moines and Iowa. She partnered with Beth Hicks and founded COSC, whose annual budget is now over one million dollars and holds award-winning workshops across the state. The mission of COSC is to “serve as a resource to encourage, promote and educate about sustainable building practices among professionals and homeowners.” They are currently running a free 10-session series in West Union for contractors, subcontractors, planners, architects, appraisers, city officials and other professionals to develop a “comprehensive understanding of green building best practices” – and also to support disaster recovery efforts in Northeast Iowa.

Recently, when the City of Fairfield was awarded an Office of Energy Independence grant to upgrade and retrofit their public buildings – Scott Timm, Sustainability Coordinator for Fairfield, began communicating with Lynnae to see if the City could utilize COSC programming to run educational workshops around those projects or other private projects planned for this summer. Now that it looks very likely that the City will forge this partnership with COSC, we would like to invite businesses and community members who have an interest in COSC to attend the monthly Greendrinks meeting this coming Thursday the 11th at 12pm, upstairs in Revelations.

Lynnae remarked, “We’re just excited to see what role we can play to support the initiatives that are going on down there.” This is a fantastic opportunity to create professional development opportunities for a wide range of Fairfield residents, and we look forward to growing our partnership with COSC!

Blog for Iowa has published an informative, four part interview, conducted by Jay Mattson, on Francis Thicke’s candidacy for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

I’ve known Francis Thicke and his wife, Susan, for over 30 years, and I can testify that he is the real deal. Francis is running for Agriculture Secretary because he has a sincere impulse to engage in public service for the sake of improving Iowa. Interviewing Francis gave me a chance to experience his brilliant grasp of complex, pressing issues. Francis has the best mix of qualifications, knowledge and experience that I could hope for in a progressive Democrat seeking to be Iowa’s Agriculture Secretary. I’ve come away from this interview convinced that he’s a viable candidate who has the integrity, humility and wisdom this state needs. — Jay Mattson

Part One: Meet Francis Thicke – Progressive Democrat for Iowa Agriculture Secretary

Part Two: Iowa Ag Secretary Candidate Francis Thicke Talks to BFIA about CAFOs, GMOs, and Local Control

Part Three: Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Candidate Francis Thicke Exclusive BFIA Interview

Part Four: Interview With Iowa Ag Secretary Candidate Francis Thicke

From the interview:

The Iowa Secretary of Agriculture is very often invited to speak at agricultural conferences held in Iowa. I see that as a major role of the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture: to articulate a vision for the future of Iowa agriculture, and to provide leadership to help move Iowa agriculture towards that vision. — Francis Thicke

. . . a law that was recently passed in Illinois that sets goals for more of the food eaten in Illinois to be produced in Illinois. They are starting with state-owned institutions, like hospitals and universities. One goal of the new Illinois law is to have 20% of the food purchased by state-owned institutions be grown in Illinois by 2020. That is an interesting model of how to increase local food production, which translates into economic development. We could do something similar in Iowa. — Francis Thicke

I grew up on a farm in a family of nine children. The farm was mostly dairy when I was young but we also had hogs, chickens and other animals — including sheep and ducks, at times. Over time our family’s farm became more specialized in dairy production, so I learned dairy first-hand from the family. — Francis Thicke

It’s an exciting interview series about a candidate with some practical and visionary ideas for how to improve Iowa’s agriculture and economic future. I encourage my fellow Iowans to read it and comment on Thicke’s ideas or provide any other feedback for the candidates in next year’s election for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

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In the biggest step forward towards fulfilling Fairfield’s Go-Green Strategic Plan; the City Council voted unanimously last week to support matching funding for a $485,000 project to improve the energy efficiency of city owned buildings, including City Hall, Public Works, the Library, the Recreational Center, Waterworks, Fire Department and Wastewater.

“We’re excited,” reports Mayor Ed Malloy. “This project puts our Sustainability Plan in action and sets the city in a position to lead by example. The grant funds will save our budget nearly $90,000 year in energy costs by improving energy efficiency and reducing energy waste.”

Councilperson Martha Norbeck lead the project by working with Alliant Energy to perform energy audits for the city buildings.  You can read the details of the energy audits here.  Note, the Law Center is excluded from the project since it is a County facility.

A breakdown of the costs:

• $485,000 – Total estimated cost of making improvements to facilities.
• $200,000 – Approximate contribution from City of Fairfield towards project costs.
• $118,000 – Estimated rebates for improvements according to Alliant Energy.
• $162000 – Federal Stimulus funding approved by The Iowa Office of Energy Independence.

A breakdown of the savings:

• $387,000 – Approximate annual energy costs of Electric and Natural Gas for facilities receiving improvements as part of the program.
• $179,623 – Annual energy costs for the biggest spender, Waterworks.
• $64,288 – Annual energy costs for Rec Center.
• $85,300 – Projected annual savings in energy costs after improvements are completed.
• 22% – Reduction in total annual energy costs for all facilities after improvements are completed.
• 43% – Biggest single reduction in annual energy costs, the Rec Center.
• 7 – Number of years to payback project costs based on projected savings.

Francis and Susan Thicke, owners of local Radiance Dairy Farm, will be honored this December with the Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture. The award will be presented on December 5th at the 2009 Iowa Organic Conference in Ames.

The Thickes will be the sixth recipients of the Spencer Award, originally established in 2001 to recognize significant contributions to the advancement of practices that make agriculture sustainable and family farms secure for the future.

The owners of a Jefferson County organic dairy farm and on-farm processing plant are the 2009 recipients of the annual Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture. Francis and Susan Thicke, who own and operate Radiance Dairy near Fairfield, will receive the honor December 5 at the 2009 Iowa Organic Conference in Ames.

The Thickes manage 236 acres where 60 paddocks are used to feed their herd of 80 Jersey milk cows. The herd is rotationally grazed, moving to a new paddock twice daily. In their on-farm processing plant, they produce skim, lowfat and whole milk, as well as yogurt and cheese, all of which is sold locally.

Until they bought the farm in 1996, the land was used for corn and soybean production. They have installed a solar-powered system to supply water from a pond to each paddock. The pond also has a geothermally-heated water tank for use in the winter.

The Thickes will be the sixth recipients of the Spencer Award, established in 2002 to honor farmers, educators or researchers who have made a significant contribution toward the stability of mainstream family farms in the state. The award includes a $1,000 stipend and is one of Iowa’s largest awards in sustainable agriculture.

Elisabet Humble, local foods coordinator for Hometown Harvest of Southeast Iowa, nominated the Thickes for the award, noting that their farm has been the site of many tours. €œThe knowledge Francis brings to visitors on his farm helps them understand the importance of sustainable agriculture and how it works with ecology,€ Humble said. €œI consider him one of the greater assets to our community €¦ very passionate in his efforts to create sustainability in our food systems.€ — Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Francis Thicke is currently running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, learn more at his campaign website.

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According to a new study from Purdue University, future expansion of ethanol production from corn would mean higher loadings of fertilizers and pesticides to water resources. The study found that water sources near fields of continuous corn had higher levels of nitrogen, phosphorous and fungicides than corn-soybean rotations. The study did not compare perennial crops, but no doubt they would be even more protective of water resources because perennial crops better protect the soil from erosion and nitrate leaching, and require less pesticide use.

More information about the study can be found at Lab News

This study calls attention to the urgent need to accelerate development of technology to produce biofuels from perennial crops, which protect the soil and require fewer inputs of fertilizers and pesticides than corn. Technologies under development that would fill this need include cellulosic ethanol production and pyrolysis, both of which could use biomass from perennial crops.

Pyrolysis is a process of heating biomass in the absence of oxygen to produce gaseous and liquid fuels that can be converted to gasoline and diesel fuel. Another byproduct of pyrolysis is biochar, a charcoal material that can serve as a carbon-sequestering soil amendment that improves soil fertility.

The future for biofuels production from perennial crops through pyrolysis looks promising, though more research is needed to fully develop the technology. Pyrolysis produces a higher energy yield per unit of biomass and has a smaller carbon footprint than ethanol production.

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