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University of Nebraska-Lincoln Receives Grant to Develop Urban Food Cooperative

Release Date: 10/08/2009
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, (913) 551-7557, lancaster.kris@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., October 8, 2009) - The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been awarded a $10,000 EPA grant to develop an urban food cooperative that involves urban part-time growers in an agricultural region focused primarily on commodity crop production.

The grant is one of 43 awarded to teams of college and university students across the country who will design creative technologies to address sustainability challenges. The People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) Phase I awards for the 2009-2010 competition challenge students, working together on interdisciplinary teams, to design and build sustainable technologies that improve quality of life, promote economic development, and protect the environment.

The competition begins in Phase I with the award of $10,000 grants to student teams who submit applications that focus on a wide range of categories, including water, energy, agriculture, environment, materials and chemicals, and information technology. After working on the project for eight months, the teams will take their designs to the 6^th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. At the Expo, the projects will be judged by a panel of experts, and a few will be awarded P3 Awards and Phase II grants up to $75,000 for students to further their designs, implement them in the field, or move them to the marketplace.

“EPA Region 7 congratulates the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for its success in the grant competition,” said William Rice, acting regional administrator. “Local food markets reduce chemical use and transportation food miles and create a more resilient economy.”