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Sustainable Urban Food Systems
Empowering Communities through Controlled Agriculture Farming for Food Sovereignty
Systems Design
Systems Thinking
Design Strategy
5 min read
Faculty: Carlos Teixeira
Timeline: August 2022 - December 2022
My Role: Systems Thinking I Strategist
Executed: Causal loop diagrams | Exploring Complex Adaptive System | Bias Hotspots | Identifying Asymmetries of Power & Opportunities I Systems diagnostic frameworks
Setting
Chicago's urban agriculture boosts food equity
Empowering growers and nourishing communities with agriculture.
There are over 29,000 garden plots in parks across the 100 largest U.S. cities. In Chicago alone, 890 gardens and farms on vacant lots, rooftops, and school grounds offer opportunity for increased fresh produce access, creating valuable wealth-building opportunities for growers. In March 2023,the $2M Community Growers Program, in partnership with the City of Chicago Food Equity Council, fostered urban agriculture to enhance food equity in disinvested communities.
User needs
Growing community resilience amid pandemic challenges
Community thrives amidst pandemic's unseen challenges together.
"We started in May of 2020 at the heart of the pandemic as a clarion call to the communities in a time when people were suffering from having locally grown food , and so we were part of a program through urban growers’ collective call farmers for Chicago, where we were apprentices just starting off and we were able to grow a lot of food and help communities all over Chicago."
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-Mecca Bey, Co-founder Sistas in the Village
Source: WBEZChicago
Barrier
Identifying push and pull for equitable food access in urban systems.
Exploring system resistance, uncovering levers to drive positive transformative change.
Urban Greenhouses encounter hurdles in technology accessibility and affordability, distribution channels' biases, substantial financial investments, and uncertain produce output. The knowledge gap from smart greenhouse data collection disadvantages traditional setups, amplifying challenges in sustainable and equitable agricultural practices. It's important to recognize these hurdles, understand the biases, and identify areas of opportunities to bring systematic equilibrium to the ecosystems.
“How might we promote organic urban greenhouse farming, addressing equity, accessibility, and bias?
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Desired state
Ensuring equitable access to nutritious food for all.
Community-led urban agriculture for holistic well-being and diversity.
An ideal urban agricultural model maximizes land efficiency, cultivating organic, nutrient-rich food. Community-led and fostering civic engagement, it operates as a self-sufficient ecosystem. This system not only meets local needs but also facilitates surplus exchange, enhancing urban self-sufficiency by diversifying produce at the city level. In this envisioned state, urban agriculture becomes a cornerstone for holistic sustainability and community well-being.
Solution
Tech-boosted greenhouses transform urban agriculture sustainably and inclusively.
Revolutionizing agro-tech fosters nutrition, equity, and resilience with policies and finance.
A holistic ag-tech greenhouse maximizes nutrition per unit area. Employing tech-based precision growth monitoring and data-informed environmental management ensures optimal plant health. Access to this infrastructure requires non-monopolized tech consolidation, equitable investment distribution, and city policies supporting fair financing opportunities. This transformative approach promises sustainable, nutritious yields, emphasizing the need for inclusive technology, fair investment, and supportive urban policies.
Greenhouse rethink: Cultivating equity for a sustainable future quest
How might greenhouses influence laws and policies to encourage the rise of urban greenhouse practices and ensure accessibility and equity in food distribution?
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How might fresh produce from greenhouses be made available in a non-discriminant manner?
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How can greenhouses influence fair investment practices, ensuring non-monopolization and economic balance?
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Greenhouses hold immeasurable promise in their ability to address some of the pressing challenges the urban environment
In reimagining the greenhouse system, we must question its current purpose and goals to avoid perpetuating the status quo. Rethinking and designing greenhouses should prioritize both human and non-human needs. What key considerations should guide this transformation, and what questions must we ask to enhance the greenhouse system and propel us towards a more equitable and sustainable future?
Advocating policy shifts for equitable smart greenhouse community development.
Exploring smart greenhouse's transformative role in equitable community development.
The Smart Greenhouse emerges as a pivotal intersection for community development and local businesses, focusing on equity in healthy food access and robust support networks. Rethinking land ownership empowers smaller-scale community greenhouses. Governments can allocate plots for food growth, offer funding or subsidies for installations, electricity, and water. Advocacy and leadership are vital for policy changes facilitating this transformative approach.
Greenhouses can serve as a source to measure climate impact through factors influencing ESG practices.
Exploring Smart Greenhouse's transformative role in equitable community development.
Smart Greenhouse, a potential game-changer, informs businesses about climate change impact metrics through optimized ESG practices. This makes it a lucrative investment, attracting a diverse investor base for greenhouse companies. In this manner, the distributed network of technology investment ensures decentralized data ownership, mitigating the risk of monopolization.
Impact
Activating change involves defining new system goals before implementing solutions like greenhouses, aligning with desired futures. The process necessitates new infrastructures and protocols, prompting behavioral adjustments. Careful consideration of these changes is crucial to prevent unintended consequences in our everyday lives.
How would Greenhouse measure ESG?
Metrics & Frameworks
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): This is used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product throughout its entire life cycle, from production to disposal.
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Carbon Footprint: This metric measures the amount of greenhouse gases (primarily CO2) emitted by a product during its life cycle.
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Social Impact Assessment: This framework assesses the social impacts of a product, including factors such as labor practices, human rights, and community development.
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Supplier Performance Metrics: These metrics measure the environmental and social performance of a product's suppliers, including factors such as waste management, energy efficiency, and labor practices.
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Corporate Governance Metrics: These metrics evaluate the governance practices of the company producing the product, including factors such as executive compensation, board structure, and transparency.
Approach
Archetype of community greenhouse of today
Englewood #BIPOC community practicing urban greenhouse #organicframing for self-consumption
Anatomy of Infrastructure
Smart greenhouse is becoming a major intersection of community development & local businesses with the equity lenses of access of healthy food and increased support network.
Anatomy of Infrastructure
Smart greenhouse will be a pontential game-changer that informs businesses of the metrics of impacts on climate change by optimising ESG practices & policies.
Further Exploration
Greenhouses don't exist in isolation. Therefore, the greenhouse system, related services, and infrastructures are a shared responsibility across various organizations and entities. It is the joint responsibility of greenhouse companies, governments, small businesses, etc., to provide equal access to fresh produce at an affordable price, ensuring that all individuals and communities have equal access to nutrition and fresh food.
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