Entreperennial

This Idea has been incorporated into the Sustainable Urban Farming Initiative. 

Idea Overview

Turn vacant land around schools into working community farms/provide entrepreneurial opportunities for youth to grow businesses

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Carole, Rosey, Tanya, Lauren

What is the idea?

• Vacant land around schools into working community farms
• Vacant land for entrepreneurial opportunities for youth to grow businesses

How would idea work?

• Acquire land near schools
• Hands on educational program
• Students run community farm as a business
• Sell food to a local farmers market to restaurants to local food stores
• Engage Youth Places, etc. in summer activity

Pluses:

• Community building
• Sustainability with regard to our food system
• Entrepreneurial skills developed
• Health benefits

Concerns:

• Acquisition of LAND!!!
• Close to schools or Youth Places
• Years of dedication and commitment

Community opportunities:

Schools, parents, kids, teachers, politicians

Grow Your Own

This Idea has been incorporated into the Sustainable Urban Farming Initiative. 

Idea Overview

Establish significant community gardens where neighbors can come together to learn, teach, and share resources to ultimately increase their personal growing capacity and opportunity for community building and engagement

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Mindy Schwartz, Crystal Daughtry, Noir L Davis, Danielle Crumrine

What is the idea?

To establish significant community gardens where neighbors can come together to learn, teach, and share resources to ultimately increase their personal growing capacity and opportunity for community building and engagement

How would idea work?

• Use a large tract of vacant land to build garden
• Engage and empower (employ) local neighborhood coordinators to conduct asset based analysis of neighborhoods, including land assessment, knowledge banking, structure/resource ID, start and manage gardens
• Gardens are portals for sharing

Pluses:

• Addresses vacant land issues
• Builds and revitalizes community
• Resource and food sharing
• Teaches environmental stewardship, self-reliance, entrepreneurship
• Contributes to health
• Minimizes energy use (no Chilean fruit)
• Addresses waste water issues

Concerns:

• Land tenure (policy issues)
• Community engagement
• Soil contamination
• Utilities
• Storage, buildings on site
• Vandalism

Community opportunities:

• Engage colleges/universities
• Green builders
• Farm markets
• Community fund raisers (pumpkin patch, scarecrow contest, neighborhood harvest fest)
• Community revitalization
  

Hop-Skip Farm Kids

This Idea shares some of the themes incorporated into the Sustainable Urban Farming Initiative. 

Idea Overview

Half hour children's TV show about urban farms based and taped in Pgh shown nationally. Coordinated with local organizations, schools and the Organization of Farming Urbanites, to start farming and educational facilities

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Tricia and Brian

What is the idea?

Half hour children's TV show about urban farms based and taped in Pgh shown nationally. Coordinated with local organizations, schools and the Organization of Farming Urbanites, to start farming and educational facilities

How would idea work?

• Locate or gather inner-city youth working on farms to spotlight their methods and show to the world
• Marketed to schools and organizations
• Use a website, magazine, workshops and volunteers for produce as outreach
• Farms built on abandoned and donated lots, which are sustained by local sponsors

Pluses:

• Cultural integration
• Environmental appreciation
• Educational media
• Affordable produce
• Teaches life skills and sustainability
• Supports local economy

Concerns:

• Funding
• Participation

Community opportunities:

• Youth
• Schools
• Local organizations and corporations
• Farmers and gardeners
• Concerned parents

Lots of Food

This Idea has been incorporated into the Sustainable Urban Farming Initiative. 

Idea Overview

Collect abandoned lots and turn them into sustainable urban gardens that provide an alternative to store-bought produce and act as a community connection point

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Lauren Urbschat, Hilary Meurer, Jessica King, Shad Henderson, Matt O'Brien

What is the idea?

Collect abandoned lots and turn them into sustainable urban gardens that provide an alternative to store-bought produce and act as a community connection point

How would idea work?

• Vegetable and flower garden, compost pile, benches
• Produce food, educate, improve nutrition
• Beautify blighted neighborhoods
• Community ownership
• Sustainable system
• Environmental cleanup
• Utilize the Side Lot program that offers homeowners opportunity to purchase abandoned lots adjacent to their property

Pluses:

• Youth and elderly work together
• Skills taught
• Homeowners benefit

Concerns:

• Contaminated soil
• Shared responsibility
• Obtaining properties
• Maintaining project

Community opportunities:

Community areas with vacant lots that lack good grocery stores

Terroir du Pittsburgh

This Idea has been incorporated into the Sustainable Urban Farming Initiative. 

Idea Overview

The Pgh Terroir Project is aimed at exploring the environmental qualities of Pgh that make it unique.

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Sallyann Kluz, Caitlan Lenahan, Tim Aldinger

What is the idea?

Terroir is a French word that means the earth, but more clearly it means the specific earth on which something grows. For example, an apple that grows on plot in Southeastern PA is different than one that grows in another part of the state or country. Each piece of land has a unique terroir. The Pgh Terroir Project is aimed at exploring the environmental qualities of Pgh that make it unique.

How would idea work?

Youth gain an environmental, social, historical context of their neighborhood by using a piece of land as a laboratory. Thru that land, they will explore:

• Identifying the flora and fauna, both native and non-native by operating a biodiversity experiment
• The geology of the site and understand the impact of the geology on what grows, can be built, etc.
• Doing a mental map of the neighborhood
• Develop the social and historical context thru interviewing community members and neighbors and visiting significant sites in the community
• The goal is to identify and develop a project for the community, be it physical, social or economic. Once several such sites are underway, groups could be brought together to share their experiences and visit each others' sites.

Pluses:

• Meeting neighbors
• Heightened awareness of local issues "Your place in space"
• Understand what makes Pgh and your neighborhood unique
• Opportunities to learn about other areas of the city
• Empower youth with sense of ownership and ability to make changes

Concerns:

• Limited time and resources - How big is this?
• Logistical concerns - good to run multiple sites, but How?
• Needs more refinement - very Big right now - need special curriculum

Community opportunities:

• Youth as audience/participants (Boy Scout/Girl Scout troops, schools, after school)
• Elderly as participants in history/social
• Anyone who is interested in their community/neighborhood