Progress 08/15/12 to 08/14/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audience for this project included the approximately 50% of current Lowell residents who are immigrants/refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam, Brazil, Portugal, African nations, and the Dominican Republic; the 18.5% population of the city of Lowell which lives at or below the poverty rate; the more than 85% percent of Lowell’s school children who are eligible for free and reduced school lunch; the 37.6% of Lowell children who are obese; the 40 % of respondents to the Lowell Community Food Assessment (LCFA) who have difficulty finding foods native to their country; and the 39% of respondents to the LCFA who have difficulty finding fruits and vegetables. In addition, our target audience included the members of the Lowell Food Security Coalition (LFSC), a group of organizations and individuals who work on behalf of neighborhood groups and citizens to improve the food landscape of Lowell. LFSC is comprised of over 40 diverse organizational and local community members; some of our most active Coalition members include: Community Teamwork, Inc. (CTI – the grantee) alleviates the effects of poverty, assists low-income people to become self-sufficient and participate in the decisions that affect their lives. CTI helps low-income families and individuals to heat their homes, put food on tables, keep roofs over heads, provide child care and education to children, trains clients in basic education and job skills and provides other employment services. United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) ignites and nurtures the ambition of Lowell’s most disconnected and at-risk young people to trade violence and poverty for economic and social success. UTEC’s Fresh Roots program is a culinary arts and social enterprise program that provides job training, youth empowerment, and is spearheading the Lowell Community Kitchen Project. Merrimack Valley Food Bank (MVFB) helps meet a person's most profound need for adequate nutrition and freedom from hunger. MVFP served over 22,000 households during August 2011 and is excited to partner with the LCFS to promote local food production and connect their clients to fresh fruits and vegetables. Lowell Alliance for Families and Neighborhoods (LAFN) supports families and communities by advocating for and promoting empowerment, inclusion and diversity. LAFN provides management for the Franklin Court Community garden and retains skilled community organizers of diverse backgrounds for translation and community leadership trainings. Lowell General Hospital (LGH) is committed to providing quality health care to patients through a highly trained and motivated staff, state-of-the-art equipment, progressive clinical care, and collaborative teamwork. LGH has begun a community garden project on the hospital grounds to serve their clients and has hosted a local farmers market at the hospital in past seasons. Lowell Community Health Center (LCHC) provides caring, quality, and culturally appropriate health services to the people of Greater Lowell, regardless of their financial status; to enhance the health of the community and to empower each individual to maximize their overall well being. They also conduct nutrition counseling and cooking classes to strengthen overall health and nutrition of clients. Lowell’s Women Infant and Children (WIC) Program is committed to meeting the needs of low-income women and families with young children and partners with Share our Strength to teach nutrition and cooking courses and enroll local corner stores and bodegas to accept WIC vouchers. New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (New Entry) assists people with limited resources who have an interest in small-scale commercial agriculture, to begin farming in Massachusetts. New Entry provides training and technical assistance in local food production and facilitates access to markets through direct-to –consumer connections. Merrimack Valley Small Business Assistance Center (MVSBAC) provides entrepreneurs from ethnically and economically diverse groups with the education, tools, and resources necessary to create, sustain, and expand small businesses. The City of Lowell is committed to strong and vital neighborhoods, competent fiscal policies and innovative long-range economic and housing development investments. The City recently created a positive position statement on the development of community gardens in Lowell (see memo in Appendix). University of Massachusetts Lowell’s graduate program in Regional Economic and Social Development (RESD) emphasizes issues of equity, social justice and economic, social and environmental sustainability. RESD Graduate students have conducted thesis research and completed research assistant positions related to the Lowell Food System. Greater Lowell Health Alliance (GLHA) identifies and addresses healthcare issues facing the Greater Lowell community and spearheads the Healthy Weight Taskforce which encourages residents to access nutritious foods and exercise. Mill City Grows fosters food justice by improving physical health, economic independence and environmental sustainability in Lowell through increased access to land, locally-grown food and education. Local farmers and interested residents attend monthly meetings of the LFSC to provide input and connections to the activities of the Coalition and to help build support for future urban food production. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The LFSC contracted with students from the Conway School, a graduate program in sustainable landscape planning and design. Students received intensive, hands-on real-world experience while meeting their learning objectives as they worked with the LFSC steering committee, community members, and project consultants to prepare the UFPP. In addition, several interns associated with the organizations listed above under “Target Audience” took part in the LFSC regularly scheduled meetings where they provided input for the UFPP and gained exposure to issues facing Lowell regarding food security. Through the participatory action research approach to meet the objectives in this grant, we strengthened partnerships with groups involved in food security issues in Lowell. Participants noted under “Target Audience”, above worked together both inside and outside structured meetings to collaborate in meeting the project goals. As of October 2012, the LFSC developed a Steering Committee of four individuals to lead the coalition in providing strategic planning objectives and in conducting activities to meet the established goals of the Planning Project. All four members continue to be actively involved as ties between the organizations they are affiliated with continue to strengthen. Opportunities for professional development have been met as the steering committee members take on duties such as blog maintenance and development, outreach, communications and fundraising. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The UFFP continues to be disseminated through the LFSC Blog (old website): http://lowellfoodsecurity.wordpress.com/ and will continue to be available on the new website: http://lowellfoodsecurity.org/ going forward. In addition, the UFFP was distributed directly to individuals and partner organizations in Lowell at regular LFSC meetings, including City and regional municipal employees. There were two public meetings where the report was presented. Also, the report was highlighted in the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project newsletter (distributed to over 6,000 community members, CTI officers and staff). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Activities – The LFSC selected the Metabolic Lab as lead for the project, specializing in consulting, design, and education to support innovative food systems, cities, and industries. Metabolic Lab partnered with three students from the Conway School, a graduate program in sustainable landscape planning and design. This team of consultants and students evaluated strategies and best practices of community-based urban food production plans from around the country, comparable to Lowell. Data was compared across case sites and program missions and program outcomes were explored. Case studies were conducted for 11organizations. Objectives Met – The results of these case studies were published in the UFPP, which was presented to the LFSC, the City of Lowell, neighborhood groups, and focus groups with low-income residents and other key stakeholders, as well as to communities outside of Lowell via the LFSC blog. Results - The UFPP has drawn on the successes of the other communities studied and integrated them into the plan to address low-income residents’ access to local healthy food and urban space to produce their own culturally appropriate food. Publication of these results helped to bridge partners, LFSC members, and community members, and provided the community at large a common understanding of how urban food production can address the issues of food security. It also helped develop linkages between the many sectors of the food system - including food production, distribution and consumption - as the story of urban food production influences the entire local food system. Outcomes - The LFSC now has tools (best practices, lessons learned) from other models from which they can build from field-tested experience and they have a more viable UFPP for the City of Lowell. Objective 2: Activities – The LFSC created a collaborative and inclusive planning process by engaging key stakeholders in community-based organizations, neighborhood groups, businesses, community leaders, planning and local government officials, and representative low- to moderate-income residents. Objectives Met –After identification of key stakeholders, multiple brainstorming and planning sessions were held with all key stakeholders to foster open (accessible) meetings and establish modes of communication that were appropriate for the entire group. Each organization in the LFSC is rooted in the social service, health service, and/or food production sector which creates a diversity of knowledge as well as an extensive understanding of the serious health, food, and social barriers that exist for low-income community members. Results –Inclusion of key stakeholders in the planning process helped the project team capture the voice of residents directly affected by food security and their input as to types of programming and opportunities they need. Many of the community garden participants reported feeling more empowered over their food choices by participating in the gardens, and clients of the food banks reported interest in more local, fresh produce as part of their food receipts. All members expressed interest in learning more about healthy food preparation, cooking tips, and nutrition. Outcomes - Diverse stakeholders strongly influenced Lowell’s UFPP’s development and the process empowered leadership to build the long-term success and sustainability of resulting initiatives. Objective 3: Activities – Metabolic Lab and Conway students assessed urban open spaces available for and suited to growing food, explored specific food production options, and researched associated development efforts required for food production initiatives. The team hosted community and neighborhood meetings to review plans and engage residents and other stakeholders in moving forward to implement the plan. Objectives Met – The research team identified 9 spaces for food production. In addition, they provided information regarding: pervious/impervious surfaces (posted in a map); land appropriate for community gardens; rooftop garden production; and community fish farms. The report provided strategies for expansion of production for Lowell Food Hubs. Results – The UFPP incorporates specific food production opportunities, enterprise development, marketing, and organizational structures that allows the LFSC to move ahead with the next stages of funding and development of identified initiatives. The plan has broad resident and neighborhood support. Outcomes - LCSC members and community residents are beginning to follow recommendations included in the UFPP. Below are some examples: The UFPP recommends that the World PEAS Food Hub (WPC) expand its services in Lowell to bring larger quantities of local food into Lowell’s schools, university, hospitals and institutions. The WPC recently partnered with interns from the Tufts University Friedman School of nutrition to identify specific institutions whose healthy food goals would align well with local WPC farmer produce availability. Our overall goal is develop a comprehensive business plan outlining a growth strategy for WPC, targeting farm-to-school and farm-to-institution connections, through identifying new wholesale outlets, expanding existing wholesale outlets, and expanding direct-to-consumer retail outlets. Additionally, World PEAS leveraged funding from this CFP Planning Project to secure a $5,000 City of Lowell CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) to further develop its low-income food access program (funds to be applied toward the 2014 season). The pilot SNAP CSA which is distributed to low-income families each week at the Lowell Farmers’ Market provided 113 produce/fruit shares to low-income and SNAP eligible families from June through October 2013. The UFPP also recommends that World PEAS farmers ramp up their production (planning for eventual year-round activity) in order to meet the demands of institutional markets. New Entry Sustainable Farming Project’s recent activities are aligned with this recommendation. In the Fall of 2013, New Entry installed plastic on its incubator site hoop house to provide season extension opportunities for beginning farmers who are interested in expanding their season to sell into the World PEAS Food Hub and other markets The UFPP also includes recommendations around local produce being sold in stores located in areas where residents have the least access to large supermarkets. The UFPP indicates the shortfalls of the existing corner store system, and proposes ways to improve operations. As r organizations continue to work on the corner store concept, a new development has taken hold which reaches the same objective. Mill City Grows (MCG) successfully launched its pilot mobile market at 6 locations around Lowell in 2013, aligning their objectives with recommendations included in the UFPP. In addition to selling the produce grown by participants in their program, they also sell value added products made by UTEC youth in their new commercial kitchen, using produce from MCG gardens. In this way, food access needs are being met in the community through value added products produced through jobs for underserved youth using local ingredients. Also, in the spring of 2013, MCG started two new gardens. This activity aligns with the UFPP recommendation of turning small, residential, underutilized spaces within Lowell into productive gardens with potential to increase food production. The UFPP has catalyzed the LFSC to encourage long-term planning activities and comprehensive multi-agency approaches among its members. By developing a model for urban food production from production, to local distribution, marketing and processing, the LFSC encourages innovative long-term efforts that are designed to become self-supporting and that have the potential to be replicable models.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
One-Time Publication - Setting the Table: Towards Greater Food Security in Lowell, Massachusetts, an Urban Food Production Plan (UFPP) compiled by the Conway School of Landscape and Design, evaluates the barriers Lowell residents face in obtaining food and recommends actions that might be taken to further food security and self-sufficiency in the city:
http://lowellfoodsecurity.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/settingthetable13-5-21final1.pdf
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