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Corodemus, Kleiman and Loevner 2

Trinidad Community Garden

Background, Purpose and Focus The District of Columbia has a significant grocery gap where low-income and minority communities often have far less access to full-service grocery stores than do higher-income communities. The lack of options and availability of resources affects not only food security in these pockets but also impacts the health and well being of citizens of these communities. Food security is crucial for the survivability of communities. The report, When Healthy Food is Out of Reach1, points out that access to nutritious food is a serious challenge especially for many lowincome communities. Often due to the unequal distribution of food and resources this issue leaves many neighborhoods without access to full-service grocers, according to a report by D.C. Hunger Solutions and Social Compact2. Nationally, this grocery gap forces many low-income people to spend time and money to travel long distances in order to access fresh produce at full grocery stores. In areas where full-service grocery stores are absent, shoppers may rely on small corner or convenience shops, which oftentimes do not have sufficient healthy food and may charge higher prices for the limited nutritious foods available. The purpose of the Trinidad Community Garden Initiative is to strengthen the food supply in the Trinidad area and create a sustainable urban partnership that brings healthy food to the community. The focus we believe will have the

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1 1 2

FRAChunger2015, dir. When Healthy Food is Out of Reach. YouTube. 18 March 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.

DC Hunger Solutions. DC Hunger Solutions: Ending Hunger in the Nations Capitol, DC Hunger Solutions. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.

Corodemus, Kleiman and Loevner 3 greatest impact on the Trinidad are in regards to addressing the issue of food deserts is through the creation of a community garden. As part of the Nutrition and Physical Wellness Program, a DC Department of Health, Community Health Administrations project, the City of Washington provides funding for community betterment initiatives. Taking advantage of this grant program, The Trinidad Community Garden Initiative will request funds to use in coordinating a large community garden in the Trinidad neighborhood of the city located in the Northeast quadrant. This garden will strengthen the local food supply in the area and create a sustainable urban partnership that brings healthy food to the community, in specific, single family households.

Situation Analysis- SWOT Strengths A community garden will organically attract support from the neighborhood. Community garden brings a neighborhood together over common goal. The inclusive mission of campaign offers an inspiring mission/ idea. The initiative will garner a dedicated base of staff and volunteers, the program gets support from many partners & donors, this effort will attract media attention and support. Weaknesses Initiative faces the possibility of frequent temp staff turnover, unclear who will provide leadership, a sole individual will not tend the roles and responsibilities (may lead to lack of action), fundraising strategy/ committed personnel to raise funds, organizational structure/ communication, coordinated farm crop/ distribution strategy, marketing and PR. Opportunities providing a cultural center for community to act as forum, get people outside, excellent way to test new model in urban environment, personal relevance of goal, organizations will want to work with us, volunteer resources, expansion. Threats Bad soil, key staff and volunteers not want to work on the project, disinterest, theft, vandalism, over growth, drought/freeze, environmental factors, budget.

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Precedents The Washington Youth Garden is a prime example of a community garden that we strive to emulate. This garden was conceived in 1971 at the U.S. National Arboretum. It provides a fascinating environmental science and food education program for Washington children and their families. The garden and Arboretum act as a live classroom, teaching participants about relationships with food and the natural world. This garden runs year-round.3 The Washington Youth Garden is also a Lets Move! Garden under First Lady Michelle Obamas Lets Move! Museums and Gardens Initiative helping individuals learn about healthy food choices and promotes physical activity. By attaching the garden to this initiative, we have a goal to strive towards and a role model garden to view also in the Northeast quadrant.

Primary Target Audience The priority target audience for this campaign is the matriarchs of low-income families in the Trinidad neighborhood. Theses women will act as anchors for behavior change and spread the encouraged behavior throughout the community. As members of the community who care for the welfare of their social network and dependents, these individuals are the first choice for health and wellbeing messaging. These mothers, daughters and grandmothers are socially connected in the community and actively go to church. They often prepare the meals for their families and make many choices regarding the diets of the household.

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Washington Youth Garden. Washington Youth Garden: a project of the Friends of the National Arboretum , Washington Youth Garden. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.

Corodemus, Kleiman and Loevner 5 Secondary Target Audience The secondary audiences that will tangentially be affected by the campaigns messaging are the community fathers, brothers, involved children, and gardening enthusiasts. These audiences are closely connected to the women in the community, as the women largely influence opinion and buying decisions. In addition to adults the community garden will target children from age 10-15 years olds. Targeting this age bracket will ensure that the program affects both the old and the young and generate a groundswell of support, ideally influencing the behavior of the middle aged segments. We aim to provide opportunities for these children to get involved in the community with their parents and grandparents. The behavior objective of this campaign is to get local community members to develop and maintain individual garden plots at the community garden. Due to the physical nature of our campaigns outcome goal, measurement of garden development and contribution will be easily and accurately accounted for. The outcome goal is to have every garden plot owner take home and eat fully grown organic vegetables. In order to successfully measure this goal, our campaign will recruit volunteers in the local church, then in local shelters, local nurseries, and even in college communities. Every Sunday after church these volunteers will open the community garden for a given window of time. During this time frame, volunteers will oversee garden plot owners and provide assistance whenever possible. The volunteers will have a working knowledge of gardening and will therefore be helpful during the process to novice gardeners. In terms of security, this measure of volunteers overseeing the gardening will prevent theft (both internally and externally). It will also foster a sense of community among the gardeners by providing encouragement for maintaining the plots.

Corodemus, Kleiman and Loevner 6 There are several perceived barriers to the campaign that might be challenging to overcome. The first barrier will be recruiting volunteers with the expertise and willingness to donate their time to this type of campaign. We plan to overcome this barrier by first recruiting in the local church, then in local shelters, local nurseries, and even in college communities. Another barrier to the project is making low-income community members believe that eating organic vegetables is important to their health. A way to triumph this barrier is to position the gardening initiative as a social activity. Most community gardens do not encourage socializing and are maintained on an individual basis. This community garden would only be in operation on certain days at particular times. The plants and vegetables will be maintained and harvested as a group. Vegetables and plants grown on individual plots will be essentially owned by the gardening designated to that plot. This will not be a collectivized activity, however it will be nurtured and marketed as a group effort. This position strategy might be attractive for elderly community members who are looking for social interaction opportunities. General disinterest in the behavior also presents a barrier.

Competing Behaviors Competing behaviors to our campaign include buying organic/conventional vegetables at a grocery store. Eating unhealthy foods or abstaining from fresh produce will most likely be the number one competing behavior among low-income individuals. Choosing to spend your time elsewhere or along, rather than in a group is a possibility that might affect participation. Another threat to our desired behavior is the unwillingness to invest time in maintaining and harvesting vegetables.

Corodemus, Kleiman and Loevner 7 Influential Others Influential others to our target audience include employers, middle-aged children of elderly parents, friends and family, doctors, and church clergy.

Positioning Statement We want the women in the Trinidad neighborhood to view planting and tending a community garden as a low cost way to provide fresh produce for their families and as more beneficial than depending on grocery stores and engaging in unhealthy eating habits.

Marketing Mix Strategies: Pretested and Refined Based on Target Audience Research Product Core Product: Multiple ways to access local, sustainably produced food. Actual Product: Many different options to choose from. Engage both children and adults in food production in ways that educate them about the complex relationship between food, health and the environment. Facilitate projects so they integrate into our communities, encourage community building and serve as models for other communities. Augmented Product: Design all projects so that they serve as a welcome environment and open space.

Price Engaging in the encouraged behavior is at no financial cost to the target audience. Other costs incurred: time of volunteers, waiting for vegetables to grow, physical strain of gardening, construction costs Place Promotion will be taken place at venues around the garden such as local establishments, large grocers and the Home Depot located on Rhode Island Avenue, roughly 1.5 miles away from the plot.

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Promotion The promotional strategies of this campaign will include: ! Direct mailing - flyers and documentation distributed to residents in the area ! Distributing flyers - drop off flyers to neighborhood establishments and throughout the area ! Attractive signage - creation of a pretty sign located by the garden that will lure community members in ! Contacting local news media - make news media aware of the initiative to promote garden ! Free gardening lessons and seminars - lessons and seminars to enhance the act of gardening and to bring people into the garden to become active ! Farmers Market event - local farmers come in to the garden to sell other kinds of organic food products to provide further options for the community Plan for Monitoring & Evaluation The initial goals for the community garden are to move beyond its initial phase of startup, establish a good organization and staff and begin to effectively communicate the uniqueness of the organization and the successes of its projects. This will support fundraising, increase partner candidates, expand projects and resources and allow the community garden to have a larger impact. Significant increases in individual donations; major donors, corporate sponsors and events are required. This will need assembling and expansion of contact lists and expansion of marketing/ PR efforts. Information that outlines the mission and purpose of the organization, its unique standing and benefit to the community need to be created to support fundraising efforts. The only time that people are going into the community garden is when volunteers are letting them in. Attendance and the vegetables grown and taken will be will be documented by logging on a clipboard. This will be done during the entirety of the time that the garden is open.

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Costs Costs associated with project (see exhibit 2) are fairly straightforward. We would start with an initial budget of $100,000. Initial costs would include seeds and planting materials. The partnership with Home Depot would eliminate any costs that building the foundation of the garden might include. Additional costs in the first quarter include rent for the plot, marketing, legal/accounting expenses, insurance, miscellaneous expenses (construction overages, initial upfront costs, layout changes, etc.), and salaries. Due to the fact that this would be a volunteer project no salaries would be expensed. In Quarter two variable costs remain the same. Fixed costs decrease slightly because less money will be spent on advertising and marketing. The third and fourth quarter remain symmetrical in both variable (cost of seeds and produce starters) and fixed costs.

Plan for Implementation and Program Management To implement this program the community must be engaged. The project begins with community outreach aspect that serves to garner interest for the garden. As the flagship promotional event, a farmers market will be used to educate the community on the benefits of a community garden. This event will also aim to provide educational information for individuals keep. At this event a preliminary signup sheet will be distributed in order to get a mailing list and roster of highly interested individuals. Promotional activities will be rolled out in tandem with informational sessions. A groundbreaking event will occur three weeks later and construction, sponsored by Home Depot, will begin. Home Depot will provide financial support and donate gardening supplies and labor. Community members, clergy, and home depot representatives will help

Corodemus, Kleiman and Loevner 10 prepare the site and get it ready for planting. Restaurants will donate their organic waste such as seeds and composting materials. The planting will occur on a seasonal basis there after. The initial setup operations of the community garden fall under the responsibility of the community volunteers. Critical volunteers will tend to the maintenance of the facilities. Every Sunday after church these volunteers will open the community garden for a given window of time. Its during this window of time that the target audience will engage in the behavior objective. The community garden acts as a cultural center that strengthens the ties between community members and their relationship to the land, and their urban environment. Through tending a community garden in their own neighborhood, the members of the community are provided a low cost way to provide fresh produce for their families and as more beneficial than depending on grocery stores and engaging in unhealthy eating habits. Throughout the season volunteers will supervise, assist and communicate with garden plot owners. To best protect the garden from the aforementioned threats (such as pest, vandalism, theft) security of the space, through fencing and other preventive measures, will be treated as utmost priorities. This model will work to unite the community around the common goal of bettering their food options and potential for making healthy life choices.

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Appendix
Exhibit 1 Plot of Land at 1700 Maryland Avenue N

Corodemus, Kleiman and Loevner 12 Exhibit 2: Projected Financials 2013