Expanding Food Bank Impact Through Increased Healthy Food Access at Community Gardens and Sustainable Farm Production (2015)

Contact full name: 
Alex Bryan
Project Status: 
Current Project Idea
Client Organization: 
Greater Lansing Food Bank
Client Website: 
Greater Lansing Food Bank
Client is confirmed: 
yes
City: 
Lansing
Contact Phone: 
517-853-7809
State or Country: 
Michigan
Contact e-mail: 
alex@greaterlansingfoodbank.org
Contact information: 
I am an SNRE alum
I am a staff member of a potential client organization
Job title: 
Garden Project Manager
Project Location : 
Lansing, Michigan
Summary of Project Idea: 

The Greater Lansing Food Bank has a 30 year old community garden program that provides support to about 100 community gardens and 450 low-income home gardens providing; seeds, plant starts, tools, education, canning supplies, etc. ultimately helping around 7,000 individuals access food through gardening each year. In fall 2012, the GLFB launched Lansing Roots, a farm business development opportunity. A business incubator, Lansing Roots helps would-be farmers start a farm business by reducing the barriers to farming by providing shared infrastructure, some technical training, and a cooperative marketing option. In addition to the incubator aspect of the farm, Lansing Roots has a demonstration space that is used for: production for the food bank; as an education space; and as a place to utilize volunteer interest.

For more information on Lansing Roots or the Garden Project please visit www.greaterlansingfoodbank.org

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of each program in terms of effort to fight hunger, both in the short and long term, from the perspective of a food bank. It would include various ways to increase pounds of healthy fresh foods in the food bank and decrease the emergency food needs of populations that frequently need food bank services.

Areas of interest for the food bank include: 

  • Assessment of community garden impact in terms of food produced and populations served
  • Expansion of Garden Project into all counties and areas that the food bank serves
  • Community impact of gardens
  • Potential impact of pounds from Lansing Roots (demo space and from farmers) 
  • Expansion of Roots Demo Farm production (can include fertility management plan, donation transportation, season extension)
  • Environmental impact of sustainable farming vs. conventional vs. cost 
  • What is the long term impact on the food system?

Additionally, project sustainability is important to the GLFB, therefore exploring earned income potentials of CSA sales to low-income communities, composting operations, seed production, etc. will be necessary.

Skills/Expertise Needed: 
  • Reseach, data collection, analytics and writing
  • Evaluation/Research design
  • Agriculture or Farm/Garden knowledge (enough to comprehend production and crop plans)
  • Food systems knowledge (emergency food relief knowledge a plus)
  • Willingness and desire to interact with diverse individuals
  • Community development
  • Grant writing
  • Business analysis
  • GIS
SNRE Program Areas: 
Conservation Ecology (Aquatic Sciences, Terrestrial Ecosystems, and Conservation Biology)
Environmental Policy and Planning
Environmental Informatics
Environmental Justice
Sustainable Systems
Landscape Architecture
Professional Career Development Benefits: 

Lansing Roots is a unique program; no other food bank in the country is attempting business development through farm settings. Few food banks have farms or garden programming. There is little published on incubator farms in general. The potential for publishing academic papers is high, and the GLFB will encourage sharing results at conferences or other events that are identified.
Additionally, project evaluation and establishing metrics to define success is a highly valuable skill. Knowledge will be gained in community organizing, sustainable farming, urban farming/gardening and business development. This is a good opportunity to connect to a small, yet growing community of non-profits doing sustainable agriculture work.

Funding Sources: 

Nothing is directly allocated for this project. We can offer support through:

  • Office desk space (internet access, phone use, etc.)
  • Staff consultation and collaboration
  • Staff assistance with finding funding resources
Identify expected products/deliverables: 
  • Evaluation of impact of community gardening program (pounds grown, money saved, cultural impact, community impact, etc.)
  • Recommendations for increased efficiency and effectiveness of program
  • Evaluation of impact of incubator farm 
  • Assessment of Roots Demo Farm production for max ROI to food bank (pounds food, quality food, money saved, etc.)
  • Establish plan and timeline for Organic or Sustainably grown certification
  • Exploration of earned income streams
  • Exploration and assessment of increasing access to food in lower-income populations, specifically through entrepreneurial channels