Low-Hanging Fruit: Helping ensure better access to urban markets through increasing and reforming federal food assistance
January 13, 2010

Sponsored by SAFSF and The Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
Moderator: Mailee Walker, Claneil Foundation
Speakers:
     Michel Nischan, Wholesome Wave Foundation
     Sandy Sherman, The Food Trust
     John Cook, Boston University School of Medicine

Additional Materials

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Innovative Financing to Promote Sustainable Fisheries
December 8, 2009

Sponsored by SAFSF and PRI Makers Network
Moderator: Peter Berliner, PRI Makers Network
Speakers:
     Chuck Cook, The Sustainable Fisheries Group
     Monica Jain, Manta Consulting
     Paul Parker, Cape Cod Fisheries Trust

Call Announcement

Additional Materials
Presentations
Monica Jain, Innovative Financing to Promote Sustainable Fisheries [PDF]
Chuck Cook, Acquiring Fishing Assets to Protect Communities and Marine Biodiversity [PDF]
Paul Parker, Buying Fish Quota to Conserve Fish, Fishermen, and Fishing Communities on Cape Cod [PDF]

Films Mentioned During the Call
THE BERING SEA: AN ECOSYSTEM IN CRISIS
The pollock poplation in Alaska's Bering Sea is the basis of the ecosystem, but overfishing has brought this species to the edge. This film explores what could happen to the ecosystem and other species in the sea if the pollock popultion isn't restored.

THE END OF THE LINE
The world's first major documentary about the devasting effects of overfishing. Imagine an ocean without fish. Imagine your meals without seafood Imagine the global consequences. This is the future if we do not stop, think, and act.

THE FISH BELONG TO THE PEOPLE
This is a feature length documentary that follows a group of family fishermen in Port Clyde, Maine as they work to save their fishing grounds from government, market structure, and themselves.

Biochar
December 1, 2009

Sponsored by SAFSF
Moderator: Cecily Kihn, Agua Fund
Speakers:
     Debbie Reed, International Biochar Initiative
     Stefan Jirka, Blue Moon Fund
     Jamie Dean, David and Lucille Packard Foundation

Call Announcement 

Additional Materials
Call Notes

Brownfields and Urban Agriculture
January 14, 2009

Co-sponsored by SAFSF and The Funders Network on Smart Growth and Livable Communities
Moderator: Gerry Wang, William Penn Foundation
Speakers:
     Ann Carroll MPH, Office of Brownfields & Land Revitalization, Environmental Protection Agency
     Clark Henry, City of Portland, Portland Brownfield Program

Listen to the call*

Additional Materials
Ann Carroll - Powerpoint
Removing the Stigma of Contamination and Repairing Blighted Areas [PDF]
Across the Country, Youth Programs Bring the Issue of Brownfields Home [PDF]
The Path to Brownfields Assessment, Cleanup and Sustainable Redevelopment [PDF]

Example Brownfield Clean-ups:
Sacramento, CA [PDF]
Hartford, CT [PDF]
Shelton, CT [PDF]
Philadelphia, PA [PDF]

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.1. Who do we contact to learn more about the brownfields program or our local contacts?

A.1. You can contact the Brownfield Coordinator at each of the EPA Regional Offices or contact the State or Tribal Brownfield program to learn more. Their contact details and a great deal of other information about the EPA Brownfields program can be found on the EPA Brownfields page - www.epa.gov/brownfields. State and Tribal response program contacts can be found on the Brownfields program website at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/state_tribal.htm.

You can also identify the communities in your area that have successfully applied for Brownfield grants in FY2008 and in previous years. Here is a list of EPA Brownfield coordinators as of January 2009. Click here to see the listing of Regional Brownfields Coordinators.

Q.2 What kind of brownfield grants does EPA award and how can they be used to make sure gardens and urban farms are safe?

A.2. To learn more about the types and funding levels of brownfield grants, please go to the EPA Brownfields page - www.epa.gov/brownfields. Under the grants section, you can find the most recent version of EPA BF grant guidelines. EPA plans to award an estimated ~$70 million in competitive brownfield grants in FY2009. This include assessment, revolving loan fund and clean up grants. EPA also plans to award an estimated $2 million in job training grants in January 2009 selected through a national competition.

Communities could apply for EPA brownfield grant funds to assess or clean new sites that are being acquired or expanded to create community gardens or farms. Communities can also apply for loans or subgrants from existing revolving loan fund pool previously awarded and already established.

Communities and organizations working on their behalf can also contact state and tribal program to see if existing response program funds can be directed to new or existing sites. EPA plans to award an estimated ~$50 million in grants to state and tribal response programs in FY2009.

Q.3. What tools exist to protect an organization from liability issues related to contamination they did not cause?

A.3. Under CERCLA there is protection from EPA enforcement through the All Appropriate Inquiry due diligence standards established by EPA. Most states manage Prospective Purchaser Agreement programs that protect a purchaser from State enforcement and to some extent third party lawsuits. View the AAI fact sheet.

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