Sterling Terrain V02 - Flipbook - Page 11
Sterling College | 9
We here on McPhillips Farms are joining
the movement with a new nonprofit agricultural laboratory, dedicated to hosting agricultural businesses working to
sequester carbon with ag waste.
Called the Tainable Regenerative Agricultural Laboratory, or Tainable for short,
it already features two game-changing
anchor tenants working to mainstream
soil carbon sequestration practices.
Pat Crowley of Chapul Farms, who successfully received funding from the TV
show Shark Tank, and Dr. Elaine Ingham
of the Soil Food Web, an internationally
recognized soil expert, will be working
on McPhillips Farms to bring advanced
research in insect farming and the soil
biome. Their scientific research has the
potential to drastically change the way
we dispose of waste and manage soil.
Their innovations have the potential to
greatly increase the bottom line of farms
while solving the pressing issues swirling around climate change.
Now that Riverbend Landfill is effectively closed, we must take responsibility for
our waste. Using much of that waste to
sequester soil carbon through agriculture is the solution.
Some local folks fear the landfill will
somehow find a way to reopen. But that
is not likely.
The city and county just moved the Urban
Growth Boundary right up to the front door
of the dump. If you think my landfill-slaying behavior was fierce over past years,
wait until you see 2,500 new property
owners rising up to fight Waste Management’s smells, leaks and litter — landowners who just plopped down hundreds of
thousands of dollars for their dream home
in our beautiful city.
Given farmland’s impact on solving climate
change, it has become more valuable than
ever.
Food and agricultural waste are the main
culprits in methane generation in landfills.
And methane is the second-largest manmade gas contributor to climate change.
Our tax dollars are being used to fix the
climate emergency by intercepting waste
once going to landfills and sequestering it
back into the farmland to stave off carbon
pollution.
The solution to global warming and the climate crisis lies right under our feet. It’s in
the soil.
We only have a decade to turn back the
tide, and McMinnville is perfectly positioned to lead the way. If we all work to
make this happen, many jobs will be created, many environmental problems will be
solved, and many lives will be saved.
Ramsey McPhillips ‘78
Ramsey McPhillips ‘78 has pursued life strategies designed to
accomplish seemingly insurmountable environmental goals.
The mission of his ecological
advocacy is summed up in two
words: forming community. He
has achieved his environmental
successes by assembling teams
of seasoned collaborators to
help organize, define, fundraise,
and administer their way to
effective solutions. He lives on
his family’s 160-year-old farm in
McMinnville, Oregon. In addition
to his time at Sterling, Ramsey
holds an environmental studies
degree from Bowdoin College.
Originally published August 19,
2022 in the News-Register.
Reprinted with permission.
Photo: David Weissman