lktypeblog:

Type: big, slabby, delicious Ziggurat for the logo.

Logo project for adaptive reuse bus system. The premise is that the bus always makes a loop and makes stops based on a narrative or theme. Our first iteration is the grocery loop. The bus stops at grocery stores. Do you really care if it’s on the 51 line or the 19? Probably you just want to get to the grocery store and buy your food. This bus will take you to the spice shop, ethnic grocery store, major chain, and farmer’s market. A week’s shopping all on one line.

Collaborative project by Lindsay Kinkade, Erika Tarte, and Beth Weaver of RISD’s Graphic Design MFA program. Created in a workshop by Jake Barton, one of the creators of StoryCorps and principal at Local Projects.

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erikatarte: From “Public Transportation” to “Community Transportation”, how the adaptive reuse of a public transportation system can solve pressing social problems The Grocery Loop is an innovative design solution to a pressing social problem. Built on the cost-effective and environmentally friendly model of adaptive reuse, The Grocery Loop is a public transportation system that provides access to nutrition while encouraging community engagement and promoting environmental sustainability. Providence and many other cities are what Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign calls a “food desert” — places where access to affordable, quality, and nutritious foods is limited. Over 30,000 households in the city of Providence live without easy access to healthy food (living over one mile from a grocery store) and although this presents an opportunity to encourage non-vehicular transportation, such a solution neglects many physical and financial limitations Ocean State residents face.  Unfortunately, the existing public transportation system leaves much to be desired. In a 2010 survey our The Grocery Loop conducted of a cross-section of the current RIPTA ridership, interviews revealed widespread frustration with linear routes, the impracticality of riding multiple routes to visit multiple grocery stores, and the lack of proper amenities for transporting food on buses and at bus shelters. Riders favored looping routes, such as the existing Trolley, and expressed a desire for accurate schedules and comprehensive route maps. Above: Bus stops with inadequate signage, shelters, and seating are a common sight on existing RIPTA  routes. Above: Without a comprehensive system map or interactive way to plan your trip, using the current RIPTA system can be difficult and intimidating. The Grocery Loop integrates amenity-based bus lines into the existing Rhode Island public transportation system (RIPTA). These low-emission, hybrid diesel buses run in a continuous loop stopping at a diverse selection of stores — from farmers markets, to specialty shops, to large grocery stores. Both buses and bus shelters provide seating and storage optimized for transporting food. Real-time GPS tracking information is displayed to keep riders informed of arrivals and departures. Once riders are on The Grocery Loop, they know exactly where they’re going: to the grocery store. The Grocery Loop empowers riders to take food and nutrition into their won hands. Attentive to the evolving needs of the ridership, The Grocery Loop’s routes are informed by rider feedback. The Grocery Loop buses and website give riders the opportunity to suggest routes and schedules that fit into their busy lifestyle. Additionally, The Grocery Loop website allows riders to share recipes, generate grocery lists, suggest and review grocery stores, and connect to their fellow riders through social networking services.  The web and mobile components of The Grocery Loop provide an incredible opportunity to connect Rhode Islanders to additional resources about health and nutrition. By creating an engaging online presence, The Grocery Loop aims to keep riders “in the loop” of healthful resources throughout Rhode Island. This project has received the generous support of RISD with the award of a prestigious Graduate Studies Grant. The grant period allows for further design and development of The Grocery Loop’s website, including key social networking and social media outreach components. A public outreach campaign to generate community interest and to organize community support will begin this Fall. The Grocery Loop is also participating in this year’s Better World Challenge at the A Better World by Design conference, which begins tomorrow in Providence, RI. This year’s challenge asked designers to tackle issues relating to urban food desserts. It will be exciting to see the spectrum of solutions other groups have proposed. The Grocery Loop is an ongoing collaborative project by Lindsay Kinkade, Erika Tarte, and Beth Weaver.

erikatarte:

From “Public Transportation” to “Community Transportation”, how the adaptive reuse of a public transportation system can solve pressing social problems

The Grocery Loop is an innovative design solution to a pressing social problem. Built on the cost-effective and environmentally friendly model of adaptive reuse, The Grocery Loop is a public transportation system that provides access to nutrition while encouraging community engagement and promoting environmental sustainability.

Providence and many other cities are what Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign calls a “food desert” — places where access to affordable, quality, and nutritious foods is limited. Over 30,000 households in the city of Providence live without easy access to healthy food (living over one mile from a grocery store) and although this presents an opportunity to encourage non-vehicular transportation, such a solution neglects many physical and financial limitations Ocean State residents face. 

Unfortunately, the existing public transportation system leaves much to be desired. In a 2010 survey our The Grocery Loop conducted of a cross-section of the current RIPTA ridership, interviews revealed widespread frustration with linear routes, the impracticality of riding multiple routes to visit multiple grocery stores, and the lack of proper amenities for transporting food on buses and at bus shelters. Riders favored looping routes, such as the existing Trolley, and expressed a desire for accurate schedules and comprehensive route maps.

Above: Bus stops with inadequate signage, shelters, and seating are a common sight on existing RIPTA  routes.

Above: Without a comprehensive system map or interactive way to plan your trip, using the current RIPTA system can be difficult and intimidating.

The Grocery Loop integrates amenity-based bus lines into the existing Rhode Island public transportation system (RIPTA). These low-emission, hybrid diesel buses run in a continuous loop stopping at a diverse selection of stores — from farmers markets, to specialty shops, to large grocery stores. Both buses and bus shelters provide seating and storage optimized for transporting food. Real-time GPS tracking information is displayed to keep riders informed of arrivals and departures. Once riders are on The Grocery Loop, they know exactly where they’re going: to the grocery store.

The Grocery Loop empowers riders to take food and nutrition into their won hands. Attentive to the evolving needs of the ridership, The Grocery Loop’s routes are informed by rider feedback. The Grocery Loop buses and website give riders the opportunity to suggest routes and schedules that fit into their busy lifestyle. Additionally, The Grocery Loop website allows riders to share recipes, generate grocery lists, suggest and review grocery stores, and connect to their fellow riders through social networking services. 

The web and mobile components of The Grocery Loop provide an incredible opportunity to connect Rhode Islanders to additional resources about health and nutrition. By creating an engaging online presence, The Grocery Loop aims to keep riders “in the loop” of healthful resources throughout Rhode Island.

This project has received the generous support of RISD with the award of a prestigious Graduate Studies Grant. The grant period allows for further design and development of The Grocery Loop’s website, including key social networking and social media outreach components. A public outreach campaign to generate community interest and to organize community support will begin this Fall.

The Grocery Loop is also participating in this year’s Better World Challenge at the A Better World by Design conference, which begins tomorrow in Providence, RI. This year’s challenge asked designers to tackle issues relating to urban food desserts. It will be exciting to see the spectrum of solutions other groups have proposed.

The Grocery Loop is an ongoing collaborative project by Lindsay Kinkade, Erika Tarte, and Beth Weaver.

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Neighborhood Green Swap Stencil System to Promote Food Sharing

by Lindsay Kinkade

The Neighborhood Green Swap barter system uses recycled furniture to help neighbors meet one another, share plants, and share their bountiful harvests.

Green Swap furniture can be made by any community group to exchange plants for the yard or garden and to exchange bountiful harvests. This system can be part of a neighborhood response to lack of healthy food sources. Neighbors can share their vegetables as they become ripe. Don’t the zucchinis always overwhelm? Who can eat so many tomatoes at once? By making a place to trade and share, the Green Swap makes healthy food more accessible to everyone.

D E S I G N

The project stands out on the street. The inside is now outside, creating a more intimate space on the sidewalk. The green swap barter point also uses color to stand out in the concrete urban environment. The foundation of the first piece of furniture is bright lime green with bright orange stenciled onto it, but the system is open to interpretation by the people who create it.

                   

T O O L   K I T – H O W   T O   M A K E   O N E

The tool kit used to make the project includes stencils of flowers and type. Anyone can use these tools and hardware store-bought paint to transform a piece of curbside furniture into a point of neighborhood transaction. The set of posters can also be used by neighborhood or gardening groups to advertise their Green Swap events. I hope to make these tools available online for free. 

  

Lindsay would like very much to collaborate with you on the implementation of a Green Swap project for your group. If you are interested in doing a Green Swap project or workshop, please contact Lindsay at lkinkade@g.risd.edu.

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Adaptive Reuse of Transportation Systems to Combat Food Deserts – The Loop

Adaptive Reuse of Transportation Systems to Combat Food Deserts – The Loop

the grocery loop proposal for a better world by design 2010 challenge 

A collaborative project by RISD Graduate Students

Erika Tarte etarte@g.risd.edu

Beth Weaver bethweaverdesign@gmail.com

Lindsay Kinkade lkinkade@g.risd.edu 

The Grocery Loop is an innovative design solution to the pressing social problem of limited access to healthy food. Built on the cost-effective and environmentally friendly model of adaptive reuse, The Grocery Loop is a public transportation system that provides access to nutrition, encourages community engagement, and promotes environmental sustainability.

Providence and many other cities are what Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign calls a “food desert” — a place in which access to affordable, quality, and nutritious foods is limited. Over 30,000 households in the city of Providence live without easy access to healthy food (living over one mile from a grocery store) and although this presents an opportunity to encourage non-vehicular transportation, such a solution neglects the physical and financial limitations of many Ocean State residents. 

In a 2010 survey our group conducted of a cross-section of the current RIPTA ridership, interviews revealed widespread frustration with linear routes, the impracticality of riding multiple routes to visit multiple grocery stores, and the lack of proper amenities for transporting food on buses and at bus shelters. Riders favored looping routes, such as the existing Trolley, and expressed a desire for accurate schedules and comprehensive route maps.

The Grocery Loop integrates amenity-based bus lines into the existing Rhode Island public transportation system (RIPTA). These low-emission, hybrid diesel buses run in a continuous loop stopping at a diverse selection of stores — from farmers markets, to specialty shops, to large grocery stores. Both buses and bus shelters provide seating and storage that is optimized for transporting food. Real-time GPS tracking information is displayed to keep riders informed of arrivals and departures. Once riders are on The Grocery Loop, they know exactly where they’re going: to the grocery store. 

 kennedy plaza el rancho grande gr een loop red loop Whole foods 

Attentive to the evolving needs of the ridership, The Grocery Loop’s routes are informed by rider feedback. The Grocery Loop buses and website give riders the opportunity to suggest routes and schedules that fit into their busy lifestyle. Additionally, The Grocery Loop website allows riders to share recipes, generate grocery lists, suggest and review grocery stores, and connect to their fellow riders through social networking services. To further accommodate rider needs, the website will be optimized for personal computer and mobile use.

The web and mobile component of The Grocery Loop is an incredible opportunity to connect Rhode Islanders to resources about health and nutrition. By creating an engaging online presence, The Grocery Loop aims to keep riders “in the loop” of healthful resources throughout Rhode Island.

This project has received the generous support of RISD with the award of a prestigious Graduate Studies Grant. The grant period has allowed for further design and development of The Grocery Loop’s website so that it will son include functional social networking components. Lindsay and Erika will also begin a public outreach campaign to generate community interest and to organize community support.

This ambitious project will require research, prototyping, and a pilot program. We are currently in the first stages; throughout the 2010–2011 academic year, we will focus of research, networking, and moving our project forward with political and commercial stakeholders. We will discuss the particular needs of store owners will be and we’ll find out how they will support the system through sponsorship and shared marketing.

This project started in a weekend workshop with Jake Barton, one of the creators of StoryCorps, and principal of Local Projects.

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Landshare

Landshare is a UK-based online platform that brings together people who have a passion for home-grown food, connecting those who have land to share with those who need land for cultivating food. Since its launch through River Cottage in 2009 it has grown into a thriving community of more than 55,000 growers, sharers and helpers.

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Get Fresh Detroit works to increase access to fresh and healthy foods by transforming the retail and distribution of fresh produce into a sustainable operation for corner stores, food pantries, and other food-service organizations that face challenging barriers in stocking fresh produce. They are using a Kickstarter campaign to fundraise for a delivery vehicle, the Get Fresh Express, which comes equipped with fresh-keeping refrigeration and copious space to service 50 stores and 30 pantries.

Get Fresh Detroit works to increase access to fresh and healthy foods by transforming the retail and distribution of fresh produce into a sustainable operation for corner stores, food pantries, and other food-service organizations that face challenging barriers in stocking fresh produce. They are using a Kickstarter campaign to fundraise for a delivery vehicle, the Get Fresh Express, which comes equipped with fresh-keeping refrigeration and copious space to service 50 stores and 30 pantries.

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“Earth Day is a good opportunity to remember the tremendous discrepancies in who has access to fresh fruits and vegetables — and thus, who has the luxury of eating a healthy, balanced diet — in this country. My fellow bloggers and I have written extensively about so-called “food deserts,” where the number of grocery stores are dramatically insufficient for the number of residents. Too often, people in these neighborhoods rely on corner stores, where a bag of Doritos is cheap and available and a container of strawberries may not fit either criteria. As a result, federal, state and local governments have pushed to make healthy food more accessible. It’s a major part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” anti-obesity initiative, and her husband’s proposed budget for next year would dedicate $400 million to bringing fresh food to corner stores. But such efforts don’t do much good if the produce that makes it to poor neighborhoods is close to spoiling or has the potential to make people sick. A new study from Drexel University researchers published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that when stores in poor neighborhoods do get fresh produce, it poses both of those risks to buyers. After buying salad, strawberries, cucumbers and watermelon repeatedly over 15 months in the Philadelphia area, the scientists found that mold, microorganisms and bacteria were all more likely to be present on produce purchased from stores in poor neighborhoods than in wealthier ones. In other words, if you are a poor Philadelphian buying fruits and vegetables in your own neighborhood, chances are your produce will spoil faster and may give you food poisoning. How appetizing.”

In Poor Neighborhoods, “Fresh” Produce Isn’t Always What it Seems | Poverty in America | Change.org

Yet another obstacle to getting fresh food into underserved neighborhoods.

-Julia Childhood

(via shutupfoodies)

(via smarterplanet)

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