Two years ago, Nau awarded Sara Joy Steele and Benjamin Drummond with our inaugural Grand for Change, recognizing their work on Facing Climate Change. Since then, they’ve continued weaving beautiful photography and insightful audio interviews into rich tapestry of multimedia storytelling, featuring everything from prisons to parks, Native Americans to Sami.

Recently, they completed what might be their biggest project yet: The Natural Histories Project. Produced for the Natural History Network, it’s a treasure trove of insights and ideas about the nature and future of Natural History. From ecopsychologists, ecologists, and geologists to middle school teachers, environmental educators and university presidents, the ninety-nine (99!) interviews and intimate portraits provide a powerful primer on the study of the natural world.

Watch the video, then check out the entire project—a veritable TED-talk archive for Natural history—housed in an impressive interactive library at The Natural Histories Project.

[Recipients of Nau's 2009 Grant For Change, Sara Joy Steele and Benjamin Drummond create multimedia stories about people, nature and climate change. They sent us this update on their progress on their next series of stories. -Ed.]

Benj and I are making steady progress on our new series for Facing Climate Change.  I’m logging audio for the salmon story, we just completed another round of fieldwork for our heath story and we recently presented at the North Cascades Youth Leadership conference. We’re also working to line up funding to complete the series. One of the ways that we do that is by helping other people tell important stories. . . and we just finished a new one!

Hozomeen is about a locally abundant and distinctive tool stone found exclusively in the northern Cascade range of Washington and British Columbia. Over the last two decades, archeologist Bob Mierendorf has studied quarries near today’s Ross Lake reservoir that reveal a 10,000 year long record of indigenous involvement with this rugged, high-mountain landscape.

The word Hozomeen means “sharp, like a sharp knife.” Its story cuts across time and place, cultures and borders, archeology and oral histories, connecting us all as human beings. As Bob says, we’re all descended from people who used stone to make their tools. “It’s what put food on the table for thousands of years.”

Watch Hozomeen or visit our blog for more of the back story.

[TruckFarm, and its founders Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, are the 2010 recipients of our $10,000 Grant For Change. They sent us this update from the road, where they're growing and educating on the go. Learn more about the farm, and their upcoming film, at their website, truck-farm.com - Ed.]

It’s been a busy month for TRUCK FARM!

On October 19th , we participated in a small fundraiser for our friends at New Amsterdam Market, a new outdoors market near the Old Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan. For the fundraiser, Truck Farm produce was part of a festive autumn meal held in a small restaurant in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Ian Cheney gave a short presentation about the film & food project to a dozen invited guests.

A week later, Ian brought the truck to an after-school program at a local public school in Brooklyn, where kids tasted the truck?s sage, basil, tomatoes, arugula and other treats, before heading off to begin planting their own vegetables in an indoor greenhouse.

On Friday, November 5th, we were invited to share a sneak preview of the film TRUCK FARM at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, as part of their Food for Tomorrow symposium. The event was an enormous success; Truck Farm musician-in-residence Simon Beins played a set of music before the show, and several hundred people joined for the screening itself, which was followed by a cocktail reception in one of the museum’s Halls of Invention.

Returning back to New York City, we are now putting the final touches on TRUCK FARM the film, and we’re pleased to find our first saffron crocus emerging from the chilly November soil!

[Recipients of Nau's 2009 Grant For Change, Sara Joy Steele and Benjamin Drummond create multimedia stories about people, nature and climate change. They sent us this update on their progress on their next series of stories. -Ed.]

“What’s it like to try to breath on a high pollution day? Do ten jumping jacks, hold your nose, and breath through this.” Aileen Gagney from the American Lung Association handed me a thin bar straw.

For our human health story, we’ve been exploring how climate-related air pollution impacts people who have asthma. As temperatures rise, researchers project an increase in the number of days where ground-level ozone concentrations exceed regulatory standards. The ozone is created when sunlight reacts with emissions from vehicles and other sources, and it makes people who have asthma suffer more attacks. Those most likely to be hit hardest by health consequences like this include low-income families and seniors, another opportunity to consider climate equity.

As summer turns to fall, we’re just about done with the fieldwork for our first four stories. Also, after ten years of collaborating, Benj and I got married in August, and we recently moved east of the Cascades to Washington’s Methow Valley. From here, we’ll be building finished pieces and heading back out into the field to collect material for our fall and winter stories.

(see more of Sara and Benj’s work, supported by Nau’s 2009 Grant For Change, on their website.)

[In July, we named TruckFarm, and its founders Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, the recipients of our 2010 Grant For Change. Recently they've been on the road, swinging through Portland for our upcoming Portraits photo series (see Eugénie's blog post from last week for more) and seeking out a West Coast Truck Farm cousin. Readers of The Thought Kitchen with an old truck and an interest in getting involved with this great crew should get in touch with us—we'll put you in contact with Ian and Curt. Once you have the truck, setting up the farm costs a mere $300.) - Ed.]

Truck farmer Ian Cheney traveled to Denver, CO with cinematographer Taylor Gentry to visit Truck Farm’s first sibling: Denver Urban Truck Farm. The owners of this beautiful ‘66 Ford, Ashleigh and Ryan, provided a quick tour of the bed (which featured tomatoes, parsley, hot peppers, and a va- riety of herbs), and then a joyride through downtown complete with a visit to a suburban farmer’s market. Ian noted that the Denver Truck Farm was much more organized than his Brooklyn farm, which at the onset of fall was beginning to get jungly.

Editing continued on the documentary film, with songwriting and animation galore. Although only at a rough cut stage, the film is being sent off to festivals in the hopes of landing a strong premiere early in 2011. We are exploring ways of heating the greenhouse in case the old Dodge needs to make a winter appearance at a film festival somewhere…

Cooler weather on the Brooklyn streets allowed Ian to plan another round of lettuces, kale, and swiss chard, in addition to this year’s experiment: saffron! Saffron crocus bulbs will allegedly bloom in October, yielding, if all works out, our tiniest crop yet…stay tuned!

With this week’s redesign of Off The Grid, Nau’s monthly newsletter (sign up here!), we’ll now be announcing the winners of our two monthly contests—Collective Snapshot and One Of Us Trivia—here in The Thought Kitchen. Want to enter? For our gear-in-the-field picture contest, Collective Snapshot, submit a shot of yourself or a friend in Nau to share@nau.com*. For One Of Us Trivia, sign up for Off The Grid and watch for the monthly question. Winners of both contests win a free Down Vest, and the Collective Snapshot winner also receives a free bamboo-mounted print of their image from Plywerk.

Morning Commute

With the new Collective Snapshot feature on Nau.com sharing photos submitted from around the world, it’s getting harder and harder to stand out from the crowd. Drummond Lawson takes this month’s prize by sitting down—and nearly sleeping, from the looks of it—in the Tokyo subway. We think Drummond will be happy to know that his prize of a Down Vest also makes a great pillow.

The ‘86 Dodge

Last month in Off The Grid, we asked: “What Model year is G4C recipient Truck Farm’s Dodge pickup?” The answer? 1986, the year of the Challenger tragedy, Bill Buckner’s error and, more auspiciously, the first federal MLK day. For having their answer selected from all the correct ones submitted, Sidney Han wins this month’s prize of a Down Vest. Want your chance to win? Sign up for Off The Grid and look for next month’s question.

*Submitted photos are subject to the terms and conditions of Nau.com

Our friends Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney—food and agriculture policy advocates, film-makers, and recipients of Nau’s 2010 Grant For Change—will be in Portland tomorrow to present the keynote address to this year’s Muddy Boot Festival. A weekend-long outdoor event, the MBF celebrates local organic foods and sustainable living, and this year focuses on the connections between City and Farm. We’re looking forward to catching up with Curt and Ian to hear them talk in person about their project Truck Farm, a 20-member CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) experiement, located (yes, really) in the back of an old Dodge pickup.

The Keynote will held at St. Philip Neri Church at 2408 SE 16th Avenue (near 18th & Division) in Portland, Oregon at 7pm. Admission to the outdoor festival is $5 per person per day (children under 12 are admitted free). Keynote address tickets must be purchased separately, and can be found online here.

See you there!

Design.

It is a difficult word to define, let alone execute with change-making results. It requires intent, insight, attention to detail. It asks for deeper thought around functionality, necessity, purpose and accessibility. Design has the power to change the way we interact with the world.

With this year’s Grant for Change we asked you to share your designs, but first, we negotiated the criteria. We asked for designs that instigate positive change. We asked for designs that address the world’s greatest challenges, and challenge assumptions about the way even the most basic things are done. We asked for design that is replicable, creative, compelling and effective.

After six weeks of open nominations, 124 nominees, an exciting voting period, support from hundreds of communities, interviews with our ten finalists, and much deliberation, we are excited to announce our second annual $10,000 Grant for Change Grantees:

Congratulations to Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney and their project Truck Farm.

Grandpa’s old pickup truck, turned mobile garden, has turned heads from Northern Massachusetts to Washington DC, and with it comes a humorous and edgy spin to the conversation around food.

It has inspired the creation of over 60 (and counting) food gardens in new and unusual places. Its course has been recorded with pictures and sound, culminating in a documentary film that is now rolling its way into the film festival circuit.

On the ground, the truck itself instigates awareness, offering a tangible, and remarkably simple, example of design as a tool for positive change; when the farm moves, it reminds us that we do not need a static plot of land to grow our own food.

Curt and Ian are fired up for the next steps of the Truck Farm movement. Their goals include a movie-screen attachment, to make the mobile farm a portable theatre; a series of contests focused on who can grow a garden in the craziest place; a succession of portable events, to gain traction with schools, through youth programs and innovative curriculum; and a (wish list) meeting with the CEOs of the Big Three automakers to see if any of them are interested in bringing a mass-production Truck Farm to market. In their own words:

“Urban agriculture is taking root in Detroit now, with vacant lots being planted in crops and commercially-viable farms sprouting up on 8 Mile Road. So why not take a bit of inspiration from that, and build a line of cars with room for a seedling or two? It sounds ridiculous, and is, but wouldn’t it be fun?”

Take a closer look – and see what we’re so excited about – here. We look forward to the upcoming year of storytelling, mobile farm movements and the urban agriculture conversation. We hope you will join the discussion.

The final set of answers from our top ten Finalists.

Check back tomorrow to find out who the 2010 Grantee is!

Changents (answers provided by Jennifer Simckowitz and Deron Triff)

1) What projects and changemakers inspire you in your efforts?

The hundreds of Change Agents on our site inspire us. Everyday we are moved by individuals who are bringing solutions to every imaginable issue around the globe. Their work deeply motivates us. Whether it’s getting Change Agents in Daughtry’s music video “What About Now” or into our new campaign with P&G around the global water crisis, connecting Change Agents with people and companies who can help propel their missions drives us. Helping them is what we’re all about.

2) If you could meet with anyone in the world to talk about your project, who would it be?

Jeffery Skoll—He, more than anyone understands the power of an incredible story to ignite social change. He understands the intersection between social change and business. As a social enterprise, we wholly believe good business is key to bettering our world and communities.

3) What’s playing on your mp3 player these days?

Johnny Cash

4) Making lasting change requires long term vision. Where would you like to see your project in 5 years?

Our vision is for Changents to be synonymous with incredible people moving the needle on an issue— Change Agents. We want people to think of Changents as the brand creating awesome opportunities for Change Agents. We want to be known as the place to interact with Change Agents and follow their thrilling stories.

We want to be working with the coolest companies that understand how business can get behind Change Agents and drive a Triple ROI: Corporate Value, Social Value and Cultural Value.

5) What inspired you personally to become involved in this project? Why is it meaningful to you?

A chance meeting with Scott Harrison in a restaurant in Soho, NYC inspired us. Scott was walking around with his laptop. He just got off a year humanitarian trip. I had an “Aha” moment.

Scott’s story was so compelling. Although I couldn’t identify with the issue immediately, through his voice – his story – I was able to relate. I thought, what if we created a platform where he could tell his story and people could connect around it and work together to change the world?

We are passionate about social enterprise and it will be the driving force in the next decade in solving the world’s problems. We desperately want to be part of that movement.

Third set of Finalist answers, with more to come on Monday…

Original Scraper Bikes (answers provided by Tyrone Stevenson)

1) What projects and change-makers inspire you in your efforts?

The program that inspires my efforts is the Big Brother-Big Sister program. A lot of young people around the country have problems at home, and they don’t have someone older to guide them in a positive direction. The youth in my community (Oakland, CA) are bred to be a statistic; they’re taught at an early age how to rob, steal, and kill to survive. That’s why I feel like it’s my life goal to save as many kids as possible. The struggles these kids and I face on the daily is enough to inspire me to become a change-maker for my community. So here I stand!

2) if you could meet with anyone in the world to talk about your project, who would it be?

If I could meet with anybody in the world about my project it would have to be Oprah Winfrey. I choose her because I know the power she has on America and her opinion means a lot to people. I would want her to recognize the Scraper Bike Movement as an outlet that’s keeping youth in dangerous communities out of trouble, in school and away from drugs, gangs, and violence. And after that conversation, she calls President Obama and tells him how amazed she is…LoL…

3) What’s playing on your mp3 player these days?

Lately I’ve been listening to alot of R&B oldies from Michael Jackson, Al Green, Earth, Wind and Fire, even a little bit of 2pac. But usually I’ll listen to a lot of local hip hop while riding my 3 wheeler around my neighborhood with the Scraper Bike Team.

4) Making lasting change requires long-term vision. Where would you like to see your project in 5 years?

5 years from now I see my project being larger than life. The Scraper Bike Movement will franchise around the world helping communities in similar situations as Oakland. In 5 years I want to give youth full scholarships to college, and skills that will stick with them throughout their lives. I would like to open a community center based around the Scraper Bike Movement in Oakland, so I can continue to expand and save lives in the community that it started in.

5) What inspired you personally to become involved in this project? Why is it meaningful to you?

What inspired me to become so involved in the Scraper Bike Movement is that I realized that it’s saving young people’s lives. It keeps them in school and keeps them focus on doing what’s right in their life. Its meaningful to me because it all started in my backyard and continued to grow and is still growing. I see the future of the Scraper Bike Movement and it’s promising for the youth involved. If given the opportunity I will change the world one bike at a time.

Truck Farm (answers provided by Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney)

1) What projects and change-makers inspire you in your efforts?

The thing we admire most is long-term thinking. Wes Jackson runs a Kansas organization called The Land Institute. Wes has been working since the 1970s to replace chemical-intensive agriculture with farming that’s modeled after the prairie. Instead of giant fields of corn or wheat, plowed and planted year after year, we’d grow a polyculture of different crops all mixed in together, and we’d grow them as perennials so we don’t plow up the topsoil. It’ll take several generations of old-fashioned plant breeding to make it a reality, but then we’d have a truly sustainable agriculture.

http://www.landinstitute.org/

2) if you could meet with anyone in the world to talk about your project, who would it be?

We’d like to meet with the CEOs of the Big Three automakers to see if any of them are interested in bringing a mass-production Truck Farm to market. Urban agriculture is taking root in Detroit now, with vacant lots being planted in crops and commercially-viable farms sprouting up on 8 Mile Road. So why not take a bit of inspiration from that, and build a line of cars with room for a seedling or two? It sounds ridiculous, and is, but wouldn’t it be fun?

3) What’s playing on your mp3 player these days?

The band that’s composing the music for our Truck Farm film, The Fishermen Three, has a new album out. We’re listening to sneak peeks of that. There are some clips from their last release, Rosina on Every Balcony, on their MySpace page. It’s pretty fabulous roots music, with a hip sensibility.

http://www.myspace.com/thefishermenthree

4) Making lasting change requires long term vision. Where would you like to see your project in 5 years?

One of the other projects we’re busy with these days is FoodCorps, a national AmeriCorps school garden program. We have support from AmeriCorps and the Kellogg Foundation to get the project going by fall, 2011. The idea is to put young adults to work building school gardens and sourcing fresh food from local farms in the schools and communities where childhood obesity has hit hardest. Within five years we’d like to see several hundred FoodCorps service members at work around the country, and we’d like them to have access to a fleet of Truck Farms.

www.food-corps.org

5) What inspired you personally to become involved in this project? Why is it meaningful to you?

Ian started Truck Farm as a place to grow a garden; he didn’t have any other land. Curt moved to Brooklyn when the harvest started, and that’s when we realized that our neighbors felt a connection to the farm, too. So we started taking the truck to schools, and over and over again we got to see this wonderful thing: the smile on a kid’s face when they smell a ripe tomato. That cheesy moment is usually accompanied by some hilarious question about whether you could grow food in a toilet, and that brings us down to earth a bit.