Antone Minthorn: A portrait of Native resilience and leadership

Apr 302013
 

Editor’s note: Antone Minthorn has served on the Ecotrust Board of Directors since 2002.

For most of his life, Antone Minthorn has served his people and his community. Raised on the Umatilla Indian Reservation by a Cayuse grandfather and a Nez Perce grandmother, Antone learned about the Nez Perce War of 1877 from some of its survivors when he was just seventeen years old.  He heard about the fighting skill of a few hundred warriors who managed to hold off the U.S. Army after tensions exploded into battle. The Nez Perce eventually fled their homelands in the Wallowa Valley, led by Chief Joseph, traveling over 1,500 miles until Joseph, not wanting to lose any more of his people, ultimately surrendered in Montana Territory. Antone kept this story close, and later left home to spend three years at Gonzaga University before joining the Marines in 1957.

Antone Minthorn. Photo by Leah Nash.

Antone Minthorn. Photo by Leah Nash.

The 1950s and 60s were a trying time for tribal people. The Bureau of Indian Affairs initiated its Relocation program, and after six years of military service, Antone entered the program and traveled to Los Angeles to find work. He got married, started his family, and when he was able, transferred within the Relocation program to San Francisco.

When he arrived in the Bay Area, the Civil Rights movement was in full swing in Southern states and had begun to spill over into the urban areas. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Berkeley was in the throes of the free speech movement, and the war on poverty was declared in 1964. He stayed for nearly a decade, bearing witness to and participating in many of the movement’s actions and marches. Antone lived in the Sunnyvale Housing project, was Chairman of the Housing Committee, and led his first protest at the housing authority offices demanding tenant rights. He managed an Indian basketball team and met tribal people who were Navajo, Sioux, Comanche, Hopi and Apache.  He and his son experienced the race riots of 1966, the occupation of Alcatraz, and he followed the Fish Wars on the Nisqually River where Billy Frank Jr. held “fish-ins” in protest of treaty violations.

His time in San Francisco was one of learning about community action and how to administer programs. And it was here he began to understand the true meaning of the word “sovereignty.” Antone began to wonder who he was after meeting so many Indian people from across the nation. He wondered what to do with the stories of the Nez Perce War that would not leave him.

After he finished college in 1973, the Umatilla Indian Reservation called him back. His degree in urban and regional planning landed him a job at home with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) development office as a land use planner and zoning administrator. In 1981, he was elected as the CTUIR general council chairman and later the chairman of the CTIIR Board of Trustees. His vision was and continues to be one of restoration – to restore the CTUIR land base to its original treaty boundary, to build a tribal economy, and to develop a strong education program for tribal youth – and of resilience. A resilience founded on the stories of his people’s survival.

Through his experiences, Antone cultivated a leadership philosophy based on that of Chief Joseph: A good leader should be fearless, but always concerned about the safety of his people. His fearlessness, dedication and patience influenced many CTUIR’s successes, including re-acquisition of tribal lands, the return of salmon to the Umatilla River and the development of an innovative reservation economy.  According to Antone, resilient people know that creating change takes time, vision and commitment. Effective leadership means hiring people who are smarter than you, letting your managers manage, being proactive, learning how to leverage treaty rights, negotiating rather than litigating, and most importantly, an effective leader must walk their talk.

Chief Joseph surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains in the cold Fall of 1877 so his people would survive. Antone Minthorn carries this legacy. His people have survived wars, broken promises, loss of lands, and total assimilation. But instead of surrender, he is doing something extraordinary. He is rebuilding his nation.

 

 

New Farm to School grants put local foods in Oregon students’ lunches

Jan 252013
 

This semester, school lunch for nearly 60,000 Oregon students is transforming thanks to an infusion of local food and food education.

The Oregon Department of Education has announced that eleven school districts are the recipients of competitive Farm to School and School Garden grants totaling $189,140. The majority of the funds (87.5%) will be spent on purchasing Oregon food products, with a smaller portion (12.5%) dedicated to food-, agriculture-, and garden-based education activities.

Local food is on the lunchline and garden programs are on the rise in Oregon, thanks to new Farm to School funding from the state. Photo by Shawn Linehan.

The funding goes to diverse districts and schools across the state, from the tiny rural community of Joseph nestled in the Wallowa Mountains, to Oregon’s second largest city, Eugene, in the heart of the Willamette Valley.

Representative Sherrie Sprenger (R-Scio) says,

 As a former school board member, and a State Representative, I am excited about how these grants can help both kids and farmers. In Lebanon, this grant will help students learn about growing and eating healthy food, including beef and pork from our very own high school FFA program.”

The grant program is the product of House Bill 2800—the Farm to School & School Garden Bill—passed by the Oregon State Legislature with unanimous support in 2011.

Districts receiving funding are: Bend-La Pine, Bethel, Centennial, Eugene, Gladstone, Joseph, Lebanon, North Powder, Ontario, Roseburg and Sherman. (See below for details.)

The districts are building partnerships with diverse Oregon food producers and processors.

In the Bend-La Pine School District in central Oregon, the grant funding will launch a Boat to School program, connecting school food buyers with coastal fishermen to bring Oregon shrimp and fish into lunch at all 27 district schools. In Ontario, next to the Idaho border, grain farmer Rene Corn will not only begin selling her whole grains to a local mill to grind and make breads, rolls, pizza dough and buns for school meals, she’ll also teach students about her farm and how to mill flour.

At the Lebanon High School Land Lab, FFA students will raise cattle and pork. Thanks to the grant funding, the students will build a business module for processing the meat and a sales and marketing program to sell to the Lebanon School District, which is excited to support student ingenuity and to bring this hyper-local protein into its meals.

Emerging research shows that Farm to School programs generate local economic growth. When schools strengthen connections with Oregon food producers and processors, they create and maintain jobs for Oregonians. In fact, a study by Oregon State University economist Bruce Sorte shows that for every Oregon job directly created by school districts purchasing local food, additional economic activity creates 1.67 more jobs.

Everybody wins with Farm to School,” says Kasandra Griffin of Upstream Public Health, “from farmers and ranchers to the folks working at the diners, farm supply stores, and supermarkets in rural Oregon.”

Research also shows that children who spend time in the garden are more likely to eat and enjoy fruits and vegetables. The legislation and grant program intentionally pair local purchasing with education. Students who spend time in school gardens learn better, behave better in the classroom, and get physical activity, which is significant at a time when one in four Oregon adolescents are overweight or obese.

Gardens provide an opportunity to integrate lessons in science, math, reading, environmental studies, nutrition, and health,” adds Oregon Department of Education Farm to School and School Garden coordinator Rick Sherman.

The Farm to School and School Garden grants support more equitable access to healthy food for lower income families. In 2011, 49.1 percent of Oregon students received free and reduced lunch, determined based on their family income.

This investment not only shows the state’s commitment to food justice for our youngest citizens, but also to supporting Oregon’s great food producers, many of whom also struggle to stay afloat without viable markets for their goods,” Stacey Sobell, Farm to School Manager at the nonprofit Ecotrust says.

The eleven districts’ pilot programs are paving the way for school districts around the state to implement effective, proven Farm to School and School Garden programming in the future. Reflecting on their goal to establish and strengthen relationships with Oregon coastal fishers, Bend-La Pine Nutrition Services director Katrina Wiest notes,

We want to the share lessons learned and ultimately lessen the learning curve for other districts.”

All the districts must spend their grant funding by the end of the school year and report back to the Department of Education on how their projects unfolded. Representative Brian Clem (D-Salem) and House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-North/NE Portland) are pushing to expand Farm to School funding with a new $5 million bill during the 2013 Oregon legislative session to expand the benefits of these programs to more kids, farmers, and other food producers and processors throughout Oregon.

Highlights from the Winning Districts’ Farm to School Grant Proposals

Bend-La Pine School District Awarded: $27,327 (16,326 students)
This semester, Bend-La Pine’s “boat to school” program will set sail to procure fish from Oregon aquaculture for school lunch, strengthening the district’s relationship with Oregon’s coastal economy.

Bethel School District (Eugene) Awarded: $26,420 (5,654 students)
Oregon-grown items will take center stage at the center of the plate, and comprehensive Farm to School education and supplemental food and resources to families will encourage rousing student approval.

Centennial School District Awarded: $29,033 (6,159 students)
Scratching the pre-packaged foods, this district will create locally sourced lunches, served every Wednesday, and enhance innovative promotional efforts that encourage students to dig into healthy local foods.

Lane County School District No. 4J (Eugene) Awarded: $29,033 (16,030 students)
The district has plans to buy tofu from Surata Soy Foods and tortillas and corn chips from Northwest Mexican Foods (Carmen’s), adding even more local flavor to a lunch that includes fresh produce from the school garden.

Gladstone School District Awarded: $11,223 (2,120 students)
For the first time, the district will purchase food directly from a local vegetable farmer (who will also sell to a school for the first time!), laying the groundwork for an intentional, long-term relationship.

Joseph School District Awarded: $2,334 (248 students)
The school garden will become a better-utilized outdoor learning environment, and grass-fed beef from nearby ranchers will appear in school lunch to fuel the active garden learners.

Lebanon School District Awarded: $23,742 (4,200 students)
Agricultural education will go into hyper drive as FFA students build a business module for processing the beef and pork they raise and a sales and marketing program for selling to the food services department.

North Powder Charter School Awarded: $2,764 (283 students)
A host of activities, from maintaining the school garden to attending farm field trips, inviting chefs to classrooms to hosting community dinners, will expand the horizons of students’ food and farming knowledge.

Ontario School District Awarded: $7,143 (2,417 students)
Ontario farmer Rene Corn will teach students about grain and how to mill it, and work with a local bakery to mill her harvests and make whole grain breads, rolls, pizza dough, and buns for the district.

Douglas County School District 4 (Roseburg) Awarded: $29,033 (6,344 student)
The construction of a new learning garden will give teachers a supplemental classroom, engage students in activity out of doors, and give meaning and context to the new local items on the school menu.

Sherman County School District* Awarded: $1,087 (241 students)
A school district green house will become the home of a hydroponics system providing vegetables for school meals.

*Sherman was the only recipient to receive funding exclusively for garden-based programs rather than procurement, due to the district’s extremely remote location and lack of distribution options.

To learn more about the individual grant proposals and grant program details, please visit www.ode.state.or.us/go/f2sgardens, or contact Rick Sherman, Oregon Department of Education, Farm to School and School Garden Coordinator, 503-947-5863 (desk), Rick.Sherman@state.or.us.

Have cellulosic biofuels arrived?

Nov 302012
 

“Our bugs are the best in the business,” Dean Kegler of ZeaChem declares proudly.

I’m touring one of the country’s first experiments in cellulosic biofuel production, a demonstration-scale refinery in the small industrial port town of Boardman, Oregon. The bugs in question are high-powered naturally occurring bacteria whose sole mission in life is to ferment sugar into acetic acid — on the way to becoming fuel-grade ethanol. The bugs’ sources of sugar: woody biomass from locally farmed poplar trees and wheat straw from area farms. The facility is expected to start production utilizing wood chips by the end of 2012. The fuel’s ultimate destination: passenger vehicles. I glance around the facility with curiosity, wonder, and a bit of skepticism. Am I looking at the future?

ZeaChem will use wood chips to create biofuel. Photo courtesy of ZeaChem.

Biofuels stand as one of the most promising, though controversial, alternatives to fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal and natural gas. The question of dependence on fossil fuels sits at the crossroads of environment, land use, and national security concerns. Everybody knows that the United States’s consumption of ever-greater quantities of fossil fuels for energy – in other words, our addiction to oil – is a major factor in global climate change. But our need for ever-growing volumes of imported fuels from politically unstable or totalitarian countries is also destabilizing: our purchases at the pump prop up unfriendly regimes with disastrous human rights records.

However, the potential for increased food-based ethanol production presents two important environmental and social challenges. First, the use of valuable agricultural land for fuel crops leads to the potential for increased food prices. Second, the land use conversions that arise from increased food-based ethanol production leaves open the possibility of increased international total greenhouse gas emissions, despite the lower emissions coming from vehicles’ tailpipes.

Cellulosic biofuels appear to be a different beast than those based on corn. Raw material for the fuel comes mostly from wood chips and agricultural waste, rather than from food sources. And the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the fuel generates 70% to 90% emissions reductions compared to gasoline. However, the technology for refining wood and farm waste into energy has proven difficult to develop.

To make cellulosic ethanol, the cell walls in plants must first be untangled, and sugars must be extracted from the cellulose through a multi-stage fermentation process. Here’s where ZeaChem’s world-class bugs come in: the little guys are enlisted to ferment the sugars into acetic acid, an intermediate chemical, which can be converted into ethyl acetate and then into ethanol in the final step of the process.

Despite ample government grants, mandates, and loan guarantees, ZeaChem and its counterparts elsewhere in the country have yet to produce commercial scale fuel-grade cellulosic ethanol. But the company remains optimistic. “We will produce ethanol by the end of 2012,” Kegler told me on our tour earlier this fall. Standing in the midst of the factory’s elaborate array of production equipment, surrounded by the buzz of construction and the enthusiastic operating staff, it was difficult not to believe him. (Full disclosure: Ecotrust is a minority investor in ZeaChem.)

ZeaChem’s biorefinery in Boardman, Oregon. Courtesy of ZeaChem.

Still,there are some bigger questions that ZeaChem and the cellulosic ethanol sector have to answer on their march to independence from fossil fuel.

The first is stability of inputs. Will the feedstock supply be disrupted due to climate change, natural disasters such as droughts and hurricanes, or even economic fluctuations such as recessions?

Second, the question of scale arises: due to economies of scale in the refining process, the future of biofuels seems to lie in large-scale, relatively centralized production and distribution. Will the large-scale nature of the production process leave dreams of a widely distributed, autonomous energy system in the dust? In any case, what’s clear from the evidence – and my own experience at ZeaChem – is that the rapidly developing field of biofuel technology is worthy of any social change advocate’s rapt attention.

 

Carrie Atiyeh, ZeaChem’s Director of Public Affairs, responds:

On question #1: ZeaChem’s feedstock strategy focuses on risk mitigation, which reduces the dangers raised in the first question. ZeaChem’s refining process can use multiple types of feedstock, allowing the company to source biomass sustainably and locally, within a 25-50 mile radius of the refineries. This feature of the refining process keeps transportation costs low and thus makes production costs competitive. It also reduces the company’s exposure to price fluctuations: if the price of one feedstock spikes, we can switch to an alternative feedstock. Dedicated energy crops, such as poplar trees, will supply the majority of ZeaChem’s feedstock, with locally available agricultural waste acting as a supplement. ZeaChem has secured a long-term, fixed-price contract for its feedstock with GreenWood Resources, owner and operator of a local poplar tree farm. The contract will provide ZeaChem with feedstock through the demonstration scale and 1st commercial biorefineries in Boardman. ZeaChem’s long-term contract with GreenWood Resources will reduce the potential for disruptive price fluctuations to impact ZeaChem’s operations.

On question #2: Biorefineries will be located where there is market demand for the biofuel. A benefit of ZeaChem’s location for its demonstration and 1st commercial biorefinery in Boardman is that there are multiple transportation options for cellulosic ethanol to be transported to market. The sites at the Port of Morrow are located on the Columbia River and an existing ethanol barge load-out dock is already in place. Barge transportation is a very efficient and economical way to transport goods to market. From Boardman, ZeaChem’s cellulosic ethanol can go to refineries up and down the west coast to be blended into the gasoline pool. The sites are also located inside of a Union Pacific rail loop and Interstate I-84 passes just to the south.

In Portland: Get fungi

Nov 292012
 

Dark and damp. These iconic qualities make the Pacific Northwest a perfect home for a teeming wealth of fungi and a rich community of mushroom experts. Both often exist just out of sight, despite contributing to our region’s liveliness, culture and economy. Oregon Mushroom Stories, a project of Ecotrust and Edible Portland, brings the surreal, fantastical beauty of mushrooms, and the knowledge held by their many fans, out of the dark to a broad audience. Join Oregon Mushroom Stories and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) for a weekend of mycological happenings at the crossroads of nature and culture, science and art, food and fungi.

HOW MUSHROOMS GROW, AN INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION
When: On view December 2, 12–10pm; December 3, 12–8pm
Where: The Cleaners at The Ace Hotel Portland, 403 SW 10th Ave,
Portland, OR 97205
Online: http://oregonmushroomstories.org/2012/10/30/the-mush-fair/
FREE, All Ages
Artist collective Belly & Bones (Stef Choi & Tony Candelaria) is creating an interactive zoetrope sculpture that presents a fungi life cycle, from mycelia to mushroom. This larger-than-life zoetrope (six feet in diameter!) presents a sequence of sculptures that sprout into mushrooms right before your eyes.

MUSHROOM FAIR
When: December 2, 2–6pm
Where: The Cleaners at The Ace Hotel Portland, 403 SW 10th Ave,
Portland, OR 97205
Online: http://oregonmushroomstories.org/2012/10/30/the-mush-fair/
FREE, All Ages
Alongside the mycelium zoetrope, we’ll host an afternoon fair where you can view the sculpture; shop for mushroom growing kits, wild and cultivated mushrooms, and gifts; view video portraits of regional mushroom foragers and farmers; make spore prints; and even taste a few mushroom, mold, and yeast treats. Come down and learn all about our region’s fungi.

TALK: WEBS OF SYMBIOSIS

Seeing the forest beyond the trees
Monday, Dec. 3, 12 – 12:45 pm

Professor Dan Luoma of the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University will discuss the interrelationships among fungi, plants and animals in our forests. Expand your understanding of the central role that fungi play in the dynamic life of a forest.

ARTIST TALK: BELLY & BONES

The making of the zoetrope
Monday, Dec. 3, 6 – 6:45 pm

Then join us for a special presentation by the artists behind the incredible mushroom life cycle zoetrope, Tony Candelaria and Stef Choi of BELLY & BONES.

Featuring:
McMigas Family Farm
Oregon Mycological Society
Springwater Farm & The Farmer’s Feast
makelike
Organic Valley
Ken’s Artisan Bread
Salt & Straw
And more!

MUSHROOM, MOLD & YEAST FEAST
When: November 29, 2012, 7:30pm
Where: PICA, 415 SW 10th Ave, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97205
Online: http://oregonmushroomstories.org/2012/10/30/nov-29-mushroom-mold-yeast-feast/
Tickets: $84, includes wine pairings, 21+ only
SOLD OUT
Mushrooms are a gateway to a whole family of culinary fungi, from molds to yeasts. These remarkable organisms are among the most powerful flavor creators at the backbone of ancient cuisines. In an intimate dinner prepared by Naoko Tamura of Chef Naoko Bento Café, you’ll explore and savor wild and cultivated mushrooms prepared with traditional Japanese ingredients that gain their flavors through processes using molds, including miso, sake, shoyu, katsuo-bushi, salt koji, and more. This dinner is a unique opportunity to learn from mushroom foragers and farmers, fermenters, and wine makers. Featuring wine pairings from R. Stuart & Co. Winery and a special candy cap mushroom ice cream from Salt & Straw.

Beyond the bank: funding entrepreneurs and the recovery

Nov 072012
 

By Terry Brandt

A lot is being written about how to best lay the foundation for our country’s economic recovery. There seems to be little consensus  on whether we should borrow capital, which increases our national debt on the promise of stimulating the economy through increased spending, or if we should shrink the size of government to reduce the national debt and reduce taxes to preserve our next generation’s future.

Somewhat lost in the national dialogue is how communities must independently find ways to resolve problems of high unemployment that hinder local recovery.

That’s because neither the federal government nor traditional banks are underwriting local recovery as they should. In 2008, the federal government committed to spend $475 billion (TARP funds) to primarily stabilize the balance sheets of troubled banks that had been hit with widespread loan foreclosures. Fast forward to 2012: nearly four years later, in response to unprecedented customer deposits and large amounts of cash, these rescued and profitable banks have established large advertising campaigns directed at lending to small businesses.

Due to the low cost of funds, banks can now provide low interest rates and they say they are aggressively making small business loans. However, pressures from FDIC examiners, high credit score requirements, and demands for increased collateral have squeezed the number of qualified businesses into a very small pool.

Vital small businesses needing relatively small amounts of capital are lured by promises of a loan only to be worn out and turned away. What can be done to help these small local businesses that may represent one of the best paths to our economic recovery?

With enough capital, small businesses can spur job growth, says Albina Opportunities Corporation’s Terry Brandt. Photo courtesy of AOC.

Here’s how we might tackle things in Oregon.

The results of a newly completed study, Oregon Capital Scan,  commissioned by the State Treasurer’s Office, Business Oregon, the Oregon Community Foundation, and Meyer Memorial Trust were released this summer. Its primary goal was to identify gaps in Oregon’s capital ecosystems. It also offered recommendations of how investments could be made using an “Oregon Portfolio” investment conduit using intermediaries to target specific gaps in capital around the state.

In my opinion, significant to the success of this strategy is to find ways to operate between more stringent bank lending practices and the large public give-away stimulus packages. Currently non-bank microlenders have done a good job of trying to fill this demand for very small business entrepreneurs. However, there are large gaps in capital above what microlending can provide.

As stated in the OCS report, there is a need for an intermediary non-bank lending platform that is designed to be both innovative and agile. I believe that it must also possess a deep connection with the local community to understand how to best leverage scarce public and private resources in the most efficient ways possible. There must be accountability in the process, and its outcomes, including job production, must be measurable indicators of success. 

Our limited resources must be invested with just the right dose of risk tailored to satisfy both the financial and mentoring needs of existing small businesses. The intermediary lender must be personable, proactive, and an advocate for the success of small business borrowers.

It must think like small businesses and take time to understand the needs of its clients to provide tailor-made business advisory services to assist them to be successful. It must be transparent – no hidden fees, it must be upfront about its process, and it must be honest with what can and cannot be done. Perhaps most importantly, it must have a belief that strong local communities shaped by successful small businesses will be the rising tide that lifts all boats.

At this time, there is a large pipeline of qualified loan requests in Oregon and around the country that cannot be funded due to a lack of lending capital. These businesses represent the growing marginalized ring just outside the small lending pool referenced earlier. Yes, they have suffered reduced credit scores and yes, their assets have been eroded as the result of the recent financial collapse not seen in recent memory. And they may be higher-risk bets than those in the small-risk pool. However, like large banks that received TARP funds, they also need help to repair their balance sheets. Even without government subsidy, through their perseverance and hard work, they have survived and their cash flows have returned. But in order for them to again grow and hire more people, they must have access to capital.

At Albina Oportunities Corporation, we have assumed a role in finding innovative ways to cost-effectively and efficiently work to kick-start our local recovery, beyond traditional bank lending. We have seen that one job is retained or created for every $4,130 of loan funds we disburse, and we’ve seen no loan losses while substantially increasing living-wage jobs in the community. More importantly, we’ve established a lending platform that addresses the capital needs of local small businesses not fulfilled through traditional lending resources. In fact, every AOC loan has gone to a small business that has been rejected by a bank.

Our work has only begun to address the demand for our loans and need for our advisory services. It will take further capital investments in our lending model to continue this necessary work. Without this additional support, our initiative and others like it will only scratch the surface of providing access to capital by qualified local small businesses.

Terry Brandt is executive director of Albina Opportunities Corporation.

November 12 to 18 is Global Entrepreneurship Week, and Ecotrust and Portland, OR are getting a running start on the festivities, with a focus on social entrepreneurship. We’ll be hosting events at Ecotrust, talking about others around town and curating some extra discussion around social enterprise. How are you @unleashingideas during #GEW? See you on Twitter.

 

 Older Entries
visit: www.ecotrust.org
Donate
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Connect with us:
© 2012 Ecotrust