Farm School NYC, Green Tech vs. Climate Tech, Green Generation Solutions

 FARM SCHOOL, NYC

In 2007, a handful of self-proclaimed “farmy ladies” — active NYC farmers and gardeners — gathered at The Grail Center, a retreat space in Cornwall-on-Hudson, to help plan a large community garden.

Those 21st century pioneering women include Yonette Fleming, an urban justice farmer; Lorrie Clevenger, farmer, educator and community organizer; Ursula Chanse—director of the Bronx Green-Up and Community Horticulture at the NY Botanical Garden; and Karen Washington, a former educator.

They reflected on the dearth of options for farmer training locally; so much so that those with the resources opted to put their lives on hold and head to the west coast to learn to grow food, where the climate was very different both ecologically, socially, and culturally. The need for an alternative was clear.

Returning from their retreat, they engaged fellow farmers, community gardeners, social justice advocates, and educators working and living in low income communities in New York City in their visioning. And in 2010, along with more than 30 farmers and food justice advocates, the Farm School NYC was born.

Farm School NYC offers programs like adult urban agriculture training, the Citywide Program, a one-year apprenticeship of urban agriculture training grounded in food justice. Also a course on Crop Planning. According to its website, “students will gain a deeper understanding of specific plant families, including crop science and growing needs.

Why does Farm School NYC matter to us? A return to our roots—for all of us.

The reality is less than a century ago, many urban neighborhoods sprouted with 1/8 and quarter acre food gardens every spring through fall. Food rationing during WWII saw an explosion in Victory Gardens across American and other developed nations’ cities. In other words, people generally knew how to grow their own food. It’s only been since the rise of industrial scale agriculture in the 1950s and the proliferation of supermarkets that local agricultural knowledge was lost.

We now know that industrial farming, 2500 mile transportation routes for basic food items and supermarket culture is helping decimate the climate, so…

DEEPER DIVE: Farm School NYC, The Perils of Industrial Ag, Bronx Green-Up,

GREEN TECH VS. CLIMATE TECH

We at The Climate Daily just recently learned of the rise in popularity of the phrase Climate Tech. In fact, rumor has it it’s supplanting Green Tech as the phrase of choice for all technologies eco, enviro or climate related. Another rumor has it the shift in language is due to the mass layoffs of traditional tech people, coupled with the sudden influx of VC money into green tech, resulting in the mass hirings of those laid off tech people.

Admittedly not on the bleeding edge when it comes to such matters, we at The Climate Daily decided to investigate, take a deeper dive, uncover the truth. According to AirSwift, an international workforce solutions provider within STEM industries its blog states, “The term “climate tech” gained popularity during the Paris Agreement (2015), and since then, it has been used for technologies that are capable of solving global environmental problems such as air pollution, water scarcity, energy access, food security, and extreme weather events.”

According to Greenly.earth, a blog written by Greenly Resources, touted as the go-to carbon accounting platform for business, “Climate tech is directly focused on technologies that reduce CO2 emissions, while Greentech includes a wider variety of technologies designed for environmental purposes. 

And The Good Tech Guide defines Climate Tech as any technology focusing on greenhouse gas emissions so therefore includes sectors such as carbon capture and afforestation. The focus of these sectors is to reduce the severity of greenhouse gas emissions, either through trapping the already existing gases or considering how greenhouse gases can be reduced moving forward. It defines Greentech as any technology looking to clean humanity’s impact from the environment. This includes areas like pollution and air quality as well as recycling and waste management. So according to the Good Tech Guide, Greentech is also known as Cleantech.

Now that that’s clarified, why should nomenclature matter to us? Words matter. And if you’re starting a biz or investing in a biz in the space, it’s important to know if that biz is rectifying human-made climate problems or reducing GHG emissions.

DEEPER DIVE: AirSwift Blog, Greenly Resources, The Good Tech Guide

GREEN GENERATION SOLUTIONS

Green Generation Solutions is a global energy solutions provider that engineers and implements energy efficiency solutions to lower organization’s and building’s energy-related operating costs while improving sustainability by integrating energy, real estate and capital markets expertise. With offices in Washington, DC, London and Tokyo, the company’s core belief is that data should drive decisions and sustained behavior change will ensure success.

GGS specializes in customized energy solutions engineered and implemented with the purpose of improving the sustainability of our clients’ facilities and the efficiency of their operations. The company believes data should drive decisions and sustained behavioral change will ensure success. It offers a wide array of services: high efficiency lighting retrofits, HVAC optimization, building commissioning, building envelope assessments, procurement, CHP system development and “smart building” systems, and dashboard integrations. Through our network of national partners, we design and implement on-site power systems that may either be purchased by our clients or utilized in the form of a power purchase agreement.

Green Generation maximize both energy efficiency and organizational profitability and leverage new discoveries and improved technologies. Our success stems from our ability to partner with others, our technical and financial acumen, and our unwavering commitment to the honest use of data. Its clients range from real estate owners and funds, to private equity firms, operating businesses, health care firms and various municipal entities, including national governments, states, cities, and public agencies

DEEPER DIVE: GreenGen, GreenGen’s Open Letter to PEPCO