Modeling for Community Gardens in Chittenden County

-->

            Community gardening is a versatile tool used to transform space, society, and individuals in a collectively cultivated land. Gardening can heal the body, mind, and spirit, as it connects humans with the earth. On a community level it improves urban health, provides for social inclusion, and allows for active civic participation. Mainly, it is used to promote practices of sustainable living in an urban environment. Organized garden projects allow for food systems to be visible in an urban landscape. They provide opportunities for learning about food production and wider food system issues (Pudup, 2008). 

            My modeling project seeks to find the most optimal areas of land for potential community gardens in Chittenden County, Vermont. Using data from Friends of Burlington Gardens, I will locate all existing community garden sites in the county. The datasets required for the model inputs are still being located. Some important contacts include Brian Voite and Austen Troy who have GIS data on Chittenden County land use. Walter Poleman is a contact for data regarding soils and vegetation. Finally, Jess Hyman from Friends of Burlington Gardens, and Andrew Schlesinger who interned for her doing GIS mapping, are both people to contact for more in depth information on sighting community gardens. 

            I will be using Multiple Criteria Evaluation (MCE) to determine the most favorable areas for developing new community gardens. The MCE process is often used in environmental impact assessments when development and conservation are both considered in a project. Through the use of functions like Groups and Calculate Distance to Feature Map, I can include all of the necessary criteria.

            After assessing the current community gardens, I will solidify a list of criteria that are required for garden sites. These may include characteristics like plot size, slope, soil type, and vegetation cover; in addition to access to bus routes, distance from markets or fresh food, distance from industial zones, walking distance from neighborhood, and general socio-economic factors. These variables will be translated into parameters for the modeling. By creating groups to address each criterion, the final product of the model will display a map of the possible locations for the new gardens.

Example of MCE modeling, using Group functors and the Region Manager functor

            Currently, Chittenden County has around 25 allotment style gardens, 12 of which are affiliated with Burlington Area Community Gardens. In addition, there are multiple group gardens, several school gardens, and neighborhood gardens. I will focus on allotment style gardens that provide plots for individuals to rent for the season. Allotment gardens are the beginnings of a very strong alternative food system in the region, therefore they are the kind of garden I will research. One challenge that may occur is that the gardens in Burlington may have different criteria than the more rural parts of the county. Additionally, Chittenden has a lot of urban land use compared to Vermont as a whole, so it may not be transferable to the rest of the state. In the end, I hope to have sighted potential plots in Chittenden for the creation of new community gardens.

Google Images picture of garden locations throughout Vermont, image is focused on Chittenden County