Mo-Co Alliance
  • Home
  • About Us
    • What We Do
    • A Brief History
    • Board & AC
    • Staff & Volunteers
    • Contact
    • Buy MCA Gear
  • About Ag Reserve
    • Growing Legacy Film
    • History of the Ag Reserve
    • Benefits of the Ag Reserve
    • Agriculture Education
    • Farm Facts
    • Threats to the Ag Reserve
    • A Place with Purpose
  • News
  • Events
    • Local Events
    • Royce Hanson Award
    • Ride for Reserve
  • Support Local
    • Agricultural Guide
    • Local Food Connection
    • Good Fences Grant
    • Community Supported Agriculture
    • Restaurants & Retail
    • Artists of the Reserve
  • Community Resources
    • Land Link >
      • Labor Link
    • Re-leaf the Reserve
    • PLENTY Magazine
    • Producer's Resources
    • BIPOC Farmer Guide
    • Directory of Local Services
    • Friends of Ten Mile Creek
  • Membership
    • Sponsors and Partners

News

Too Many Veggies? Help Your Hungry Neighbors

7/31/2021

 
Picture
A message from our Board Member and  State Climate Legislation Liaison Joyce Bailey on how upcountry farmers and gardeners can connect their extra produce with hungry neighbors. 
The Bounty of Summer by Joyce Bailey
 
As I walked through my vegetable garden this morning, surrounded by tomatoes ripening on the vine, green beans growing longer and fatter by the day, and lots of leeks in need of harvest and a good home, I was reminded of how lucky we are to live in this area, where vegetables and fruits grow with such abundance.  In gratitude for such abundance, many of us want to share this extra produce with those who are currently experiencing food scarcity.
To make that easier, we now have drop off spots for our extra produce seven days a week.
 
Monday-Friday: drop off your produce at WUMCO (17550 W. Willard Rd, Poolesville, MD) from 9am to noon.  As a community we have been doing this for two years now and WUMCO is delighted to have fresh fruits and vegetables to share with others.
 
Saturday and Sunday:  drop off your produce at Locals newly opened community cold shed from 8 am to 3 pm. 
 
The community cold shed is located at Locals (19929 Fisher Ave, Poolesville MD) behind Poolesville Townhall.  Park on the side of the building where you will see a sign for the donation shed.  Once inside, you will see a notebook to sign your name and indicate what you brought.  Then continue through the insulated door to the cold part of the shed and place your donation in the crates on the left-hand side marked “Plant an Extra Row” and “Produce donations”.  Please make sure that you close the insulated door tightly when you leave the cold storage section of the shed.  Detailed directions are posted inside the shed as well.  Jenny Freeman will be stopping by to pick up the produce and get it to WUMCO and other area food bank groups.  Feel free to contact her at (301) 377-4267 with additional questions about the cold shed
 
So, the next time you walk through your garden, if you have too many squash or tomatoes, or any other fruits and vegetables, bring them to WUMCO or the cold storage shed at Locals.  It has never been easier, and no donation is too small.  If you are receiving a CSA share and can’t eat everything, please consider passing that along as well.  Some people are even purchasing extra produce at our local farm markets and donating that.  Together we can each make a difference and help to improve the quality of life for everyone in our little corner of the world. 
 

Caroline Taylor on Lady Farmer's Good Dirt Podcast

7/31/2021

 
Picture

Lady Farmer is a Slow Living Community and Marketplace based in the Ag Reserve. Mother and Daughter team Emma and Mary focus on slow fashion, zero waste living and wellness. They have added to their offerings with a podcast called The Good Dirt. Our own executive Director Caroline Taylor joined them to discuss the promise of the Ag Reserve as a local food supply and regenerative climate solution. 
Listen to the episode here. 

Building Efficiency Performance Standards - A Common Sense Step

7/21/2021

 
MCA testified in a public hearing at the Council in support of Bill 16-21 that establishes Building Efficiency Performance Standards (BEPS).  The bill would compel existing buildings of over 25,00 square feet to cut their carbon emissions through a number of avenues from weatherization to installing onsite renewable energy. 

While the county, like many others across the country, has enacted efficiency requirements for new construction - this bill would make it the first county to enact requirements for existing buildings. Energy use in buildings makes up half of the County's total emissions - so to achieve the ambitious (but necessary) carbon reduction goals set forth by the county Climate Action Plan this bill is a logical step. 

MCA joined with Takoma Park Mobilization and many other groups in support of this bill. Video of our testimony below. 
​
Post Coverage


-> Could you use help reducing the emissions of your own existing building? We hosted an informative webinar with the MoCo Green Bank about how residents and businesses can install solar of geothermal - and funding opportunities to help make it happen. 

Comparing Thrive 2050 Plan Drafts By the Numbers

7/2/2021

 
Picture
Thanks so much to all that wrote into the Council on the Thrive 2050 draft. The record is now closed. The next step is the PHED committee taking up the draft before it goes to the  full Council for a vote. The PHED committee will discuss Thrive on 7/14, 6/21 and 7/26. You can watch live or on-demand here. 
​Coverage of the first hearing from Bethesda Beat
The Thrive 2050 Plan is a sweeping update to the County's master plan that will guide growth, transportation and land use for the coming decades. In other words - a highly consequential document. (Scroll back through our many, many posts on this)
The plan seems to be speeding toward approval - with the record closing on 7/9. You would be forgiven for having just heard of this process - we have all had  a lot on our minds recently. Unfortunately, the draft that is up for a vote at the Council is woefully lacking. Not only it is a missed opportunity to meet our moment by laying out plans for climate resilience, forest protection and equity - it pales in comparison to the Thrive 2050 draft  that residents provided comment on in the public hearing. In fact, many of the specific action items from the earlier document were deleted or relegated to the appendix of the final plan - this includes forest and water protections, climate resiliency measures and strong support for the Ag Reserve. 
​
(Ready to write to the council with our letter tool?)

A side by side comparison is instructive. Here is the Public Hearing Draft and the Current Final Draft. Because you likely don't have time to read through many hundreds of pages, we have done a word search for key terms that a plan guiding our county for the next decades should have.  (Important to note that both plans have the same number of pages) 
Word
Public Hearing Draft (10/2020)
Current Final Draft (4/2021)
"action"
332
50
"protect"
65
33
"goal" or "goals"
128
28
"equity"
74
29
"resilience" or "resilient"
66
18
"forest"
21
11
"climate"
95
35
"food"
32
6
"growth"
120
132

-So - just by the numbers, the Thrive 2050 plan in front of the Council, in comparison to the one floated for public comment:
- 85% fewer suggested actions 
-Half the protection
-Setting 80% fewer goals
​-About two-thirds less concerned about the climate
​-60% less focused on equity
​-10% more focused on growth
-80% less concerned about food - be that growing it or accessing it
​-Half the concern for forests
-73% less concerned with resiliency, climate or other wise
​
Your voice is needed to ensure that Thrive 2050 is a plan that works for Montgomery's future. We have so many challenges to meet - from climate resiliency and equity to housing and hunger-  this is a moment to set bold goals and propose inclusive action. The draft speeding toward approval is not meeting these challenges. 
Please take 2 minutes to sign a letter to the Council. 
Take Action
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Barnesville Oaks/Greentree
    Bike
    Climate Change
    CSA
    Development
    Education
    Energy
    Events
    Fun!
    Growing Legacy
    Land Link
    Local Food
    Master Plan Update
    Mega Church
    Montgomery Council
    News
    Open Space
    Outer Beltway
    Parks
    Planning
    Potomac Bridge
    Racial Justice
    Recent Accomplishments
    Recipes
    Reducing Waste
    Regenerative Ag
    Releaf
    Rocklands
    Rural Schools
    Sewer
    Solar
    Take Action Now
    Ten Mile Creek
    Thrive 2050
    Transporation
    Water

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    November 2010
    October 2010

ABOUT US
What We Do
A Brief History
Board & AC
Staff & Volunteers
Contact
​​Buy MCA Gear
ABOUT Ag RESERVE
History of the Ag
Benefits of the Ag
Farm Facts
Threats to the Ag
​A Place with Purpose
NEWS
EVENTS
Local Events
Ride for the Reserve
Royce Hanson Award
SUPPORT LOCAL
Ag Guide
Local Food Connection
Community Supported Agriculture
Restaurants & Retail
​Artists of the Reserve
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
​Land Link
Producer's Resources
Directory of Services
Picture
Montgomery Countryside Alliance
P.O Box 24, Poolesville, MD  20837
301-461-9831  •  ​info@mocoalliance.org
Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
MCA is proud to announce that we have been recognized for a third time as one of the best small charities in the D.C. region by Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. A panel of 110 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated 270 applications.

​MCA is known as an effective and innovative non-profit whose efforts to preserve and promote Montgomery County’s nationally recognized 93,000 acre Ag Reserve have brought increased public and governmental support of local food production and farmland and open space preservation. Most importantly, MCA’s efforts are putting more farmers on the ground and keeping them there.
COPYRIGHT © MONTGOMERY COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE 2008