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research and design approach of the Conway School of Landscape Design; this approach includes clearly understanding the client’s goals, conducting research, analyzing data, reviewing the program, formulating concepts, and creating alternatives and solutions. The student design team gathered general data and information regarding national food and nutrition standards, crop yield data and nutritional output, national and local demographic data, case studies of urban agriculture, and historical references to regional farming for this report. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was used as the primary source for nutritional data and crop information. The team conducted specific inventory and analysis for the section of Shelburne Falls that lies within the Fire and Water District, including soils, climate, slope, solar aspect, open space patterns, and surrounding natural resources. Schematic designs for food production in typical neighborhoods in Shelburne Falls were completed by the student team using this information. These designs establish a starting point for the Community Food Project and what will eventually be a more comprehensive guide to plant selection and specific growing conditions throughout the village.
ated with this project. An idea that was reinforced by the public was that a supportive social structure will likely increase participation and help in the long-term success of the Food Security Plan. However, determining what form that structure should take and how to develop and nurture it may be a long and challenging process. This will require continued discussion among many members of the community, including town officials, before and throughout the process of developing local food security. Different models of agriculture and food production will require different resources and levels of community support, and will be best assessed on a case-by-case basis, but understanding such needs early on may help foster a more effective overall social structure. While the geographical focus of this phase of the project is the Fire and Water District, farms and farmland already exist in close proximity, and residents at the public meeting articulated
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Public participation is central to the long-term success of this project. At a community meeting at Boswell’s Books in Shelburne Falls on February 24, 2009, the clients and the Conway School team introduced the project to the public and presented preliminary findings. A brainstorming session was conducted with the fortythree people present, to solicit ideas, concerns, and feedback on the process of creating a local food system. It became apparent at this meeting that such a plan is as much a community-organizing project as it is a local food project. Those in attendance said that the first step in producing food locally would have to be a shift in attitudes and behaviors of residents. Participants expressed excitement about producing significant amounts of food in the village and foresaw many opportunities for education and community-building associ-
Will Flanders, founder of CCRVI, speaking at the public meeting in February, 2009, held at Boswell’s Books in Shelburne Falls.
THE SHELBURNE FALLS FOOD SECURITY PLAN: PHASE ONE