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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05. 2015 AgLantis Annual Report for CoCo San Sustainable FarmAgLantis (501 c-3) CoCo San Sustainable Farm ANNUAL REPORT on PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT April 1, 2016 REPORTING PERIOD: January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015 PROGRAM OVERVIEW RECYCLED WATER UNDERUTILIZED Despite drought conditions in California, approximately 300,000,000 acre feet of reclaimed water are discharged into the greater Bay waterways every year. AgLantis has been increasing the awareness of elected officials and the public's knowledge about the safety, value and potential uses recycled water. In particular, AgLantis has brought attention to the potential use for agriculture and industry. We have emphasized the possibilities for urban agriculture near water reclamation facilities, including growing in greenhouses. Congressman Mark DeSaulnier and an Aide to Congressman Jerry McNerney attended an event at the farm in May 2015. Subsequently, they are drafting legislation to use some of this wasted precious resource. NUTRITIONAL POVERTY, HUNGER and CHRONIC DISEASE CHRONIC DISEASE is the #1 killer in Contra Costa and the #1 cause of diminished quality of life. Chronic disease accounts for more than 75% of all deaths in the county. Nutritional poverty is a major risk factor for chronic diseases, as is lack of exercise. Low socioeconomic status -- low income (below or at poverty) and low educational achievement are also risk factors. (htti ://cchealth.ora/arouos/chronic disease/framework.Pho) It costs $1 a day to feed a child a salad. Most schools cannot afford that. The Contra Costa Food Bank cannot get large quantities of salad vegetables because they are highly perishable and unavailable locally. One in eight people in Contra Costa County obtain food from the Food Bank. Schools and the food bank need low cost fresh vegetables to provide children and families to help reduce nutritional poverty and hunger with its devastating effects on health and children's growth, including brain development, cognitive functioning and ability to learn. OUR SOLUTION The highest costs of produce production are water, land, fertilizer and transportation. We will be providing low cost sustainably grown produce to schools and the food bank by growing 1 AgLantis Annual Report for 2015 produce on 14.8 acres of public buffer land, using recycled, agricultural -grade water, which is otherwise discharged into the Bay. This recycled water is high in nitrogen and phosphorus, providing free fertilizer. The produce will be grown next to existing recycled water infrastructure, on public buffer land, right in the middle of the Contra Costa County urban area where it will be eaten, and dramatically reducing transportation from farm to table. EDUCATION One of the goals of the farm is to educate. We want to involve disadvantaged local students, providing them hands-on Science Technology Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) learning opportunities (e.g., plant biology, soil & water science, weather, sustainable farming, renewable energy, climate), and outdoor exercise including dancing as well as agricultural activities. We also will teach them art using recycled materials. We also want to introduce these students to Diablo Valley College (DVC) Horticulture/Plant Sciences program and other programs such as Future Build of the City of Pittsburg that are related to our training programs, to increase the likelihood that they will be motivated to graduate from high school and continue to pursue their education. We will provide opportunities for DVC students to be mentors to students and involve the general public in special events and programs at the farm. Students will experience growing and harvesting fresh produce, some of which they can take home to their families and most of which will be sold to the Food Bank and Mount Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) at a highly subsidized price. The farm provides public education focused on sustainable living, including understanding the science and benefits of recycled water and environmental benefits of sustainable agricultural methods. In particular, we are emphasizing carbon sequestration in soil. Our public education has focused on methods such as planting cover crops, no till and using compost and integrated -pest -management to support the microbes in the soil which use atmospheric carbon and sink it in the soil. JOBS We will be partnering with the Contra Costa County Workforce Development Board and Future Build of Pittsburg to integrate job training into our programs on the farm, such as water conservation techniques, greenhouse management training, greenhouse construction and other construction experiences, and organic farming methods, including integrated pest management and permaculture techniques which capture and retain water and help it reenter the ground water basin. We also focus on carbon sequestration in soil, which is the only known way to reverse global warming. 2 AgLantis Annual Report for 2015 ENVIRONMENT The only known way to actually reverse global warming is to sink carbon in soil. Conventional agricultural practices release carbon that is stored in the soil. We teach and demonstrate how the environment benefits from rebuilding barren soil by planting crops and using methods that sequester carbon. Our sustainable farming methods will sink carbon into the soil and save water, while promoting the abundance of beneficial insects such as bees. We will also reduce several major types of carbon pollution associated with food production. Fossil fuels used in pumping water long distances contribute to climate change. Our water is pumped less than a mile. Fossil fuel based fertilizers are not used because we use recycled water, which is high in nutrients. We reduce the CO2 emissions found with poor agricultural practices such as tilling and failure to keep soil microbes protected with compost and cover crops. We will engage in practices that build the microbial structure of the soil: no till, compost, cover crops, crop rotation. Lastly, we will foster beneficial insects and use integrated -pest -management and using hedge rows, both of which enhance habitat and protect the environment. And transport from farm to table is greatly reduced, because the Food Bank will pick up and distribute using existing systems. We emphasize the environmental benefits of local production and buying local, which greatly reduces the carbon footprint of farm -to -table. SCALABLE Sanitary districts in San Francisco Bay Area, like Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (CCCSD) discharge billions of gallons of water in a year into the Bay waterways. They also have thousands of acres of buffer land. Our model is scalable and potentially can be replicated on and near other treatment facilities to increase water recycling. PROPOSED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR FOLLOWING YEAR CCCSD obtained the Land Use Permit on December 21, 2015 with an effective date of January 6, 2016 (after ten business days for the appeal process). Capital improvements for 2016 include: 1. Install roads on farm sufficient to build greenhouse and other improvements; 2. Install foundation for greenhouse (probably concrete floor); 3. Begin to build greenhouse; 3 AgLantis Annual Report for 2015 4. Install fencing around construction; 5. Install storage container for temporary storage unit or barn for tools; 6. Hook up to metered recycled water lines; 7. Hook up to electricity. TOTAL MULTIMEDIA REACH IN 2015: NUMBER OF PEOPLE REACHED BY EVENTS AT THE FARM: 500-1000 As the Land Use Permit was not effective until 2016, teaching at the farm in 2015 was limited to two special events: May 8, 2015: Approximately 240 individuals attended a Farm Kickoff event promoting the use of Recycled Water; As many as 100 of these attendees were Elected Officials, County Officials, and major Community Leaders. Attendees came from all over the County. CCCSD was a co-sponsor of the event. October 17, 2015: Approximately 130 individuals attended an event entitled Carbon Sinking: Soil, Permaculture, Cover Crops, Recycled Water, and Integrated Pest Management. The University of California, Berkeley's Department of Natural Resources' Growing Roots Federal grant was a co-sponsor, along with the National Center for Appropriate Technology and others. Four hours of talks were packed with science and sustainable agricultural and gardening practices that protect the environment. CCCSD videotaped the event and it was played repeatedly on CCTV, potentially reaching thousands of local citizens. The video was also posted on YouTube (httos://www.voutube.com/watch?v=a6iwRiXbl wc) where it has been viewed over 270 times. LOCAL OUTREACH/EDUCATION OFF FARM (Partial List): A Google search of CoCo San Sustainable Farm yields over 1000 results. https://www.aooale.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1 &espv=2&ie=UTF- 8#a=coco+san+sustainable+farm 4 AgLantis Annual Report for 2015 We go by many names. We have not included Google searches of "AgLantis farm" or "CoCo San Farm" or our Twitter handle "CoCo Organic Farm" in our overall numbers. Examples include: 1. http://www.slideshare.net/carolvnghinnev/ presentations on recycled water, global warming and Agriculture were viewed by approximately 2000 people directly and SHARED so more indirectly; 2. httes://www.facebook.com/panes/CoCo-San-Sustainable-Farm/586194764829836 CoCo San Sustainable Farm Page have estimated reach approximately 1500 people reiading our postings on recycled water, sustainable agriculture and living practices, permaculture, gardening, bees, and other science postings. These postings were not only read by our members, but also shared to other groups and pages with their readerships; 3. httos://www.facebook.com/arouos/383856271668096/ CoCo San Sustainable Farm Group reach from posts is more difficult to calculate, but given over 300 members and reposting content elsewhere, the posts should have been read over 3000 times. 4. AgLantis@CoCoOrganicFarm posted approximately 600 tweets, each tweet read by an unknown number of readers, estimating 1000 reads. 5. www.Salads4Schools.orq website has over 600 people signed up for newsletters should have reached a readership of over 1000 directly and indirectly; 6. Tom Barnidge of the Contra Costa Times attended the May 8, 2015 Kickoff event and interviewed Dr. Phinney extensively. Barnidge wrote four newspaper articles about recycled water thereafter. The Contra Costa Times readers are 168,362 daily and 180,440 on Sunday: htto://www.contracostatimes.cam/peterson/ci 28128965/barnidae-whv-dump-40-million- aallons-reusable-water; http://www.contracostatimes.com/geterson/ci 28197651 /barnidae-small-drought-measures- a re-aood-b ut-better; htto://www.contracostatimes.com/oeterson/ci 29114285/barnidae-sanitary-district-finds-its- not-so-easv htto://www.contracostatimes.com/oeterson/ci 29308990/barnidae-recollections-soda-taxes- chemtrails-and-becomina-iudae Barnidge also posted about recycled water on Facebook, reaching an unknown number: httos://www.facebook.com/contracostatimes/posts/10153316018865699 5 AgLantis Annual Report for 2015 7. University of Califomia, Berkeley Growing Roots Grant httos://arowinaroots.berkelev.edu/ httos://arowina roots.berkelev.edu/learning-hub-network/nesbalh/coco-san-sustainable-farm/ 8. Special Districts Newsletter htto://mvsd.ora/wo-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-06-11-ITEM-9 R-6.01.odf 9. httos://www.linkedin.com/pub/carolvn-r-ohinnev-oh-d/12/794/947 provides links to information about AgLantis and the CoCo San Sustainable Farm; 10. Press Releases htto://www.cccountv.us/DocumentCenter/View/36294 11 ,Google Plus httos://olus.aooale.com/+CarolvnPhinnev/Dosts/1BPUdoMoJXD 12. AgLantis was nominated by Federal Glover for an East Bay Innovation Award from the East Bay Economic Development Alliance and was listed as a nominee in Innovation Awards '16: East Bay and on their website www.EastBavEDA.ora 13. Dr. Phinney received the Contra Costa Leadership in Sustainability Award for the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors; 14. Several presentations about the farm and recycled water were made to Rotary Clubs by Dr. Phinney (Antioch, Concord, and Pleasant Hill); 15. Bethallyn Black taught hundreds of students about the farm, recycled water and soils science and sustainable practices at Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA. NATIONAL OUTREACH/EDUCATION OFF FARM: People reached off farm >100,000. 1. Facebook posts about carbon footprint of food, recycled water, conservation, sustainability, permaculture, carbon sequestration in soil and related topics on miscellaneous farming and gardening and sustainability groups and farmers' and gardeners' individual pages and other groups and pages have reached more than 100,000 people. NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS About 50 people have volunteered in some capacity to help with the events for promotion, set up, teaching at the events, photographing event, decorations, organization, clean up and so on. 6 AgLantis Annual Report for 2015 ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT Operating Budget: None, because we could not commence operations on the farm until a Land Use Permit was acquired, including submitting Wildlife Management Plan and fulfilling other permit requirements such as Title 22 Approval. Overview: No significant fund-raising or grants could be obtained without the Land Use Permit. We had significant expenses for trucking the greenhouse from Texas to Martinez and for insurance on farm property even though we could not take possession and for educational events and outreach. As soon as the Land Use Permit, we submitted a grant and started talking to funders and we are continuing our efforts to obtain grants and funds. Profit (Loss) and Cash Flow: Statement of Financial Income and Expenses Income: 4,060.43 Direct Public Support: 4060.43 TOTAL INCOME: 4060.43 Expense Business Expenses: 3866.50 Outside Contract Services: 4835.82 TOTAL EXPENSES: 8702.32 NET ORDINARY INCOME: (4,641.89) NET INCOME: (4,641.89) Balance Sheet: Statement of Financial Position Assets at the Beginning of the Year: $10,395 Assets at the End of the Year: $4,821.95 7 AgLantis Annual Report for 2015 Estimated Major Categories of In -Kind Contributions: Volunteer Hours: More than 2000 @ $23.07 valuation/hour X 2000 = $46,104.00 (httD://www.thenonprofittim es.com/news-articles/volu nteer-value-h its -23 -07 -an -hour/) Wood for Construction and Other Miscellaneous Materials: $3000.00 Accounting and Business Services: $500.00 Event Related In -Kind Donations: $10,000.00 Accounting Software: $250.00 Mileage @.54/mile: $540.00 TOTAL: $60,394.00 8 PROJECTED CASH FLOW FOR 2016 ` 0 O 0 0 0 0 O 0 0 r O r r N 0 � LO LC) co Li) 0 O 0 d' N LO 0 N. 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