Well, the term has finally come to an end and we must say farewell to LFS 350 and each other as a group. It has been a great three months getting to know each other and exploring project management of food system issues. Immersing ourselves into the Vancouver Food Strategy and food assets like community gardens has provided us with a deeper understanding into the complexities of our local food system. Although we faced obstacles throughout our project, we were able to think critically to overcome them and manage to collect data, analyze results, and execute a ‘graceful dismount’ with a successful presentation. Read on to review highlights of our project in our executive summary below.
Executive Summary
By incorporating sustainable food system principles and core values learned from the Land, Food, and Community series, this project aimed to explore motivation behind community garden establishment, as well as indicators of accessibility, in community gardens in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Strathcona neighbourhoods. The project aimed to provide a deeper understanding of to what extent community garden objectives coincided with the City of Vancouver’s Food Strategy goals, and to examine their position within the local food system. Inquiry questions such as “What are the motivations behind community garden establishment?” and “How does each community garden group manage its accessibility?” are examples of questions asked of research participants that framed the interview process.
The methodology included interviews with the garden organizations that met the inclusion criteria and were obtained through the City of Vancouver’s online resources. Interviews were conducted with community garden coordinators by the student research team and the conversations were later transcribed for analysis. Findings were analyzed using a “grounded theory” inspired approach to identify common themes and compare results (Mills, Bonner, & Francis, 2006). The results included motivation for establishing a green space and connections with nature, as well as opportunities for community empowerment and engagement. Results regarding indicators of accessibility found that gardens’ membership application process was either perfunctory or entirely non-existent, and all garden representatives expressed garden commitment to inclusiveness. All four community gardens surveyed in the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona were demonstrably aligned with many of the City’s Food Strategy goals.
Exploring motivations and indicators of accessibility for community gardens, as well as their position within the food system, provided a better understanding of the role they play in their respective communities, and the greater community at large. The team proposes that the City of Vancouver gather more empirical evidence regarding community garden food production and community development to evaluate their effectiveness in fulfilling the Food Strategy’s stated goals.
Following the executive summary, Group 13 reflects on a final moment of significance..
What…?
This week, using the “What? So What? Now What?” framework (Rolfe et al., 2001), our group reflects on a final moment of significance. Our group’s moment took place immediately after the presentation of our final project last Wednesday when we had the opportunity to reflect on all that we have accomplished in the past 3-months. Last Wednesday, we executed our best presentation yet and relayed key points of our project to fellow classmates, LFS 350 teaching staff, and community partners. After the final presentation, our group shared a significant moment where we had the opportunity to celebrate the completion of the project as well as to reflect on our experiences over the term and the hard work that transpired.
So what…?
In the Land and Food Systems Community series, we worked collaboratively towards a goal that addresses complex issues within the food system and utilizes each other’s strengths and disciplines. As students, we incorporated community principles to look at food security through an interdisciplinary lens that promotes social equity and encourages participation in the food system. Initially, we had finished transcribing all the data from the interviews and completed the analyses in preparation for the final report and presentation. In our presentation, we summarized 3-months worth of key findings, highlights and critical reflections into a twenty-minute block. As we reflected on our accomplishments following our presentation, our group realized that we felt successful in meeting the goals outlined by the LFS 350 instructors. One unexpected feature that enabled us to be highly successful was our group dynamic and how well our team members meshed together. We truly bonded together over the past three months and will miss the ease that our strong group dynamic provided.
Now what…?
Instead of reporting on how food assets are not working to alleviate food insecurity, we aimed to provide recommendations that build upon knowledge in hopes of bringing awareness to assets like community gardens. As we explored these assets through interactions with community organizations, we strived to bridge the gap between academics and community groups. Going forward, we believe that the City of Vancouver should look at empirical evidence to evaluate to what extent community gardens are fulfilling the Vancouver Food Strategy goals. On an individual level, as the members of our team move forward, we will continue to build on the problem-solving skills we learned in the Land, Food, and Community series. These include the importance of considering the perspectives of all stakeholders in a community, using interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving, and employing the principles of Asset-Based Community Development.
Hasta la vista baby!
References
Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: A user’s guide. Basingstoke; Palgrave, Macmillan.
