Going Green Memphis 2-12-2012

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GOING GREEN | February 2012

commercialappeal.com

Whats in this issue ...LOCAL NEWS

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Groundbreaking Memphis initiative brings sustainable design full circle with certification TREEDC introduces local communities to renewable energy options Fayette County eyes rail-trail connection

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Getting paid for stewardshipLandowners in Ohio River Basin take part in pilot program that pays to improve water quality downstream

BUSINESS

ENERGY

SCHOOLS

Synergy uses organic materials for solutions for food-borne pathogens. PAGE 30

Agricenter installs the first of 4,160 solar panels. PAGE 34

Farmers ready to come to the table for local school nutrition programs. PAGE 37

On the cover: Radar image of the Mississippi Delta. Water quality trading programs might offer a market-based solution to combat poisoning of the Gulf of Mexico with farm and feed nutrients that leech into the river.

The Commercial Appeal

February 2012 | GOING GREEN

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ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

SubscribeSign up to receive the latest issues of Going Green the environmental digital magazine of The Commercial Appeal - as they are released. The e-magazine is published on the last Sunday of each month. Subscriptions are free to subscribers of The Commercial Appeal, simply follow the one-time Going Green registration process to obtain access. Upon registration, home delivery subscribers to The Commercial Appeal receive access to the digital product at no additional cost.

Dr. Seuss Lorax gets green tie-insLOS ANGELES The Lorax, perhaps the most famous anti-industrial crusader from childrens literature, is getting support from companies that are willing to go green. With a host of commercial tie-ins albeit for eco-friendly products Universal Pictures will begin promoting Dr. Seuss The Lorax this month. The animated movie, set for release March 2, is about a creature who speaks for the trees and fights rampant industrialism in a retelling of the book first published in 1971. Movie tie-ins once meant that kids got plastic toys thrown into their fast food meal containers. But Universal is taking a new approach. The studio is being selective about its partnerships. The EPA, for instance, is using the Lorax character to help promote lowpower appliances that carry the Energy Star label. Household products maker Seventh Generation plans to put Lorax Approved labels on millions of items, including a liquid detergent bottle made with recycled paper. Our partners needed to legitimately be in the environmental space, said Universals president of partnerships and licensing, Stephanie Sperber. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency hopes it will help children understand the link between saving energy and saving the environment. Its important to connect these dots between energy savings and efficiency and a cleaner environment, she said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. Ryan Nakashima, AP Business Writer

Raise your profileElevate your companys profile within the Green Community. Send us a short article or a project outline for consideration in Going Green, explaining what you are doing to green up your lifestyle? Include your preferred contact phone number.

Send in your e-mail addressWell share information and resources to help readers of Going Green swap money-saving tips and information related to green issues and events. Send to [email protected]. You can also follow Going Green on Facebook and at twitter.com/GoGreenMemphis .

Editor: Kim Coleman, 529-5243, [email protected] Community Editor: Emily Adams Keplinger, [email protected]

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Micro Greens...

New twist to the Manhattan skylineEnvironmentally-conscious luxury condos are popping up all over, and the Mercedes House in Manhattan is no exception. The 1.3 million square-foot building features over 800 residential units, with a LED-lit lobby by Leeser Architects and so many rooftop gardens even Central Park would be envious. The designers at Ten Arquitectos have made sure the massive Mercedes House not only respects its inhabitants, but also its surroundings. The building zig zags backwards in order to break up its enormous presence and preserve city side streets. The most impressive feat, however, is the numerous roof gardens for nearly every unit. The stacking design resembles a green stairway to the sky and the winding feature of the building also allows for each residential unit to enjoy natural light and air throughout the day.



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Green Snap...

Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal

Seedlings at root of lessonFor these wrap artists, theres rhythm and rhyme in getting over 2,600 Southern magnolia seedlings ready to distribute to third-graders at 14 public and private schools across DeSoto County. As volunteers wrapped, Meleiah Tyus (right) of the DeSoto Soil and Water Conservation District placed packaged trees into boxes marked with each schools name and the number of trees requested.Interested in sharing your green experiences: a bike ride on the Greenline, a successful recycling project or a neighborhood cleanup? Do you have a stunning nature photo? Send your green snapshots to [email protected] with "Green Snaps" in the subject line. E-mail photos as JPEGs that are 1-2 MB in size and include complete caption information, including the full names of everyone featured in the photo. Be sure to include a contact phone number in case we have questions.

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The Green Page...Botanic Garden to start bird counting at home or at the garden. This program is free with garden admission.

Munch and LearnFeb. 22 at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, 4339 Park Avenue, noon The Dixons Munch and Learn program will feature Dale Skaggs, director of Horticulture at the Dixon, discussing WinterFlowering Plants Skaggs describes ways to add to your wintery landscape with winterblooming plants. No reservations required; free to Dixon members, $7 for nonmembers, $5 for seniors or students. Questions? Call (901)761-5250.

Mike Maple/The Commercial Appeal files

Bromeliads are among the plants for sale at the Memphis Botanic Gardens winter plant sale.

EventsGreen Your Home Winter Plant SaleFeb. 12 at Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Road, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Botanic garden staff and master gardeners will be present to assist you in picking the best house plants for your home. Bring your own pot or buy a custom one. Free to the public. Call (901) 636-4100

Sustainability lectureMarch 1 at Rhodes College, 2000 North Parkway, 7:30 p.m in Hardie Auditorium Rhodes College will host a lecture on The Future of Plants: Diversity, Conservation, and Sustainability by noted botanist Sir Peter Crane. This event is free and open to the public. Crane is an evolutionary biologist, with a focus on the diversity of plant life. He is the former director of the Field Museum of Natural History, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and currently heads the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Great Backyard Bird Count at the GardenFeb. 17-Feb. 20 at Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Road, various hours This annual four-day event is meant to engage bird watchers of all ages in counting birds and to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. This program is in conjuction with The National Audubon Society's nationwide event. For more information on how to participate, pick up an information packet during regular hours at the



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ASK THE GREEN TEAM

Drop-off sites facilitate community recyclingIn response to the goal of The Commercial Appeal to be the green umbrella for the community, we have started a feature called Ask the Green Team. Last week, Brandi Rink asked, How does a Memphian go about recycling cardboard? In response, we provided a link to the Memphis Waste Management website (memphistn.gov/ pdf_forms/CardboardInstructionsA.pdf) that offers information about acceptable and unacceptable types of cardboard, as well instructions for curbside recycling of cardboard. However, we had a number of readers respond, asking for additional information especially for those who do not have the option of curbside recycling, like apartment dwellers. Kate Chilton of Midtown said her remedy was less than satisfactory she takes her items to be recycled to the bins next to First Congregational Church on Cooper; however, they do not accept cardboard. But we did some more digging, and heres what we found out. Answer: Other than taking items to a friend who lives in a house that has curbside recycling available, there are five recycling drop off centers located throughout the city for residents of apartment complexes and private developments not serviced by Memphis Solid Waste Management. Downtown: Located in the gravel parking area on Mud Island Drive at the north entrance to Mud Island Park. East Memphis: Located on Moore Road, approximately 300 yards off Germantown Parkway South, just south of the Agricenter Show Place Arena. Midtown: Located on the corner of Cooper and Walker at First Congregational

Going socialFor daily updates related to green issues, follow Going Green on Twitter at twitter.com/gogreen memphis and check us out on Facebook by searching Going Green Memphis.Church. Southeast: Located at the Hickory Hill Community Center at 3910 Ridgeway. ReCommunity: 3197 Farrisview Blvd., off American Way just west of Lamar intersection. The ReCommunity center will accept carboard. According to Robert Beck, who is in charge of business development for ReCommunity, recycling materials (aluminum cans, paper, plastic bottles and cardboard) can be placed in the designated carts located just outside the facilitys gate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you havent done so already, please like the Going Green Memphis Facebook page. There you can see more of the active dialogue taking place about the questions we print. And soon we will be archiving those comments onto our website so that they can be accessed when the original comments roll off the Facebook page.Readers can e-mail questions relating to environmental issues to: Emily Adams Keplinger at [email protected] or Kim Coleman at [email protected].

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In case you missed it...

Shelby Farms electric station lets vehicles energize for freeLaura Adams foresees a time when visitors can drive their electric vehicles to Shelby Farms Park, pull up to a solarpowered station and go for a short run while their cars get recharged. Then, in acknowledgement of how long vehicle charging can take, she corrected herself: Or maybe quite a long run. Adams, executive director of the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, hosted ceremonies Jan. 23 at the groundbreaking for the solar-powered station that will be built in the parking lot next to the park Visitors Center. The station will have spaces for 10 vehicles, and in addition to charging electric cars it will generate clean power for the electrical grid. Total cost of the project is about $500,000, with funding provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Electric Power Research Institute. Completion is set for late June. Motorists will be able to use the station at no cost. Although they wont be solar-powered, dozens of other charging stations for electric vehicles are planned across Shelby County. Just two months ago, the Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to take part in a project to install six stations in and around the Municipal Square. TVA and EPRI are teaming up for other solar-powered stations across the state. He said stations such as the one at Shelby Farms Park will be supplemental power sources to provide mostly partial charges for vehicles. The primary charging sites, will be at home, at night, off peakdemand hours, Ellis said. Adams said the station will fit in nicely at the park. There are new parking spaces to compensate for those lost to the station, she said, and the solar panels wont detract from the scenery. It wont be an eyesore. It will be very

Courtesy of Shelby Farms

Officials broke ground on West Tennessees first solar-powered electric-car charging station at Shelby Farms Visitors Center.attractive, Adams said.Tom Charlier, [email protected]

Casey Jones Village adding charging stationJACKSON Electric car owners will soon be able to plug in at a spot known for a different kind of locomotion Casey Jones Village in Jackson. Officials of the tourist attraction and representatives of ECOtality will cut the ribbon Thursday on the only public charging station between Nashville and Memphis, according to a news release from Casey Jones Village. Three Blink level 2 charging stations are being installed. They can accommodate the Nissan Leaf all-electric car. Casey Jones Village is located at exit 80-A of Interstate 40. It celebrates the life of famed railroad engineer Luther Jones, who was popularly known as Casey because he grew up near Cayce, Ky. He died at the controls of his passenger train in a collision in 1900 at Vaughn, Miss. Associated Press



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Achievements...The team at Christian Brothers University will investigate, develop and implement technologies that improve energy efficiency in low-income communities of Memphis.

CBU earns EPA grantThe federal Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $15,000 grant to Christian Brothers Universitys professor of civil and environmental engineering, Dr. L. Yu Lin, and Dr. Paul Indeglia with Peak Development Consultant Inc. CBU is the only local university to receive the grant and is one of seven Southern universities and one of 45 universities in the nation receiving it. A team of six CBU civil, electrical and mechanical engineering students will investigate, develop and implement technologies that improve energy efficiency in the building envelop of existing residential structures in the lowincome communities of Memphis. Elisa C. Marus, vice president of communications and marketing for Christian Brothers University.

FedEx's Mitch Jackson named as top thought leaderFedEx Corp.'s sustainability chief has been named one of America's Top 100

Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior for the second year running. Mitch Jackson, FedEx vice president, environmental affairs and sustainability, "develops the sustainability strategy and vision to ensure that FedEx minimizes its environmental footprint while still delivering outstanding customer service, " said Trust Across America, which compiles the list. Jackson spearheaded the implementation of hybrid electric vehicles for FedEx, which launched hybrid electric technology in the commercial vehicles marketplace. In conjunction with the FedEx Government Affairs department, he helped successfully push legislation for fuel economy standards/greenhouse gas requirements in commercial trucking. The organization's executive director, Barbara Kimmel, said, "The honorees are inspiring organizations to look more closely at their higher purpose ... to create greater value for, and trust from, all of their stakeholders."The Commercial Appeal

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While it may be cheaper to buy a regular bulb this week, the costs rise over time when that one burns out and the next and the next. After a few years, one spends less on bulbs by choosing the higher-priced CFLs the first time.

Long view helps world, walletMY FATHER, the nuclear health physicist, and my brother, the college biology professor, were sitting around the breakfast table debating paper usage and its effect on the environment. If we stop using paper entirely, wed stop planting trees and that would be bad for the environment. Yes, but its not like we plant trees in unforested areas. Were deforesting and replanting.

DEANNA CASWELL Practically Green

You dont know that for sure. This talk quickly deteriorated into their old saw about how activities that may seem green on the surface may have hidden environmental costs that make them worse than the original behavior. Perhaps the treeplanting equipment produces more fumes and burns more fuel than the benefit the replanted trees provide. Perhaps the mature trees that are being



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(allegedly) removed are of less value environmentally than actively growing young trees that could be theoretically photosynthesizing faster to put on height and bulk. Who knows? Well, Deanna knows, said one of them. What do you say? Then they both gave me an attentive youre the resident expert look. Ive never been regarded as the resident expert of anything in my family. Whenever my brother and father get into these verbal jousting matches, I tend to blend into the wallpaper, knowing that I will be asked to engage in their conversation only as an asset to an existing side of the argument. Deanna sees my point, dont you, honey, or possibly (in years gone by) to fetch the appropriate volume of the encyclopedia to settle the dispute. Yet at that moment, a Ph.D. geneticist and a master in environmental engineering were looking to me for a well-reasoned answer to settle their impossible dispute. Id like to say the next words out of my mouth were graceful and brilliant, but they sounded more like, Huh? Wh-what? Once I recovered from the shock of being asked to make a genuine contribution to this conversation, I opted for the truth. I dont think I can settle this paper/forest/deforestation argument. I dont think anyone can. Besides, I dont consider myself a green expert; Im just against personal wastefulness. Here, here! Thats all you can really do after all, right? said one. Just do your best to not be wasteful, said the other. Truthfully, that answer should have been more specific. And so I will share a

better version of my answer here: Rather than making omnipotent, global-impact calculations, I choose to focus on long-term personal wastefulness. That phrase long-term makes all the difference. For example, if one chooses this months paycheck as the only resource worthy of thrift, our health and our community resources will suffer. Its almost always cheaper to choose the mass-produced option in the short term. This week, its cheaper to buy a roll of paper towels than a set of good cloths. But over the lifetime of a set of good cloths, one could have spent a lot of money on paper towels. This week, it seems cheaper to buy a regular bulb, but when that one burns out and the next and the next, after a few years, one could have spent much less on bulbs by choosing the higherpriced CFLs the first time. It also works for large purchases. If you need a new car, get a fuel-efficient one. However, if you dont need the new vehicle or appliance, theres not enough fuel efficiency in the world to make up for the cost of an unnecessary large purchase. It seems to work out that those behaviors that are fiscally wise in the long term are also environmentally wise. Wisdom doesnt battle itself. Wise decisions are just that. Time, effort, money, natural resources, are all fine measures, if you like, but one must take the long view for the decisions to work out in favor of conservancy.Deanna Caswell is a local writer who blogs at littlehouseinthesuburbs.com. Caswell and her husband, Jeff, live in Collierville. She practices eco-friendly living, while raising their four children, along with pygmy goats and chickens.

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Know your sweet source, get honey from local beekeepersHOW DO YOU take your honey? Drizzled on a biscuit with butter? Squeezed into hot tea? Or straight up off the spoon? However you take it, know that each drop is precious. Some little bee worked its tail off to sweeten your food. Bees visit about 2 million flowers to produce MELISSA PETERSEN a single pound of honey, according Eating Local, to the National Eating Green Honey Board. What begins as nectar from flowers goes through a complex process via the honeybee and evaporation to become a viscous fluid that provides a more-lasting energy boost than other sugars. As a bonus, honeys low water activity and high acid level mean it doesnt spoil. In addition to food, honey has been used for everything from cosmetics to medicine, and is a one-ingredient wonder. Store honey at room temperature in a closed container. Honey can absorb moisture from the air, which will cause it to ferment. Do not refrigerate

National Honey Board

The flavor of honey varies based on where the nectar comes from. Honey also comes in liquid, comb and creamed forms.



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honey. Eventually all honey will crystallize, but this doesnt affect the quality. Simply place the jar in warm water and stir until the crystals dissolve. Since we cant get to know the honeybees, try getting to know your local beekeeper. Peace Bee Farm, Wolf River Honey, Hughes Apiaries and Windermere Farms are all regulars at our local farmers markets, and several sell to local groceries. Local honey comes in liquid, comb and creamed (also know as whipped) forms. Youll also find honeys that are infused and flavored. Im new to crme honey (which has been finely crystallized), but Im learning to love it because its spreadable and less messy on a biscuit. Bees can gather nectar from several miles away from the hive, and theres no telling what the neighbors have been spraying, so organic is hard to come by. There is no legal definition for raw honey, and honey labeling laws allow for ambiguous interpretations, so heres where knowing your beekeeper comes into play. Buy local, and you have a much better chance of getting good, natural unheated honey. The flavor of honey is a result of the nectar source, so expect some variation in local honey at different times of the year, and among producers. We need bees to pollinate our food crops and gardens. Our local beekeepers take care of the bees that are doing that. If you havent already, discover how different local honey tastes. Then make the commitment to buy local honey. It could be the No. 1 imperative in supporting our local food system.Melissa Petersen is the editor of Edible Memphis, a magazine that celebrates the abundance of local food, season by season. It is available at various locations around town. Contact her at [email protected].

Bees in the Garden Vegetable Sauce1 1

/4 cup honey /4 cup unsalted butter 1 shallot, minced 1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves only Salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes. Toss with cooked vegetables, such as cauliflower, carrots or squash.Source: Recipe adapted from the National Honey Board, honey.com

Savory Honey Scones1 tsp. fresh rosemary or thyme, finely chopped 22/3 cup all-purpose flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 /2 tsp. baking soda 1 /2 tsp. kosher salt 5 oz. chilled soft goat cheese, cut into bits 1 /4 cup honey 1 /3 cup plus 2 tbsp. heavy cream, divided 1 large egg

In a bowl, thoroughly mix 1 teaspoon rosemary with flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut goat cheese into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal; reserve. Whisk together honey, 1/3 cup cream and egg. Stir into reserved dry mixture until a soft dough forms; gather dough into a ball. Turn out onto a well-floured board; pat into a round about 3/4-inch. Cut into eight wedges. Arrange separately on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons cream. Bake at 425 degrees until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes.Source: Recipe adapted from the National Honey Board, honey.com

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As the single largest user of land and water resources in America, agriculture has a significant impact on the environment. But it also provides one of the most cost-effective ways of addressing one of the nations most pressing environmental challenges: water quality. As a result, there is an enormous opportunity for farmers to play a major role in improving the environment while expanding their own sources of revenue.



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By Suzanne Thompson / Special to Going GreenThe first interstate water quality trading program, under way in the Ohio River basin, may eventually trickle down to the Mid-South. The American Farmland Trust received a $1 million Conservation Innovation Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to augment funding for the multistate project led by the Electric Power Research Institute. The program, now operating in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, offers farmers financial incentives to change some of their farming methods to improve the quality of water.

The Ohio River BasinThe Ohio River Basin is an area that spans 14 states, including Tennessee, and contributes about 30 percent of the water that flows down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. While agriculture is not the sole contributor to water pollution in the Mississippi River basin, it is estimated to contribute up to 65 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorous sediments that cause hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf hypoxia is a process in which an area of ocean loses oxygen and subsequently the ability to support life. These areas, known as dead zones, are attributed to man-made pollution, particularly fertilizer runoff from households, manufacturing, industrial and other processing, and agriculture.

Because there is a lot ofagricultural activity in the Ohio River basin... the program could have a big impact as more states become involved.DR. ANN SORENSEN, AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST

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What is water quality trading?Water quality trading creates a market that pays participants for reducing the pollution they emit into watersheds. It creates a market that allows pollution sources who reduce their nutrient emissions or releases below an agreed upon baseline to generate credits to sell to point sources required to reduce their emissions. Such point sources include public utilities or manufacturing operations. Subsequently, participants are given a financial incentive to reduce their own pollution. The projects goal is to address agricultural runoff, helping farmers with cost-effective production practices that improve water quality while also helping them become more economically viable by adding a new source of income the sale of water quality credits to utility companies, waste water treatment plants and other regulated point sources.

Source: American Farmland Trust

Water quality trading creates a private market that pays farmers to reduce the amount of nitrates and other pollutants that contaminate the watershed by runoff from some fertilizers. Its really an important ecological issue that needs to be addressed, said Jessica Fox, project manager of water quality research for the Electric Power Research Institute. Because there is a lot of agricultural activity in the Ohio

River basin, which stretches across 14 states, the program could have a big impact as more states become involved, according to Dr. Ann Sorensen, research director for the American Farmland Trust. The voluntary program benefits farmers while helping improve the environment. This could be a new revenue stream for agriculture. We see it as a win-win, Sorensen said. Farmers do not intend to harm the water, but naturally they are



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Robert Cohen

A cropduster sprays herbicide on a 270-acre rice field in Cross County, Ark. The amount of contaminants that reach the watershed has to do with the amount and application of fertilizer and how much the plants use. concerned with yields. The amount of contaminants that reach the watershed has to do with how much fertilizer is used, how it is applied and how much of it the plants use. The program is operated in conjunction with water treatment plants that offer farmers the opportunity to participate. Reducing the amount of pollutants that get into the water is better than sending oxygendepleted water through treatment plants or allowing it to run off into waterways. This is a much less expensive way to achieve higher quality, Sorenson said. Researchers are optimistic that the program will be a success, because of the economic incentive for farmers. They hope large farming operations will eventually want to participate. If it doesnt have a business driver, it will be difficult to get big companies behind the program, said Fox. The Ohio River contributes 30 percent of the water that flows into the Mississippi River, whose basin covers 38 states. The goal is to expand the program beyond Ohio,

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The Commercial Appeal files

Agricultures role in improving the nations water qualityWater quality is a major concern across the country. It is estimated two-thirds of coastal waterways are degraded. While there are many threats to water quality including electric power, manufacturing, waste treatment emissions and storm water drainage, changes in agricultural practices are among the most cost-effective ways to improve water quality and reduce pollution. There are proven conservation practicescalled best management practicesthat many farmers utilize to help improve water quality. However, there are barriers to universal adoption including cost, concern about loss of yield, lack of technical assistance and a lack of economic incentives. Farmers want to be good stewards of the land, but they need policies and programs that help them by: Engaging farmers, ranchers and agriculture leaders to garner their support and participation. Expanding best management practice and other innovative practices to encourage better land management. Establishing water quality trading markets while garnering support from state and federal agencies that enable agriculture to profit from protecting our water. Advocate for policies that support conservation practices and reward environmental stewardship. Source: farmland.org

Kentucky and Indiana to other states, and Fox said there are plans to initiate conversations with officials in Tennessee at a later date. Although there are 85 other water quality trading programs in the U.S., they are all on a small scale and do not involve multiple states, she explained. The project in the Ohio River basin is the largest program of its kind in the world, Fox said, and it is different in several ways from smaller programs. We want to establish up front what the parameters are, she said. Not doing this has stymied multistate projects in the past. This water quality trading program is designed to be somewhat flexible. The thing thats unique is that we are committed to the science of nutrient reduction, Fox said. That aspect is especially important to her, because she has worked for 10 years as a molecular biologist specializing in conservation biology. This study is also adaptive, meaning the researchers can change things that are being done. The continual reassessment is an ecological concept the researchers believe will work. By 2013 they will have executed the pilot trades. They expect to have a fully functioning market for the water quality trading by 2015, Sorensen said. In the end, this water trading program is going to have a big ecological impact, Fox said.



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John Sale/The Commercial Appeal files

The roof of a vehicle is just visible sticking out of a 75-foot-wide flood of water that filled an underpass in Midtown. Scenes like this are common whenever the area experiences flash flooding.

Restoring urban water qualityConservancy applies for grant to preserve Lick CreekBy Emily Adams [email protected]

Money may soon be flowing into Midtown, just like the water that has filled some streets, alleys and homes. Ask anyone who has had to dry out their basement after a hard rain, from not only rain water, but also raw sewage, and they will tell you the aid cannot come soon enough. Urban Waters Small Grants support community efforts to make water quality restoration relevant to

public health, social economics and livability goals. The EPA will award between $1.8 million and $3.8 million in grants. Wolf River Conservancy is the local applicant seeking money to take a look at Lick Creek for repairs and maintenance. The intent of this grant is to further the WRCs mission in preserving and protecting the Wolf River water shed, said Keith Cole, WRC executive director. And with this grant, we will better

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Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

University Place has a lake that serves as a retention pond at the front of the property and maintains rainwater runoff so not to increase the load on the system. understand and would expect to improve, water quality for the Greater Memphis area. This grant is for research money that will be used in a broad approach, not for a specific project, like the detention basin that has been proposed for the Overton Square area. There will be only four to eight grants awarded in the Southeast region, depending on the amount of available funding, said WRC grant writer Cathy Marcinko. For our request, there are two components we are focusing on: an assessment of Lick Creek and a rain barrel program. The rain barrel project will be in partnership with the Tennessee Yards and Neighborhoods program. The rain barrel project will be an expansion of that outreach, by initiating the train-the-trainer component, said Chris Masin, senior engineer for Shelby County. A half-inch of rain falling on a house can generate up to 500 useable gallons of water, enough to fill 10 55-gallon rain barrels. Although blessed with an underground aquifer, Memphis sanitary sewer system was put in place in the early days of the citys development. The pipes were laid side-by-side with one carrying sewage and the other storm water.



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However, some of the older terra-cotta and cast-iron pipes have cracked with age and now, when we experience a heavy rain that promotes flash flooding, water from the pipes designed to carry sewage seeps out into the sanitary storm water pipes, said Mary Wilder, community volunteer for the Lick Creek Storm Water Coalition. The city has begun installing detention basins. The large basin in Uptown, part of Gayoso Bayou, is a familiar landmark. But chances are folks have driven right past other areas not realizing they are also designed to hold back storm water long enough to prevent major flooding. For example, the water feature at University Place at I-240 and Crump is a retention basin. The Christian Brothers University Signaigo Soccer Field, off Central in the southern part of campus, was designed with a flood control system under the field. Peabody Elementary on Young Avenue has a detention basin built on the campus that involved replacing an asphalt playground with grass to avert flood waters from the school buildings. The basin also provides storm water detention for the upper Lick Creek basin. The soccer field at Second Presbyterian Church, at Goodlett and Central Avenue is also a detention basin. If a storm water management system was in place to detain the water and release it slowly, then flooding can be prevented, said Wilder.

Electrolux plans to add trees to wetland to offset damageA contractor for Electrolux will plant some 1,500 trees and restore wetlands near Collierville to compensate for environmental damage resulting from construction of the companys kitchen-appliance plant in southwest Memphis, according to a proposal. The Corps of Engineers will issue a federal Clean Water Act permit authorizing the fillingin of slightly more than an acre of wetlands for the Electrolux plant, said Mitch Elcan, a biologist with the corps. The decision follows approval last year by Tennessee water-quality regulators of a plan to mitigate the wetland loss by restoring wetlands to a 3.5-acre parcel near the Wolf River Greenway trail north of Collierville. A contractor for the firm will restore wetland hydrology to the site by filling in drainage ditches, and it will plant 1,526 tree seedlings on the site. The Port of Memphis applied for the Clean Water Act permit on behalf of Electrolux, which will be grading and leveling a 586-acre site for the plant in the ports Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park. Electrolux is expected to employ up to 1,240 people and generate 1,500 additional jobs for area suppliers. One objection to the proposed Electrolux permit came from the Tennessee Clean Water Network, which questioned the location of the mitigation site some 25 miles east of where the plant is being built. The wetlands-restoration work should be done closer to the plant, not in such a distant watershed, said Rene Victoria Hoyos, executive director of the group. Were not asking them to look in an ittybitty area, she said. Were giving them a lot of room. Elcan, however, said regulators endorsed the mitigation site near Bethany Road north of Collierville because there were no suitable areas near the plant. With the clean-water permit, the only major environmental approvals needed for the Electrolux facility involve air quality. Tom Charlier, The Commercia Appeal

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Alan Spearman/The Commercial Appeal files

The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative supports voluntary implementation of conservation practices and systems that control nutrient runoff, improve wildlife habitat and maintain agricultural productivity.

Runoff aidDeadline nears to apply for funds targeting farm nutrientsCompiled from the wires

A major federal cost-share program aimed at addressing water quality and wetland conservation in the Mississippi River Basin is accepting proposals for conservation projects. Proposals are due to the Natural Resources Conservation Service by March 19. Accepted projects would support conservation efforts already underway on agricultural operations in the basin looking to improve the overall health of the Mississippi River and help reduce hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. This is an outstanding opportunity for conservationminded farmers to do even more to protect and improve one



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of Americas most valuable resources, White said. Working together, we can deliver more of the environmental and economic benefits of cleaner water to everyone who relies on the food, fiber and fuel produced by landowners in the Mississippi River Basin. The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watershed Initiative is designed to help landowners and producers voluntarily employ conservation and management practices that prevent, control and trap nutrient runoff from farmland, said Al Garner, acting state conservationist with the NRCS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through this request for proposals, NRCS is providing up to $37 million in financial assistance through the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative for projects in 54 priority watersheds in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin. These projects will complement actions to be carried out through the new Gulf of Mexico Initiative, an effort that focuses up to $50 million in conservation assistance over three years to farmers and ranchers in priority areas along seven major rivers that drain into the Gulf. Approved proposals will include conservation practices that prevent, control and trap nutrient runoff, improve wildlife habitat, restore wetlands, and keep agricultural operations productive. A Request for Proposals, which includes a list of eligible watersheds and application addresses can be downloaded at federalregister.gov/a/2011-33692.Henry Bailey contributed to this report.

RUNNING OFF RUNOFF

The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative will help the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service and its partners expand their capacity to improve water quality throughout the region. The Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative will use a conservation-systems approach to manage nitrogen and phosphorous, which will minimize runoff and reduce downstream nutrient loading. The nations largest hypoxic zone, caused by nutrient loading, looms off the coast of Louisiana, south of the Mississippi River Delta, and this program is one way the Department of Agriculture and the NRCS are striving to fix the problem.CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM

The county office also is holding a continuous Conservation Reserve Program sign-up. This program allows owners and operators to register environmentally sensitive cropland along creeks, streams or rivers in certain practices. Eligible owners enter into contracts that range from 10 to 15 years. In return, they will receive annual rental payments, incentive payments, and cost-share payments for establishment of the practices. For more information on the programs, call the DeSoto FSA office at (662) 429-8687 Ext. 2. The office is at 3260 U.S. 51 in Hernando or See http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp? area=home&subject=copr&topic=crp

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LOCAL NEWS

WHAT A SITE...Woodland Playground earns national sustainability certification

Kyle Kurlick/The Commercial Appeal files

Ava Parks (right), 5, and other children from the community enjoy the slides at the Woodland Discovery Playground at Shelby Farms.By Emily Adams [email protected]

The Woodland Discovery Playground at Shelby Farms Park has become one of the first pilot projects to be certified by the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) for its sustainable site

design, construction and maintenance. Woodland Discovery Playground opened April 2011. Designed by James Corner Field Operations, the playground reflects sustainable practices in all aspects of its design, such as the Nike Grind play surfacing made in Memphis from re-



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cycled sneakers. And, permeable materials allow stormwater to water an arbor of trees that connects the play areas. The playground also serves as an educational tool, with children seeking Green Facts in a scavenger hunt that promotes, among other things, sustainability. Since the minute it opened, the playground has become the most loved featured of the park, said Jen Andrews. There are only three projects in the world that are certified by the Sustainable SITES initiative, and our playground is one of them. This certification really puts Memphis on the map in a way that it hasnt been before it is something that is getting international attention. The other two sites receiving certification are the St. Charles, Missouri, campus of Novus International Inc. and the Green at College Park of

the University of Texas at Arlington. Woodland Discovery Playground was awarded a one-star rating by SITES, an interdisciplinary effort led by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden to create a voluntary, national rating system and guidelines for sustainable landscapes of all types, with or without buildings, continued Andrews. Shelby Farms Park Conservancy is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that manages and operates Shelby Farms Park and Shelby Farms Greenline. Each year, the Conservancy raises more than $2 million to keep the Park and Greenline clean, green and safe. For more information, visit shelbyfarmspark.org or call (901) 767-7275. Holden Gerth, 8, plays with the sand and water trough at the Woodland Discovery Playground at Shelby Farms which was recently named one of the first pilot projects to be certified by the Sustainable Sites Initiative for its sustainable design, construction and maintenance.

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Dave Darnell/The Commercial Appeal files

Louis Smith (left) and Jeromey Miller check solar panels installed at Sharp Manufacturing. The panels can produce 59 kilowatts of power per hour in bright sun. A typical 3,000 square foot home uses about 2,000 killowatts per month.

On the fast trackTREEDC moving the issue of renewable energy forward in TennesseeBy Suzanne ThompsonSpecial to Going Green

A small organization formed by a handful of people in 2008 has grown into a statewide network of public and private businesses and 65 city and county majors trying to fast-track renewable energy in Tennessee. The Tennessee Renewable Energy and Economic Development Council (TREEDC) was founded almost four years ago by four rural mayors, a small engineering firm, Dr. Joe Johnson, president emeritus of the University of Tennessee, and Warren Nevad, a consultant for Municipal Technical Advisory Service.



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TREEDC is very unique because it brings together a variety of public, private and government agencies, Nevad said. TREEDC members now include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Tech University, the Jackson Energy Authority and a host of rural communities. Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division also recently joined the organization. Our business plan is very simple. First, its to network and get out on the ground floor and bring awareness of renewable energy by hosting free forums across the state, Nevad said. Speakers from FedEx, 49 Green, Memphis Bioworks Foundation and MLGW gave presentations at a November forum in Memphis. Becky Williamson, strategic marketing coordinator for MLGW, spoke about renewable power generation. A lot of times you hear about projects that are going on in Nashville or East Tennessee, but theres not been much coverage of local projects, she said. Among the local projects discussed was the Sharp project which has several solar generation sites at its facility, and was the first commercial solar project in the city. Memphis Botanic Garden has a solar installation, as does Carnes Elementary School. Williamson also outlined upcoming installations planned for the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library and the Agricenter. A presentation by Memphis Bioworks Foundation president Dr. Steve Bares touched on regional green strategies, energy efficiency and generation, and workforce training in green jobs. Theres a lot going on in the green area. Its a very fast-growing

opportunity, he said. The forums provide companies large and small, and government agencies, an opportunity to showcase their work in sustainability, and increase the awareness of those who attend about changes they can make on their own. TREEDC does not endorse any technology. Its role is to introduce to communities options for renewable energy so they can make decisions about which are best for them. Therere a lot of good things going and Im always interested in learning from my brethren across the state about things that can be applied here in Memphis, Bares said. TREEDC also has become involved in various projects in an advisory capacity. For instance, it helped officials in Crossville set up a small bio-diesel facility that converts cooking oil into fuel for the citys fleet of vehicles. It also helped that city locate electric charging stations for electric vehicles. TREEDC also is consulting with Covington, helping to assess the possibility of converting wastewater sludge into clean power to be used by the wastewater plant. Such a project would save the city a lot because it would eliminate the need to transport the sludge off plant property and pay a dumping fee, while providing power for the plant itself, Nevad explained. With continued support and growing membership by businesses and municipalities across Tennessee, the future looks bright for TREEDC. It keeps growing and growing. Thanks to the good folks in Memphis we are able to continue to flourish, Nevad said.

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Chris Desmond/The Commercial Appeal files

Neola Farms ends its runThe Neola Farms name is slowly disappearing from Memphis menus just as the Tipton County-raised, Black Angus beef it raised disappears. Calling it the absolute hardest, heart-wrenching decision of my life, owner Charline Lenagar is closing the Brighton farm after last years passing of her husband, Michael Lenagar. My decision comes after much thought, prayer and discussions with ... sons, Derek and Heath, Charline Lenagar said in a letter to clients. Michael Lenagar and the white Neola Farms box truck could be found most Saturdays parked at the southern end of the Memphis Farmers Market. There, he sold his beef and talked to customers from beneath the wide brim of his ever-present cowboy hat. Lenagar met many Memphis chefs at the farmers market. That confluence happened at the right time for the chefs and the cowboy alike. Lenagar was looking to expand his market and the chefs were looking to locally source more of their ingredients. It wasnt long before the Neola Farms name exploded onto many Memphis menus. Its a tragic loss for the whole Memphis dining scene, said Ben Smith, Tsunamis owner and chef. After the past few years of making inroads into the whole more local, sustainable agriculture and food production thing, its a stunning blow to lose somebody like this. Toby Sells, [email protected]



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Fayette County all aboard plan for Green LineMore than 20 miles from the eastern end of the Shelby Farms Greenline, officials in Fayette County are embarking on plans to pave a path that someday could tie in to the multi-use trail in Memphis. The town of Oakland is leading the effort to build an 8-mile trail from near its City Hall westward to the Shelby County line. The Fayette County Green Line, 40 as officials are calling it, would follow the abandoned CSX railroad bed 64 the same corridor accommodating Oakland the Shelby Farms Greenline. Fayette County already owns most of the right-of-way, which was deeded by the railroad around 1968, said Oakland Mayor Scott Ferguson. Shane McDermott/The Commercial Appeal Officials now are trying to secure scattered parts of it that are owned by individuals, he said, as well as arrange for funding assistance from private foundations. Ferguson said a trail linking Oakland and rural Fayette County with Memphis would be a major regional amenity. It ties together two different types of cultures a major metro area and one that is more of a bedroom community, he said.Shelby County Fayette County

a Rd.

Hickory Withe Rd.

Oakland Rd.

Details The Green Line would be 12 feet wide compared to the 10-foot width of the Shelby County trail and include a side path for horses. Construction, projected to cost from $40,000 to $45,000 per mile, could begin by this fall and last about six months. The effort in Fayette County coincides with work in Shelby County to extend the 6.5mile Shelby Farms Greenline eastward from its present terminus on the north side of Shelby Farms Park near Mullins Station. From there, it is nearly 13 miles to the Fayette line, plus eight to Oakland. Shelby County has received initial approval for a $3.3 million grant to extend the Greenline about 4.3 miles to the old Cordova depot. There also have been preliminary discussions about a further extension to the Fayette line, according to Tom Needham, Shelby County Public Works director. While local governments would contribute

some portion of the nearly $3.5 million cost of the project, officials also hope to get donations from private foundations and other sources.

ReactionIn addition to extending the Greenline eastward, several groups in Memphis have been making plans to provide bicycle connections westward to Broad Avenue and Overton Park and, eventually, to the Mississippi River and Arkansas via the Harahan Bridge. The idea of being able to get on the Green Line in Oakland and go all the way to the Mississippi River would be huge, Ferguson said. Fayette County Mayor Rhea Skip Taylor said the trail project would fill a void. We dont have any parks in Fayette County to speak of, he said.Tom Charlier, [email protected]

Chulahom

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THE BIZ PAGE

Organic chemistrySynergy Technologies use natural elements in food safety business

Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal

Dean Didato, with Synergy Technologies, tests a New York strip steak to detect and quantify bacteria after the product was treated with SYNTRx 3300.

EYEPart 2 in a series looking at green startups in the MidSouth

THE GREEN

Suzanne ThompsonSpecial to Going Green

While the words chemical and organic might not seem to belong together, coupling them makes perfect sense at Synergy Technologies. Synergy Technologies Inc., which operates a technology and solutions facility inside the Memphis Business Incubator, uses organic materials such as citric acid to create chemicals that kill food-borne



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Our goal is to providechemistries that are going to ensure the safety of the food supply.JASON YORK, SYNERGYS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER

Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal

pathogens. Everything we market, sell and produce is organic, said Jason York, the companys executive vice president and co-founder. This means everything that goes into the chemicals is edible and digestible. Another substance used to produce Synergys products is peroxyacetic acid, which is basically a combination of peroxide and vinegar. It has been used as a disinfectant in households for many, many, many years, said Dean Didato. York founded the company with a partner, Randy Allen, in Towson, Md., in 2005. Both men were in the water treatment business and they began examining naturally occurring acids to use in food safety chemicals. This led to the creation of Synergy Technologies Inc. In 2008, the company moved to Shreveport, La., where the clerical and administration operations are located. Synergys goal from the beginning was to create chemicals to help with the food safety programs of

providers of proteins such as poultry and beef. We came across a technology that we dubbed Syntrex, York said. Syntrex is a safe acid, a buffered citric acid that we have found to be highly effective at reducing and eliminating pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli. The chemical is applied at plants during the processing of the meat. Our goal is to provide chemistries that are going to ensure the safety of the food supply. Your family, my family, our customers families are going to be eating the products that are being produced in these plants, said Didato. Synergy has a staff of chemists and microbiologists, with a total of 20 employees. The primary focus of the company is poultry and red meat, but it is slowly branching out to fruits and other produce. Currently about 80 percent of its business is in the poultry industry, but at the Memphis office, which contains lab space, experimentation is under way to treat red meat. Synergy opened its Memphis

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facility in 2009, and is growing fast. During the last two years, the company has filed three new patents and in October 2011 it acquired a competitors company. Weve been very busy trying to expand our product offerings to our customer base and further enhance our ability to offer these food safety solutions, York said. Everything Synergy produces is used in and around food, so it is highly scrutinized and regulated by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service. We have to work closely with them on everything we develop and market, Didato said. That means having to have the data to support the products and the systems that we are promoting are effective. Synergy also is involved in delivery systems to apply the chemicals it produces for protein suppliers. The chemicals must be applied either to the water source or directly to the food in precise concentrations, within specific parameters. We provide the pumping systems, the monitoring equipment, the instrumentation to facilitate that the chemicals are applied at the prescribed levels, York said. Customers who use that service are provided with systems that require very little water. Introducing our chemistries allows them to reduce water

Synergy Technologies GroupAddress: 2701 Union Ave. Extended, Suite 510, Memphis. Tenn. 38112 Telephone: (901) 454-6216 Fax: (901) 454-6217 Website: synergytechgroup.com Email: [email protected] or [email protected] usage, York said. The majority of products shipped to customers for their existing delivery systems are sent in totes, plastic caged containers holding 300 to 330 gallons each. We have incorporated a recycling program for all our customers, so they have the opportunity to call an 800 number and have the containers removed from their premises, which they like, and they go to a tote recycler, so they are not going into landfills, York said. Synergy has clients all across the country and is in discussions to begin shipping products to Mexico. All the manufacturing is done in the U.S., and Didato said they plan to keep it that way, to support the American economy. With recent scares requiring massive recalls of food across the country, the future of Synergy seems secure. Food safety continues to be a major concern, not just here, but nationally and internationally, Didato said.



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EDITORIAL

Bright future for BioworksWho knew you could turn an eyesore into a flagship for green energy? That's just what Memphis Bioworks will do this spring when 3,000 solar panels are installed on the top floor of an aging parking garage on Union Avenue. The garage is part of the development of the University of Tennessee's Baptist Research Park. That research park represents the future of Memphis. It's a future that Lighting the way builds on the city's medical expertise, to the future entrepreneurial spirit, and a vision The solar panels that bets Memphis that will light a can overcome its parking garage will historical position as also provide a a poorly-educated, beacon toward a low-end workforce better city. city. And that's the symbolic importance of the 3,000 solar panels on the old parking garage. The project represents a visible sign of a new Memphis rising. The panels tell all that we have an idea for a bright future building around new thinking and new possibilities. No, the energy bills of everyday Memphians won't go down as a result of these 3,000 solar panels. But the future opportunities for Memphians perk up with every step ahead taken by the UT-Baptist Research Park. The research park, with its well-lit solar parking garage, is now a key component of this city's effort to grow the next generation of brainy business

Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal

Memphis Bioworks plans to install a solar array to light their parking garage at Union and Dudley. The garage will lose only a couple of spaces, as the panels will be high enough for cars to park beneath them.ideas in the spirit of Holiday Inns, FedEx and Fantastic Sam's. Only this generation of Memphis success stories will be built from biotechnologies. Memphis Bioworks, the 10-year-old foundation dedicated to developing these new projects, is showing that it can, in fact, help create a new Memphis. The foundation's bioscience incubator is full of entrepreneurs these days. The UT-Baptist Research Park already is putting people in new jobs, like the soonto-open Regional Biocontainment Lab. The 3,000 solar panels are a beacon of light for all of this. The Memphis Bioworks team, ably led by Steve Bares, Allan Daisley and others, is moving Memphis to a brighter future.

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ENERGY

SUN SEEKERS

Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Mike Bragg, with Evergreen Solar Services, welds tubes to support solar panels being installed on Monday at Agricenter International.

First of 4,160 solar panels being installed near Agricenter

By Tom Bailey [email protected]

Agricenter International has begun installing a new kind of crop energy-producing solar panels to complement its fields of corn, cotton and soybeans. The first of 4,160 photovoltaic solar panels are to be mounted within view of thousands of motorists driving through Shelby Farms daily on Walnut Grove. Agricenter officials made the short drive out to the site to see the progress and mark the occasion.



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Cmon sun, make me sweat, Agricenter board chairman William Bill Gillon joked. The temperature was in the mid-50s. The solar field will be commissioned with a ceremony on April 11, Agricenter president John Charles Wilson said. Also watching were past president Joe McKinnon, who helped initiate the project, and Ken Plunk, chairman of Shelby Countys Agricenter Commission. All the 69-by-40-inch panels should be installed on rows of 4-foot-high tubes by the third week of February, said Brian Lechliter, project manager for the construction company, Lightwave Solar. The 5.5-acre solar array will produce enough electricity to power 400-500 homes at peak demand periods, he said. In some ways, the hillside solar array resembles a crop. The panels are arranged in straight rows, 16 feet apart. The metal grid is sturdily anchored. Seventeen-foot-long metal polls are buried 13-feet deep, so the panels sit four feet high. But the panels made in Memphis by Sharp Manufacturing actually are attached to beams called torque tubes. The tubes run atop the rows of poles. The powered torque tube will rotate slowly during the day so that the panels always face the sun. The movement aided by GPS to follow the sun should help the system produce 20-40 percent more power than if the panels were stationary. The tough solar panels are able to withstand golf-ball size hail and 100-

Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Lightwave Solar project manager Brian Lechliter discusses how new solar panels at the Agricenter will tilt to better catch sun rays during different times of day. mph winds, Lechliter said, adding, I havent had to replace one yet. To help endure strong winds, the panels turn flat whenever the wind reaches 50 mph. Nashville-based Silicon Ranch, founded by former governor Phil Bredesen, is financing, will own and will benefit from electricity sold from the solar array the first 10 years. After that, the Agricenter will have the option to buy the system if it chooses. But meanwhile the Agricenter will use the solar array as an educational tool for green energy. Agricenter will accommodate visitors who want to see the solar array, offer electronic displays in the Agricenter lobby showing the power produced, and provide web cam images of the solar field. Tom Bailey Jr.: (901) 529-2388

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States largest roof-mounted solar power array operating at Ole MissOXFORD, Miss. By 11 a.m. on a recent sunny day, the Center for Manufacturing Excellence at the University of Mississippi had generated 57 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough power to run the centers administrative offices and classrooms. With the installation of more than 400 photovoltaic solar panels complete, the year-old building is the largest roofmounted solar power complex in the state, said James Vaughan, CME director. The first 392 solar panels produce 245 watts each, and the remaining 39 produce 340 watts apiece, which generates roughly 108 kilowatts of electricity, Vaughan said. The CME is one of six buildings at Ole Miss certified as meeting standards of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, said Jim Morrison, UM director of strategic planning and campus sustainability. With half-a-dozen LEED buildings on campus today and three Green Globe buildings under way, we are thrilled to see how these technologically advanced buildings are strengthening our ability to optimize our operational efficiency and to advance our commitment towards a more sustainable campus, Morrison said. Having a solar-powered building is also an excellent teaching device for CME, which offers a hands-on education in a traditional style, Vaughan said. CME faculty and staff monitor energy usage with an interactive kiosk, which updates stats hourly, daily or monthly. These statistics will be available on the centers website soon, Vaughan said. For more information on the CME, contact Ryan Miller at 662-915-2632 or go to http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/cme/ index.html.



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SCHOOLS

Brandon Dill/The Commercial Appeal

As director of the Memphis City Schools lunch program, Tony Geraci has sought out local farmers to source fresh fruit and vegetables.

Nutrition missionFilm tracks crusade to reform, improve school lunch programBy Jane Roberts / [email protected]

Three months into his job as head of the $72 million Memphis City Schools lunch program, Tony Geraci has scrapped packaged foods for scratch cooking, put chicken nuggets on the going-extinct list and set aside $10 million to do business with local growers. As he prepared to announce the first contracts for local sweet potatoes, collards, beans and root vegetables, Fuel Film: Memphis, which supports local filmmakers, was screening Cafeteria Man, an account of Geracis valiant

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You dont make films likethis to make money. ... This one has just blossomed.RICHARD CHISOLM, FILMMAKER

two-year effort to turn around the Baltimore Public Schools lunch program, starting when he nixed syrupy canned peaches for real ones grown in Maryland. The film, released in May by Emmywinning filmmaker Richard Chisolm, features first lady Michelle Obama and author Michael Pollan on Geracis kidcentric approach to holistically revamping not only what lands on lunch trays, but also how and where the food is grown. You dont make films like this to make money. ... This one has just blossomed, Chisolm said. The film shows the horrible social forces Geraci took on in Baltimore to bring high-quality food to the school lunch program, Chisolm said. In the end, Geraci resigned as its head because he feels like his skills and talents have run their course in Baltimore, he said. The film made Geraci an instant folk hero with activist foodies intent on hardwiring green logic into the federal school lunch program that under President Ronald Reagan lauded ketchup as a vegetable. When Fuel Film:Memphis board member Shelby Elwood saw Cafeteria Man in the Hot Springs (Ark.) Documentary Film Festival in October,

she was impressed enough to stick around to meet Chisolm. When he told me the star of the show had just moved to Memphis, I couldnt believe it, Elwood said. When she returned home, Geraci had hit the ground with a splash, she said. Suddenly, hes all over the news. This is bigger than I realized. In November, a month after Geraci started his $124,712-a-year job, he had rolled out free suppers for 5,000 students enrolled in after-school programs. By Jan. 1, the number of MCS students getting government-subsidized breakfast in the classroom had more than doubled to 54,000. He considers nutritious food a tool like pencils and desks to help students learn. His best illustration may be seeing three children eat their first peach. When you see their faces light up and the full range of emotion ... , he says, his voice trailing off in memory. Chefs live for the moment they can



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introduce something new. In Memphis, Geraci was the catalyst for the first farm-toschool grower-buyer meeting on Jan. 26 sponsored by the Tennessee School Nutrition Program and MCS. Soon after, Geraci will announce about $10 million in local produce contracts for next years school lunches. Weve already had conversations with some local farmers. Right now, we are working out the details of volume requirements and projections of how often certain items will show up on the menu, Geraci said. Farmers are doing their conversions in acreage. People understand this is a real economic opportunity, he said. He saw the importance firsthand after riding his Harley through rural Tennessee and Arkansas one day this winter. If a farmer is only limited to two or three monocropping models, it is very difficult to expand. Were trying to offer diversity in their crop mix so they can make more money per acre growing fruits and vegetables for our our kids than they can selling GMO (genetically modified organism) corn, soy and cotton to Monsanto. Jane Roberts: (901) 529-2512

Area farmers, schools plant seeds of support for student nutritionArea farmers met with state school nutrition experts on Jan. 26 to work out the crop rotations and logistics it will take to have locally grown sweet potatoes, collard greens even strawberries on Memphis City Schools lunch menus by fall. I havent seen an opportunity like this in a long time, said Bob Levy of Willow Oaks Flower Farm in Brownsville, Tenn. If small farmers dont step up, the mega farmers will. The city schools intend to contract $10 million in local produce hoping for regional lettuce in salad bars and fresh tomato slices on hamburgers. The all-day meeting at the Central Nutrition Center on Jackson was the first of the National Farm to School Network meetings in the state and included growers from as far a way as the Florida Panhandle discussing the benefits and obstacles of contracting with schools. Farmers say they have long wanted to contract with school lunch programs, often the biggest food service institutions in the community. The deal-maker for Levy, who is thinking of focusing his production on food rather than flowers, is Tony Geraci, new head of MCS school lunch program. What makes this so exciting is youve finally got a buyer, Levy said, pointing to Geraci. Hes inspirational. Geraci began his job with MCS in October andhe has been preaching his farm-to school gospel. We would rather support the economy of California than our own economy? Does that make sense? Geracis rock star status in school nutrition made Memphis the logical place to start talking about farm-to-school contracts, said Phyllis Hodges with the school nutrition program in the state Department of Education. Hodges said there is no blueprint for how the model will work. Its possible a farmer could sell to one school or to all 190 in Memphis City Schools, she said. How successful the collaboration will be, Hodges said, depends on how the conversation goes now between farmers and the schools. If it goes no further than it did today, we will have had a nice lunch and met some interesting people. But I think we are going to see a lot more than that. Jane Roberts, [email protected]

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FOOD

Farmers take coverGrowing winter cover crops a boost to soil and health of harvest


Federal soil technician and DeSoto farmer Seth Steadham has become a believer in the benefits of planting cover crops on his acreage south of Hernando. Such winter crops keep the ground green in normally fallow periods and can put cash in farmers pockets through increased fall yields of crops.By Henry [email protected]

Getting down and dirty in his 50 acres of deep-rooted winter tillage radishes, across two fields south and west of Hernando, is Seth Steadhams way of checking his investments. A good cover crop can mean a

10 percent increase in yield, he said as he dug up a healthy specimen, a forage radish about 8 inches long with a tap root he estimated at two feet deep. With cost of planting at maybe $10 an acre on the summertime corn acreage, and corn fetching a nice price of $6 a bushel so far, you can make maybe $60 more per



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acre, he said. You cant get that rate of return at the bank. Steadham, soil technician with the DeSoto office of the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, hopes other farmers who arent necessarily in the acreage big leagues can hit a home run to boost the environment and profits through federal grants for cover crops and other innovations. Cover crops carry a lot of benefits, and even a gardener can be doing it, said Steadham, in his first year of cover planting. In addition to the financial benefits, they keep something green in the ground all the time to halt erosion and suppress weeds, aerate the soil and store nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus that should bump up his fall corn yield. Other cover crops include winter wheat and peas, mustard and turnip greens. And clover, added Steadham. Deer love it. Theyll wear it out. Due to concerns on impacts of synthetic fertilizers, including ground- and surface-water contamination, theres increasing interest in cover crops as a natural way to improve soil fertility by curbing weed populations and attracting beneficial insects. Also, cover crops planted on land that growers used to leave bare in fallow periods can reduce rainfall impact and minimize runoff, increase organicnutrient matter of soils and improve infiltration.


Steadham examines a tillage radish as part of his cover crop field. A good cover crop can mean a 10 percent increase in yield, he said.

Crop of projectsIn addition to the impacts of cover crops, rotation, tillage and other practices , the Natural Resources Conservation Service is interested in these projects that support large-scale demonstrations: Optimal combinations of nutrient source, application rate, placement and timing that improve nutrient recovery. Procedures for refining the usefulness of the phosphorous index in reducing phosphorous losses. Suites of conservation practices that protect water quality. Renewable energy systems that reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase energy efficiency on farms. Conservation practices that increase the water-holding capacity of soils. Decision tools that help producers assess their operations and conservation needs in order to improve wildlife habitat. Assessments of the technology transfer potential of completed projects.

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More young people see their future in farming

Laura Frerichs with her husband, Andy, and son, Eli, has an organic farm at Hutchinson, Minn. She found her passion for farming about a year after she earned a degree in anthropology.Jim Mone/Associated Press

By Dinesh RamdeAssociated Press

MILWAUKEE A Wisconsin factory worker worried about layoffs became a dairy farmer. An employee at a Minnesota nonprofit group found an escape from her cubicle by buying a vegetable farm. A nuclear engineer tired of office bureaucracy decided to get into cattle ranching in Texas. While fresh demographic information on U.S. farmers wont be available until after the next agricultural census is done next year, there are



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signs more people in their 20s and 30s are going into farming: Enrollment in university agriculture programs has increased, as has interest in farmertraining programs. Young people are turning up at farmers markets and are blogging, tweeting and promoting their agricultural endeavors through social media. The young entrepreneurs typically cite two reasons for going into farming: Many find the corporate world stifling and see no point in sticking it out when theres little job security; and demand for locally grown and organic foods has been strong enough that even in the downturn they feel confident they can sell their products. Laura Frerichs, 31, of Hutchinson, Minn., discovered her passion for farming about a year after she graduated from college with an anthropology degree. She planned to work in economic development in Latin America and thought she ought to get some experience working on a farm. She did stints on five farms, mostly vegetable farms, and fell in love with the work. Frerichs and her husband now have their own organic farm, and while she doesnt expect it to make them rich, shes confident theyll be able to earn a living. Theres just this growing consciousness around locally grown foods, around organic foods, she said. Where we are, in the Twin Cities, theres been great demand for that. Farming is inherently risky: Drought, flooding, wind and other weather extremes can all destroy a years work. And with farmland averaging $2,140 per acre across the U.S. but two to four times that much in the Midwest and California,

the start-up costs can be daunting. Still, agriculture fared better than many parts of the economy during the recession, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts record profits for farmers as a whole this year. People are looking at farm income, especially the increase in asset values, and seeing a really positive story about our economy, said USDA senior economist Mary Clare Ahearn, citing preliminary statistics. Young people are viewing agriculture as a great opportunity and saying they want to be a part of it. Thats welcome news to the government. More than 60 percent of farmers are over the age of 55, and without young farmers to replace them when they retire, the nations food supply would depend on fewer and fewer people. Wed be vulnerable to local economic disruptions, tariffs, attacks on the food supply, really, any disaster you can think of, said Poppy Davis, who coordinates the USDAs programs for beginning farmers and ranchers. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has called for 100,000 new farmers within the next few years, and Congress has responded with proposals that would provide young farmers with improved access to support and loan programs. One beginning farmer is Gabrielle Rojas, 34, from the central Wisconsin town of Hewitt. As a rebellious teen, all she wanted to do was leave her familys farm and find a career that didnt involve cows. But she changed her mind after spending years in dead-end jobs in a factory and restaurant. In those jobs Im just a number, just a time-clock number, Rojas said. But now Im doing what I love to do..

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Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Nicole McCormack is the owner of Fresh Healthy Vending Memphis. McCormacks vending machines, such as the one recently placed at the Bartlett Recreational Center, offer a healthful alterative to junk food usually found in machines.

Sensible snackingIn an age when even fast-food restaurants offer fruit and vegetable alternatives, the new owner of Fresh Healthy Vending Memphis says its time vending machines do too. Youre not going to eat this food and lose weight, but theyre healthier options, says Nicole McCormack, a full-time pharmaceutical sales rep from Bartlett. McCormacks machines offer a range of items aimed at health-conscious consumer, such as fruit and yogurt bars, protein bars, smoothies, energy drinks, and boxes of 100 percent organic grape and apple juice. Also among the selections, her childrens favorite: Applesauce on the Go, a squeezable pouch like a Capri Sun, no spoon needed. There are also organic potato chips for those who absolutely have to have them. In a city like Memphis, we sometimes make the top of the wrong lists, but I think the majority of the people here want to be healthy, McCormack says. Its a matter of show me how. McCormack said she has a lot of leeway in choosing her stock and in the coming months will begin test-marketing single servings of fresh fruits and vegetables like apples and carrots at the Church Health Center.Jonathan Devin, Special to the Commercial Appeal



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HOME & GARDEN

The urban orchardPerfect time, place to participate in newest gardening trendTasty Asian persimmons are easy to grow in home orchards. These are in the Urban Orchard at the Memphis Botanic Garden.Christine Arpe Gang Special to The Commercial Appeal

CHRISTINE ARPE GANG Green Thumb

Many fruit trees are easy to grow, some will produce edible fruit by the third year, and many have ornamental qualities, too. If you decide to plant, you will be participating in one of the latest gardening trends the urban orchard. November and December are ideal months for planting bare-root fruit trees, said Bill Colvard, a master gardener and organic fruit and vegetable gardener. With this years mild winter, many have planted as late as January. Our soil is still warm enough to work up and plant. The tops of the trees are dormant now, but the roots will continue to grow, Colvard said. Small bare-rooted trees not only are less expensive than

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container-grown trees available in the spring, but they also have a better chance of success. When you buy a large container plant, the roots have to work hard to support the large top, Colvard said. Larger trees will also require skillful pruning to open the centers to sunlight. Its easier to train a small tree as it grows, Colvard said. Its a wise to consult with your nursery on the pollination requirements for a fruit tree. Often, at least two trees are needed, typically one that is a different variety than one you select to grow. According to an article on home orchards published by Purdue University, pollen from a tree of the same kind may not be able to pollinate female flower parts due to incompatible timing. Some sages believe installing orchards in yards, on school grounds, in public landscape projects and in community gardens is the next major trend in the local, homegrown food movement. Weve come to a place where gardeners are ready for a longerterm commitment, and that may be fruit production, said Robyn du Pre, director of outreach and development at the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. The commitment involves nurturing trees for three to five years before getting a significant harvest and also changing the way many people feel about fruit trees. Some governments would never plant fruit trees in public places, du Pre said. Were working toward a

shift in that thinking. David Wolfe, an expert in raw food nutrition who founded the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation in 2002, envisioned a world in which everyone could easily pluck fruit from trees and bushes growing in public spaces. Since ornamental versions of cherry, plum and pear trees are appreciated all over the world, it doesnt seem like a far-fetched idea. The mission of the nonprofit foundation is planting and helping others to plant 18 billion fruit trees across the world, or about three for every person alive. Its an audacious goal, du Pre admits. It pushes people to think broadly in working toward the betterment of the world. The foundations best-known project is Communities Take Root. This year, 20 organizations won the trees and technical and physical help needed to establish orchards in their communities. Shelby Farms Park Conservatory entered the contest with a proposal to add an orchard to its Leadership Garden, a community garden near the entrance to the Shelby Farms Greenline. Although the project was not chosen as a winner, the conservancy is still open to the idea of installing an orchard near the garden should funds become available in the future.Questions or comments? E-mail Christine Arpe Gang at [email protected], or call Lifestyles editor Peggy Reisser Winburne at 529-2372.



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A few good choicesPlums are fairly easy to grow, but they bloom so early the blossoms are subject to freezing. When that happens, theres no fruit. Its feast or famine with plums, Colvard said. All Red, a variety developed at Auburn University that he recommends, develops heavy crops of red-fleshed fruit. It is resistant to common diseases of fruit trees, and the fruit tends to hide under the attractive purple foliage, making it less noticeable to birds. Colvard also recommends greengage plums for our area. Asian pears are sometimes called apple pears because their fruit is crisp rather than soft and juicy like ripe Bartletts and Anjous, both European varieties. They are easy to grow and start producing fruit within two or three years, and several varieties are resistant to fire blight, such as Shinko, Shin li and Seuri. If thinned out early in the season, the fruit may grow to the size of a baseball. If not thinned, you will get more but smaller fruit. Asian persimmons will begin bearing smoothskinned orange fruit of baseball size or larger in just three years. You can choose trees with astringent fruit that makes your lips pucker if you eat it before it is ripe.

The more popular varieties like Fuyu are non-astringent. Fuyu can freeze on the tree and still be good to eat. Fuyu trees, which grow into a round shape, may reach 30 feet tall. The glossy green-brown leaves turn redorange or gold in the fall. Pomegranates are not typically hardy in our Zone 7 climate, but I learned several varieties will thrive here, especially if given a sunny spot and some protection from western winds. Wonderful, an old and fairly reliable variety, grows to about 15 feet tall. Dwarf and even miniature types are also available. The trees are fabulously ornamental with bright orange flowers in the spring and yellow foliage in the fall. At this time of year, fruit trees must be ordered. Nurseries include Edible Landscaping at ediblelandscaping.com; Isons Nursery at isons.com and Just Fruits and Exotics at justfruitsandexotics.com. Russells Farm Supply Co. in Collierville usually has containergrown fruit trees for sale in February. Some varieties of pomegranate are hardy in the MidSouths Zone 7 climate.

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Going Green Memphis 2-12-2012