Official City Farm thesis website

Here is the website for my thesis. It has a general overview, timeline, materials matrix and my portfolio. This will be changing up as I get my identity refined, but for now the information is all here.

City Farm

The Farmers Market — Visit #2

Here are some images I took while visiting the Coley Farmers Market. I think so far, this is my favorite. It is located in Copley plaza in Boston right in front of the Church, around the pretty flowers and fountains. There are probably about 15 farms there all with different specialties. Some sell flowers, some make breads or goodies, some have all sorts of veggies and some sell meats. It is a nice mixture of foods.

I am about to eat an heirloom tomato from one of the farms stuffed with corn that I baked last night. I made this the other night and this tomato was amazing. The tastes from heirlooms do not compare to regular tomatoes. I plan to get more of them and save the seeds so I can grow them for myself one day. (when I have a yard)

Anyways, here are some of my images...

The Farmers Market — Visit #1

This past Sunday I visited and photographed my first market visit of the summer.

It was in the South end of Boston, which was about a 15 minute walk from my house. Awesome market. Loved it. Want to go back. I have been enjoying the food I bought while I was there and actually just finished a pita, lettuce, tomato, pesto sandwich for lunch.

While I was there I also found the farm who is at the South Boston (different from S. End) farmers market on Mondays and was told they are open for business. So I went this past Monday, bought a ton of corn and ate that with rice for dinner on Monday. I'm happy.

Anyways, here are some of the pictures I took:

The Project

In short //

Creating a community hub for growing, educating and promoting the word of organic and sustainable food nourishment for all.




Why //
Issue number 1: Those of us living in New England—particularly Boston or other cities—have only one season to grow and no space to grow in during that one season. Therefor we rely on foods shipped from long distances that are not picked for freshness or nutrition, but for surviving the trip.

Issue number 2: Living in the western world we have thrown away our means to provide for ourselves, replaced it with processed foods and now deal only with the consequenses of heart disease and cancers.

Issue number 3: Our "new" practice of "farming" has ruined our land, filled our food with chemicals and has taken away the nutrients in our foods. We now eat to fill our stomachs not to nourish our bodies.


Solution //
Number 1: Creating an indoor year-round growing house allows us to grows in any season. We will be able to eat local, fresh foods during the year at a cost that is less than a grocery store which ships food on average of 1500 miles*.

Number 2: Going back to our traditional means of farming, but adding modern methods can cut out the chemicals and pesticides that may build up in our bodies and harm us. A growing and harvesting center will allow the community to become involved and excited about real food and see the importance of spending the time preparing food, each day.

Number 3: We can teach our children and members of the community, of all ages how to grow, harvest and cook healthy meals. By giving people the chance to be involved with all aspects of food, we learn to respect our land and celebrate food as nourishment for our bodies, rather than a way to simply fill our stomachs.


How //
Imagine the indoor structure as a place to meet for everything food related. Growing, eating, celebrating, learning and sharing. Not just a community for food lovers and cooks, but a place for everyone of all levels and interests to meet and connect.

// As a member of the community you may become fully involved by renting a pod to grow your own garden. You can keep the food for yourself or sell it to the "house".

// As a farmer, you can work on the grow floors as a full time job, growing food to sell to the public. Being a serious farmer is not necessary because the "house" will be available to ensure a successful crop of all gardener levels, and each grower will work together as a team.

// Donated pods will be available to area schools to grow their own crops to bring back to the school for local, fresh lunch food. Students will be able to get hands-on learning to understand where food comes from and give them the ability to reap the rewards.

// The public can come in and shop in the produce store and purchase foods grown right over their heads and picked at the peak of their freshness. The produce shop will not only sell foods but will explain different crop varieties and have recipes and information available.

// An area dedicated to sitting an enjoying fresh made foods will be available to those that wish to grab a bite to eat. Salads, sandwiches and soups made from foods grown in the structure will be available.

// Harvest celebrations will take place as each new season gives us a new harvest of foods. These events will give us the opportunity to fund-raise, which will keep the structure maintained. Foods made with the harvest will be served and people will meet and see the importance of local healthy foods.

// Many intern positions will be available, from nutritionists to public relations to writers. Interns will get much needed experience in a happy community-driven setting and the program will benefit by having a lower employee cost.

Design //
Using graphic design I will produce a ready-to-implement system of deliverables, such as food packaging, promotional materials and store signage. These pieces will change as I move forward with my thesis work, but the main objective is to give life to the building and allow the members of the community to have the information they need for all the levels of interest, from growing to purchasing food.

-—-
*2 Pirog, Rich. Food, Fuel, and Freeways: An Iowa perspective on how far food travels, fuel usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Ames, Iowa. June 2001

The news

It is official! I passed my midpoint! 

I begin my first directed study class this summer and take a couple design classes in the fall, then continue with directed study until I have completed my work. Directed study is a "class" that graduate students take to work on their thesis. No real schedule is set up for us and no teachers are teaching us. Instead we set our own syllabus and pace, and work with an advisor to be sure we are on the right path.

I am so excited to begin my work and I can not wait to see what I come up with. I plan to post my process here for myself, my advisors and for any interested viewers to follow. I have a lot of research and basic ideas set up already that I presented at midpoint. So, my next post will explain my big idea and reasons I came up with this project.

The Beginning

Welcome!

I created this blog to track my graduate school thesis process from day 1 to the finish.... and beyond. Currently, I am about half way done with my graduate school adventure at the Academy of Art University. I have completed all of the required classes and am now ready to proceed with my thesis work.

My thesis will take me a year and a half to complete and will be topped off with a final presentation. The start of my thesis adventure technically started about 2.5 years ago, when I began grad school. I took advantage of the workshops offered each semester and began researching and reading subjects of interest to me. My thesis will officially begin this summer, after I (hopefully) get the news I have passed my midpoint presentation.

Midpoint is the time in my studies I present my portfolio and idea for my thesis project. I presented in March and got a conditional approval. I am now waiting to find out the best path I should take to be sure I am successful with my thesis.

More to come....