Transition Design Case Study
Team Food- Jesse, Rossa, Michelina, Minrui
Part I: Garfield Community Farm
PROJECT PROFILE
The Garfield Community Farm was started by the Open Door Presbyterian Church, in partnership with Valley View Presbyterian Church, to do organic gardening on abandoned and unused land in East Liberty and Garfield. The Community Farm is focused on permaculture gardening and greenhouse growing that contributes to a CSA within one mile of the farm and supplies microgreens to local restaurants. It is also home to a walking meditation herb garden that is open to the public and hosts volunteer and community days every Thursday evening. This abandoned lot was once home to an orchard that gave economic opportunities to the community and the Garfield Community Farm is giving that tradition new life.
PROJECT SECTOR
Food Systems & Ecological Restoration
AREA OF INITIAL DESIGN FOCUS
Social Innovation
LEVEL(S) OF SPATIAL SCALE
Household, Neighborhood, City
TEMPORAL SCALE
It is unclear what the intended temporal scale of this project was from the outset, but it has been steadily growing since its conception in 2008. Farming of any kind is a long term investment that improves with each passing season and as reflected on their website, they have been expanding their space, plant ecosystems, sustainable infrastructure and educational programs from the onset. It seems that instead of having a clear vision of the future, they had an intention to create a local farm and were open to flexibility in the outcomes.
TRANSITION DESIGN POTENTIAL
Potential exists for this project to become a transition design solution through connecting people within a community and to low cost sources of healthy food and by protecting/restoring the quality of the soil and removing industrial pollutants from it.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
This farm was started in 2008 by the Open Door Presbyterian Church with an intent to farm and garden organically in unused land in the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of East Liberty and Garfield. What began as a small garden is now a fully operational permaculture farm. Included on the farm are perennial fruit and nut trees, berry shrubs, annual gardens, a labyrinth prayer garden, picnic areas, and a bioshelter greenhouse. The greenhouse includes a water storage system and five solar panels, which enable it to generate its own electricity. The food it cultivates is distributed through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Their CSA’s are reserved for people living within one mile of the farm. Those that can afford to, pay market rates while others pay what they can afford. The farm also supports a weekly farmer’s market in the summer and donates produce once a month to a local food pantry. Education is also critical to the farm’s mission. Tours, field trips, and classes are conducted at the farm for students of all ages.
Many of the limits governing the start of the farm were financial, and to some degree cultural. It takes money to acquire land, seeds, and tools. This also means that the farm also had access to volunteers, as paid employees would drastically increase expenses. In many ways, the aim of this farm was to change the perception the space it occupies in the community. What was once abandoned lots with crime and drug activity is being turned into a safe space and is changing the cultural landscape in this community and to make abandoned spaces useful again.
The vision of this project seems to be a short-term to mid-term vision of the future, more so as a way of life rather than the future of farming. As told from John’s perspective as a pastor, he conceived of the idea of starting the farm as a way to ‘practice what you preach’. He felt that the church spoke of being a steward of the earth, and being a conscious citizen, yet didn’t have an outlet for actually interacting with nature in a stewardly way. This vision was to empower his congregation to incorporate their values into everyday life and in this way the farm was a manifestation of that vision.
VISION & LIFESTYLE
From our investigation, it seems that the farm is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the changing ecosystem and the community it serves. Starting a farm and putting down roots is obviously an intentional act that is meant for a long-term project, but the form the farm takes seems to be less important than the relationship it fosters with the community. The nature of permaculture is to build strong relationships and develop ecosystems and the project is meant to carry the values of permaculture and community engagement temporally, while being flexible on how that plays out in the present.
Cosmopolitan Localism is evident in this project because it’s main goal is to bring organic food to a local community, invites the neighborhood to participate, supplies high end local restaurants. It aims to empower the local residents, and deliver its CSA to residents within one mile of the farm, while simultaneously realizing it’s important to engage with the larger dominant socio-economic powers to support the farm and also spread it’s influence.
THEORIES OF CHANGE
The main theory of change used here was a multi-stakeholder and collaborative experiential learning exercise, prompted by John Creasy’s (the creator of Garfield Farm) realization that his church did not give his congregation an opportunity to practice the lessons of being a steward of the earth and give back. The end goal was to create a space for social participation and it was never viewed as a means to make profit. This theory of change supports the development of flexible logic when analyzing complex social changes as it was originally intended. This desire was explicitly expressed by John, but he also realized that the farm needed to adapt in order make money enough to support its existence, which promoted the sale of microgreens to local restaurants. These partnerships in turn grew the influence and social capital of the farm, enhancing the social experience that was originally intended.
It was also important for him to examine potential stakeholders in the Garfield neighborhood, both current and future. Many stakeholders may have initially been unaware of the benefits of having a farm in their midst, and their education is a critical component of the farm’s long term success. These emerging changes allow for learning to occur as the farm grows and matures.
MINDSET & POSTURE
The creators of the Garfield Farm started the project with a mindset of holism. Permaculture by definition looks for patterns within an ecosystem and designs natural and social systems to work in harmony. The posture of the creators was also one of collaboration, not just with natural systems but also with community members. They acknowledge that in order to push the vision of the farm forward, they must exist within the current economic paradigm, which is why they focus some of their growing efforts on microgreens which are in high demand from local restaurants.
NEW WAYS OF DESIGNING
In learning about this project, it’s possible to gain insight into the design process. The problem is framed as one of necessity. The Garfield neighborhood are food deserts. The designers looked at whether an urban farm can connect a neighborhood socially, while providing education and resources for the local population.
The metrics for success on the farm seem to be more focused around community participation and bringing the land to productivity. While being able to become self-sufficient financially, the farm is not a for-profit organization by any means. The potential benefits of this project are primarily social and environmental concerns.
This project is expertly designed for place. For one, it is taking the land as it is, and seeking to improve it and to remove the pollutants from the soil. Second, many harmful invasive species have been removed. Third, this farm works closely with residents by welcoming them as volunteers, offering classes, and supplying affordable and healthy produce. Garfield has a large African-American population and the people in the church and who run this farm are primarily white. They strive to uplift the notion that people of all races can work together and be neighbors to one another.
The design takes into account local characteristics. This type of urban farm would not be able to gain space if property values were high — developers could certainly come up with a plan to “better utilize” the land for profit. By the same token, this farm cannot easily become the largest supplier of produce for the area. There is little corporate or governmental investment.
CONNECTION TO WICKED PROBLEMS
This project is connected to social and environmental wicked problems. The locality of this farm cuts down on “food miles.” To be organic, this farm looks into ways to fertilize plants and control pests without the use of chemicals. Their selection of plants encourages the return of migratory and native birds.
Because this farm is in an impoverished (though gentrifying) neighborhood, it has the potential to uplift surrounding areas. What was once abandoned houses with high crime rates and drug problems is now a benefit to the neighborhood. It provides affordable access to healthy food for residents.
This system is thoroughly routed in the niche level. There’s no reason the farm can’t continue on this trajectory moving forward, but to make a difference and move up to the ‘regime’ level, each and every neighborhood in Pittsburgh would need to develop similar farms of their own.
NEEDS & SATISFIERS
This project satisfied human needs including Subsistence, Protection, Affection, Leisure, Creation, Participation, Identity and Equal rights by creating satisfiers like food and shelter, work opportunities for all races, educational classes and tour, etc. From a Max-Neefian point of View, it indeed satisfies genuine human needs. Most of the signifiers are integrated satisfiers, for example, the farm itself gives people subsistence by providing food, meanwhile, aids in the development in affection participation by providing job opportunities; the founder John, who pushed to get the church involved in urban farming as a form of missional engagement in the Garfield community, could get satisfied in the aspect of identity. The classes and tours in Garfield farm satisfied understanding, affection, leisure and creation by teaching people how to grow things, and in the process people more connected to both nature and community, and feel more peaceful in their mind.
UNDERSTANDING THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
Garfield Community Farm is situated in the cross section of Individual + Stand-Alone, because this project started by one person named John Creasy, the Associate Pastor at The Open Door Church. Scale of engagement stays in Stand-Alone level because it started to introduce new way to utilize the unused land in two communities in Pittsburgh area.
Part II: Permatecture
PROJECT PROFILE
This project is intended to address the lack of access to healthy food in Pittsburgh, PA by creating more opportunities of food production while satisfying other basic human needs. We imagine abandoned lots will be turned.
PROJECT SECTOR
Food systems, manufacturing, shared amenities
AREA OF INITIAL DESIGN FOCUS
Product, Communication, Interaction, Service, Social innovation
LEVEL(S) OF SPATIAL SCALE
Household, Neighborhood, City
TEMPORAL SCALE
The time scale for our project is flexible but we assume 30 years from now.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The potential exists to develop this as a model that can be emulated throughout Pittsburgh, which is a vital part of this solution. One community farm can not redefine how we view food production, but with a farm as a crucial part of every community in a city, a valid impact can be made. While community farms such as Garfield’s are a great addition to any neighborhood, it is just the beginning of how a neighborhood can grow together around permaculture.
The majority of abandoned lots can become gardens maintained by families living in their proximity. Schools can be a source of education and stewardship which teach children how to farm. They can also become community centers in a sense. Instead of families preparing meals on the go, a coalition of families could provide community meals with food grown within the community. Not only does this vastly reduce food miles, but it also examines our current state of living in isolation within our communities. Like the expression, “it takes a village to raise a child,” community meals foster close, integrated relationships, while reducing the stress of cooking and child rearing on individual families. The elderly can become more involved with the young, a wealth of experiences and advice would be available to all.
VISION & LIFESTYLE
Our vision of promoting access to healthy food in Pittsburgh starts with adopting the values of permaculture from Garfield Farm and transitioning the farm from a hobby to be fully integrated into new construction developments across the city. We imagine new homes, schools, and community centers are built in an ‘Earthship’ style, using reclaimed materials at a low cost that integrates solar, geothermal heating, rain water collection and treatment, and built in greenhouses that allow these infrastructures to provide utility freedom and provide basic necessities with little to no cost.
These new infrastructures will integrate food production into our everyday lives. By incorporating practices like bathing and pruning plants for eating, we will become a vital part of food production instead of being so far removed from it. This direct connection will foster a greater awareness of chemicals used in daily practices and they will become obsolete. The freedom from rent, utilities, and food costs will give more time for leisure and the need for working for extra income becomes less important, fundamentally changing the economy. Relationships will become the center of maintaining our new permaculture homes, and utilizing technology to share local resources and global expertise will allow knowledge of this movement to spread.
We realize that many efforts need to occur simultaneously to allow this vision to come to fruition, and believe this could be realized within 30 years, but that the pathways to realization are flexible and open to interpretation.
THEORIES OF CHANGE
Based on our conversations with John at Garfield Farm, the main barrier he encountered to getting the farm up and running was the quality of soil. He spent the better part of ten years treating the soil and preparing it for growing, and relies mostly on imported soil within his greenhouses. We believe that the best place to start with this project is to create government contracts with soil restoration companies and begin to rehabilitate abandoned lots around the city. While soil regeneration is underway, we propose that John join together with other key stakeholders (permaculture specialists, city council, restaurant owners, and local residents) to form a Board of Advisors to plan for the next initiatives.
Planning from the Board should focus on lobbying for government changes to zoning laws to allow for our proposed integration of growing and off the grid infrastructure and to request funding and tax incentives to support them. They should also look to expand their members with experts in ‘green’ construction to facilitate and expedite the building process of various projects, as well as working with utility companies and industrial food suppliers to reconsider their business models to support these changes instead of impede them. Simultaneously, new programming needs to be designed to teach people at multiple levels of scale how to adapt to these new ways of living. We imagine that elementary schools will become the most important way of preparing the next generation for not only maintaining their home and school environments, but also to impart a new mindset that will propel and evolve our solution into the future in ways that we cannot anticipate now.
PLACE-BASED, INTEGRATED SATISFIERS
According to Max-Neef’s theory of needs, our solutions satisfies genuine human needs including subsistence, affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, and identity with integrated satisfiers. For example, different from current fast food restaurants feeding people with unhealthy foods, our solutions reduce food miles and provide a resilient food system, encourage people to eat local healthy foods, which satisfies subsistence by providing foods and keeping people physically healthy, meanwhile, satisfies affection by building a relationship between human and nature. People will live in permaculture buildings and interact with the landscape, which satisfies affection and leisure. Our new curriculum and experiential education satisfy understanding, participation, identity and affection. Our solutions are Pittsburgh-based but global in their awareness, connectivity and reach. The permaculture buildings, smart buildings, experiential education, sharing economy and eating local can be easily duplicated in other places through knowledge sharing, meanwhile, they can be localized, for example, the form of the buildings depends on local topography, the types of sharing economy may vary, etc.There will be smart buildings and seamless digital walls facilitate global communication, then people can exchange information with each other.
LEVERAGING UNDER-UTILIZED RESOURCES
Our solution contains many excellent ideas in which we can leverage under-utilized resources! Turning abandoned lots in the Garfield neighborhood into urban farming spaces is already underway with multiple farms currently operating.
One major area of potential improvement is in the school systems. Old (and currently closed and abandoned) neighborhood schools can be re-opened and retrofitted to include community farming spaces. Education can include not only classes associated with farming, but science can be taught in a living laboratory. Recess can involve activities that reinforce the need to protect the environment. But that’s not all! These schools can also serve as community spaces and the elderly can become a critical component to the success of schools with their participation and knowledge. Instead of one teacher having to chaperone recess or lead an oversized class, the elderly can take on the fulfilling task of working individually with children who are struggling or supervising recess, thus benefiting children and freeing the teacher to take on more important tasks.
In addition, schools can become focal points of daily life within the communities. With the abundance of people in proximity and available fresh foods at the school, large community meals could be offered for all families in the community. This can be done on a volunteer basis, with each family making several meals per month, freeing up time for other families to focus on their gardens, children, or other needs.
EMERGENT PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND OUTCOMES
While our solution incorporates everything from community based urban farming to new educational programs in schools to utilizing emerging technologies to better connect communities, the potential for new unexpected products and services, or ‘integrated satisfiers’ through our solution is a very exciting component of this process! The example provided to us about retired women who can start a business canning fruits and vegetables is an excellent suggestion and is something that our group had not considered. An important initial component to our project is the revitalization of the soil where abandoned properties once stood (or still stand.) This service could be expanded to take in composting materials from other parts of the city and return healthy soil. (Though the effects of fossil fuel based transportation would need to be considered.)
We propose solutions to increase educational awareness of agriculture within various communities. But what about outside of them? Our schools and community programs could be opened to outside classes, day care, or other events that draw people into our community, and thus add value to the ideals of which it is built on.
Another area of potential directions would be related to the sharing economy that we are proposing. Food production will vary between household to household. How will things be shared and divided within a community? A great potential exists for a useful and balanced sharing system to be developed. This would be a great opportunity to examine how other cultures throughout history have handled situations similar to this.
RESTORING & STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS
Our solution of connected urban farming communities harmonize with the local ecosystem in a variety of ways. We aim to introduce environmentally friendly methods of fertilization by promoting composting and soil restoration. Chemical pesticides will be less of a necessity due to organic farming practices introduced to these communities and indoor spaces which will be devoted to gardening.
A bright point of this solution is that it can potentially improve relationships within the community. Relationships among community members, relationships between persons and the environment, and relationships between communities. We conclude that when people are actively cultivating together, they are more invested in the outcome of what they produce. When food shared, relationships within the community are fostered. This leads to a plethora of other social benefits such as security and compassion.The knowledge and experience that people gain from growing their own food instills a deeper understanding and respect of the natural world. Ideally, individuals will adopt a more holistic view of the effects of their own consumption of natural resources. This is a great opportunity to incorporate sustainable and ecologically friendly practices and resources into everyday use and educational programs.
BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES
Our solutions promote energy and food independence, but these solutions also come with potential challenges and barriers. “Off the grid” buildings can erode the income of utilities. There may be laws and ordinances stipulating that a structure be connected to the electrical grid or sewer system. Individuals attempting to circumvent these requirements have encountered challenges and even lawsuits. This indicates a weak or absent theory of change. There needs to be a way for better communication to occur and better laws to be passed that acknowledge and promote advancements in a helpful manner.
Shared gardens and community spaces also have to contend with established laws and policies. Insurance policies will need to be considered. What would happen in the event of a legal challenge or accident in a shared space? Who would be responsible for it? What would an insurance policy look like? Could a policy be evenly divided up within a community so that it evenly shares the financial burdens and benefits? These issues arise out of the non-collaborative postures that have become commonplace in our society.
A third barrier that we haven’t explored in great detail is misuse. We are predicting a utopian food community in a sense. But as we know, not everyone shares well. What if one person is violent, selfish, or disruptive? Can the strengths of a community overcome these issues, or would other means be necessary? Would a community leadership role be necessary and what would that look like?
SCALING YOUR SOLUTION SPATIOTEMPORALLY
SPATIAL SCOPE
The effect on the planet is minimal throughout the first phase of our vision. While it certainly encourages sustainable and environmentally friendly policies, the benefits will take much longer to have an effect on the planetary level.
Like the city’s connection to neighborhoods, the region will not transition toward our vision until it becomes something that the cities within it, such as Pittsburgh, embrace. When that happens, unique opportunities of connection and learning will present themselves and communities and cities will be able to grow together.
The city won’t receive any immediate benefits from the transition to our vision, but as neighborhoods begin to change and adapt, the city will as well. When a critical mass of neighborhoods have embraced urban farms and the alteration of lifestyle that accompanies it, the city will transform to connect and support these communities.
The neighborhood will be next after the household to benefit as familial connections develop. New construction and repurposing of houses and the implementation of urban farms and gardens can function as a catalyst which will transform the neighborhood from one of isolation to one of community
The most immediate effects of our vision will be felt in the household. The abundance of healthy food will increase. As we move from the present to the longer-term, families will ideally become more integrated with one another and their sense of community and cooperation will increase.
TEMPORAL SCOPE
Our diagram shows temporal scale of our 30 year vision using visual metaphors that show how Garfield Farm is the seed that catalyzes the projects needed to bring it into fruition. In our visual diagram below, we used vines to show the simultaneous timelines that multiple projects will undergo, and the step by step processes, emergent laws, services, and technologies that will likely occur chronologically as well as the likely encountered barriers. We intentionally did not give these individual steps specific timelines, as they will likely evolve and either move more quickly or slowly that we could anticipate within this speculative exercise. The images at the top of the vines show our vision in bloom through a storyboard of ‘a day in the life’. The flowers indicate the outcomes we hope to achieve that will set the stage for the next phase of transition that will be undertaken by our successors.
VISUALIZING A TRANSITION DESIGN SOLUTION
