How can better design ensure that food grown by local farmers is delivered and distributed to urban residents?

A contest sponsored by GOOD, The Architect’s Newspaper, The Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, and The Los Angeles Good Food Network.

Demand for “good food”—defined as healthy, green, fair, and affordable—is rising. Whether it’s from a rural family-run farm, community-supported agriculture group, or a backyard plot, locally grown food is increasingly viewed as a solution for many economic, environmental, and health concerns.

Yet significant barriers exist in bringing that food to urban tables. Even if a steady supply of good food is available, it can’t be delivered without better distribution networks that efficiently move it to multiple outlets and consumers.

What we need is a massive shift in our food delivery systems that will provide a variety of opportunities for farmers to sell directly and effectively to urban residents, helping us redefine the path from farm to fork. It’s time to rethink our local farmers’ markets.

the OBJECTIVE
We want designers, architects, farmers, chefs, vendors, and farmers’ market shoppers to think about how good design can improve upon the modern farmers’ market experience.

the ASSIGNMENT
Design a new venue, product, distribution method, or marketing mechanism that increases both financial returns to farmers and access to healthy foods for consumers of all scales—from the home cook to food service chefs. Innovations should help small family farmers bring good food to market and/or provide consumers access to good food.

the REQUIREMENTS
By September 1, 2009, send us an email at projects[at]goodmagazine[dot]com with the following:
—At least one image: sketches, drawings, three dimensional renderings, scaled technical drawings, photographs, altered photographs. Your images do not need to be high res to submit to GOOD, but you must have high res images ready for printing and/or publication should we want to publish and print yours.
—A brief narrative, up to 500 words, that explains how the design enables food production and/or delivery methods that support both the needs of small- to mid-sized family farmers and/or distribution to urban residents.
—Your name, city, and local farm or farmers’ markets.

the PRIZES
A jury of architects, urban planners, journalists, city leaders, chefs, and farmers will judge the entries. Winners will be announced September 3, 2009.

The winning entry will receive a fantastic prize package consisting of farmers’ market goodies, cookbooks, a one-year subscription to GOOD and a GOOD T-shirt (with more to be announced). The top three entries will be published in an upcoming issue of GOOD magazine and exhibited at the Occidental College campus, and the designers will be featured in a story in an upcoming issue of the Architect’s Newspaper. The top 20 entries will be published on GOOD and exhibited at the Los Angeles farmers’ market celebration, Farmers’ Markets: 30 Years and Growing, on September 3, 2009

RESEARCH and INSPIRATION
Your design can be a permanent “hub”—a market design that will provide year-round direct marketing opportunities for farmers and create a vibrant public space with food at its core (this project recommended for architects who want to propose a large-scale, holistic design). Examples include
—A public space customized for local farmers to sell produce year-round
—A retail store for local farmers
—A wholesale market for local farmers to sell to restaurants and supermarkets
—A market within a mixed-use development with complementary businesses
—A restaurant that heavily involves and features local farmers
—A system for vending local produce within an existing retail store

Or your design can address one of the programs or products that service farmers markets: the collection, storage, and transport of regional foods; processing, food product development and marketing; or food and health related community services. Some ideas include vehicles, farm equipment, storage
-containers, distribution methods, tents/vending stalls, kitchens for processing produce, public eating areas
, campaigns
, school programs
, chef/restaurant programs.

GOOD Magazine