STEM Conference /  by Victoria DeWitt

The STEM Conference of 2015 was held in Las Vegas. The conference brings together leading experts and researchers from around the United States to focus on topics that impact K–12 STEM education. STEM is an an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Discussion of STEM-related programs has become a presidential priority because too few college students are pursuing degrees in these fields. At the conference we were spoiled with information involving green technologies, 3D printing, nutrition, renewable energy, and urban agriculture.

Stephen Ritz, the founder of the Green Bronx Machine gave a presentation showing how he used urban agriculture to change the students and community of the Bronx lives. The Green Bronx Machine believes that healthy students help drive healthy schools, and that healthy schools are at the heart of healthy communities. Their vision is to improve and grow healthy communities where those who are "apart from ""will become "part of"" the new solutions that Stephen believes, benefits 100% of society. We were fortunate enough to share our ideas of introducing a Food Hub in the metropolitan area of Las Vegas, over some nice warm pizza. The conversation was so spectacular that we had left over pizza. Our entire class got to speak with really intelligent professionals including, Daniel Huard of Greenview Global and Javid the Hydroponics Guru.



The Fremont Street Experience /  by Victoria DeWitt

The liveliness of Fremont Street was contagious, street performers, small shops, art work, weirdos, dancing and packs of people filled the entire street. It was a pedestrian destination lined by shops, restaurants, hotels and casinos in a younger more 'affordable' scene compared to the almighty, Las Vegas Strip. The Fremont Experience was covered by a large screen that played with light and video along with music. Every once in a while there would be a zip-liner flying above. During the later hours, it was not necessarily a family venue compared to during the day but it has potential to improve due to the multiple types of entertainment. We spent most of our free time on Fremont exploring the street performances. The main element of Fremont were the multiple ways to access it. There were endless amounts of doorways through shops and hotels always leading to the street, or off it. It is very accessible as well as profitable with more people coming in and out. The streets are more alive with all the foot traffic and different destinations. This was good to note for our project and compare to the Container Park resulting in a slightly different atmosphere. Closed and contained (lol) meant for a safe more family friendly space, but in scale the Container Park is a much smaller area where as open and accessible meant for heavy foot traffic and a much bigger variety of people and events. Two concepts, two different feels.

 

 

First Impressions /  by Victoria DeWitt

After being very concerned for peoples health within the El Cortez, Ken took us out to see what Fremont and the surrounding areas were really about. We started with the Container Park located two blocks away, to get some dinner. The Container Park was so cool! The Downtown Container Park is a family friendly destination for shopping, dinning, and entertainment. It is made out of large shipping containers stacked on one another giving a really unique feel. I have never seen anything like it. It was a complete change from my initial response- I guess you could say it was a breath of fresh air.

Inside of the park, the containers and front security guy boxed in the activity creating a safe environment. In the center of the park was a small fenced in playground for children, their parents could keep an eye on them with little effort due to the location and fenced area. So there it was, boom, an area for children and families, young adults, adults, and of course the elderly. It was a fun environment to be in, especially with the large sculptured praying mantis that randomly SHOOTS FIRE OUT OF ITS HEAD. Ken gave us a heads up on that one as we gathered in front of it to talk about the container park, but we all still screamed and took cover once it went off.

Now that there was space for actual human activity, everyone got excited. We continued our tour to Fremont street, passing crazy Las Vegas signage that lit the street. It finally hit that we were in Las Vegas on a field trip (crazy), and we had already learned so much just by the first few hours walking around. It was awesome to physically be in our site location. As we headed to Fremont, Large palms sparadically lined the streets, different climate: way different plant pallet.

The sidewalks were large, leaving plenty of room for foot traffic but sometimes led straight to a row of trees, causing us to shift out of the way. Bikers had a decent amount of street space, but some of them chose to ride on the sidewalk saying otherwise. It was late but the streets were as bright as day.

 

LAs Take Las Vegas /  by Victoria DeWitt

After extensive research of food, food hubs, nutrition and Las Vegas itself- it was finally time to make the big trip. I had never been to Las Vegas before so I had no idea what to expect.. We could say that the Hangover movies may of had me a little concerned.. (KIDDING THIS WAS A SCHOOL TRIP). We arrived in the afternoon to the lovely state of Nevada and headed over to the El Cortez, located right on the infamous Fremont Street. Outside of the airport I could see the Las Vegas strip and mountains, it was beautiful. We had a charter take us to the hotel, traveling through large amounts of traffic we noticed all of the huge billboards advertising concerts, clubs, casinos, and hotels. We also got to see a few neighborhoods, which were quite scary. They were scary due to the lack of vegetation and care for the homes. There was a lot of concrete.

Once we arrived to the El Cortez, it was obvious that we were NOT in Iowa anymore. Inside of the Hotel and of course Casino, the air filled with smoke and far too much cologne. It was challenging to get a fresh breath of air within the casino after just a few minutes. It was then I started to look around and see what the guests of the hotel and casino looked to do for fun. Inside there was a bar, endless slot machines, game tables and a variety of people. There were the barely 21 year old adults like us, there were the real adults and then the elderly- who had seemed to have mastered the slot machines. There were absolutely no children, clearly the law permitted them but honestly, I started to really appreciate our clean air act. I noticed the lack of windows within the casino, manipulating the understanding of time. There were nights we would go to bed and wake up to the same exact people gambling. I'm not lucky enough to spend 12 hours gambling.


The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities by Peter Ladner /  by Victoria DeWitt

Peter Ladner sees a huge problem in how we feed our cities today. He experienced it first hand in Canada being a former Vancouver city councilor, Metro Vancouver vice-chair and business owner. He compares a lot of our stats and problems with former problems in Canada. Looking at North America as a whole he finds a simple solution to improve our cities: Eating Locally. 

He disects the concerns of producers, distributors, consumers, the economy, as well as our natural systems. Above is a brief summary of topics Ladner focuses on, below are a few notes I took that go into a little more detail.

  • What's the matter with food?
    • Fewer Suppliers, Greater Risks
      • Suppliers focus on their own prosperity, not our dietary well being, or farmers incomes, or environmental pollution.
    • Less soil, more meat, more competition for water.
      • The way our food is grown also undermines the likelihood that it will remain healthy, cheap and plentiful. Soil is eroding off North American farmland at an alarming rate. The vast prairies- the farmed North American breadbasket- have lost half their original topsoil and erosion from agriculture continues to sweep away soils thirty times faster than new soil is being produced.
      • Growing water shortages hit agriculture hard.
      • 70% all fresh water is used for growing rice in China.
      • In 2012 it was predicted that Saudi Arabia would have to import all of its wheat.
      • The Ogallala Aquifer source of irrigation for 20% of American farmland is being over drawn by 3.1 trillion gallons per year.
    • Available water shrinks, foods that require large amounts of water will go up significantly in cost, food will become less available: FOOD SHORTAGES
    • No Oil, No Food
      • The food industry is dependent on oil for all of its materials and at every stage of production: fertilizers, farm equipment, distribution to markets, refrigeration, getting home from the store ect..
      • Our dependence on oil leads to Global Warming.
      • One way to reduce oil dependency:EAT LOCALLY
        • Canadian study looks at "food miles" also finding green house emissions could lower by 50,000 tons annually by eating locally. That is equal to removing 17,000 vehicles from the road.
    • No Farmers, No Food
      • The financial squeeze on farmers is driving the next generation farmers off the land, leaving aging farmers to provide us with food.
        • US average farmers age 60 years.
        • Canada average farmers age 52 years.
      • US farmers doubled productivity over the past 40 years. They now earn $40 billion less from farming then they did in 1969.
      • People growing our food will soon be too old to grow anymore... Then what?
    • Our Choice of food is killing us
      • We need to change what we eat. Diet related obesity and diabetes are epidemics. 1/3 of American children born after 2000 will get diabetes.
      • America spent almost $300 billion at supermarkets. The number 1 item being carbonated beverages clocking in at $12 billion.
  • Overall problems in
    • Soil erosion, biological and corporate mono-culture vulnerabilities, water shortages, pollution pressures, peak oil, carbon pricing, wild fish population collapse, farmer shortages, bio fuel competition, sickening diets, and antibiotic contamination.
  • How many of us want to restrict what we eat to what is grown around us?
  • Comparing to Canada, Ladner finds:
    • Reducing food miles is not everything.
    • Local is not always environmentally friendlier.
    • Energy reduction: putting local food in context only reduces energy use by 10% (not enough to obsess over).
    • Local food is not always cheap or easy.
    • Consumers want safety and reliability.
  • Eating locally helps local economies and local farmers putting fresher, tastier food on the table. It satisfies the wide spread urge to make our lives more resilient and self sufficient. It educates the children, restaurant patrons, farmers market customers and community gardeners about food they are eating, where it comes from and how it effects health.
  • Preserving rural agriculture land for food production.
    • We cannot have local food if we do not have local farms.
    • Between 2002-07 we lost 3.2 million acres of farmland each year- monthly to development.
    • Stopping conversion of agriculture lands is not easy.
      • Limiting sales of farmland.
      • Paying farmers to stay put.
  • Converting urban and suburban lands for growing food.
    • Bring food back into our cities in a much more visible and tangible way.
    • Farmers left cities for comforts of the country.
    • Farms add value to residential communities around them.
    • Legalizing urban farming.
  • Agriculture as the New Golf: Farming as a development amenity.
    • 16,000 golf course developments in the US, costing millions to build and maintain.
    • How can we build open space at a lesser cost?
      • Community Gardens.
      • Farm views compared to fairways.
        • Politics.
  • In praise of technology.
    • Green House.
    • No soil, no sun, no problem: Hydroponics and vertical growing.
    • Using 5% of water that outdoor plants would need can be recycled instead.
      • A zoo claims they are saving $25,000 on lettuce per year alone using hydroponics.
    • Higher productivity indoors,
    • Investors are discovering hydroponics.
    • Energy Costs.
    • Less and more technology: more revenue:
    • Fish
      • Urban farming 2.0.
      • Catching fishing customers online.
  • Economic sustainability: Making the economics of agriculture urbanism pay.
    • Cheap land in the city?
    • Urban niche markets bring higher returns.
    • Friendly urban growing conditions.
    • Smaller is better.
      • Simplify production techniques.
      • Use efficient small machines and tools.
      • Reduce expenses on external inputs.
      • Market produce to bring the greatest return.
    • Community supported agriculture (CSA)
      • People buy annual shares.
      • Being close to cities brings business opportunities.
  • Non-Profit verses for Profit
    • Non-profit because there is a very large portion of open space and public land.
    • A city would not sell 200 Acres to a private buyer.
  • Urban agriculture is still skewed to the rich.
  • Is added nutrition worth the extra price?
  • Farmers in cities have a lot of advantages that sweeten their financial bottom lines.
    • Proximity to high end retail buyers.
    • Low cost to no cost distribution.
    • More second job opportunities.
    • Piped and captured water.
    • Fewer wild pests.
    • Free land.
  • Economic development through urban agriculture: Chasing the local job dream.
    • Slow money starts with slow food.
  • Rebuilding the lost food: Producing infrastructure.
    • Cost can kill.
    • Well established infrastructure can adapt for food.
    • Home delivery services provide customized infrastructure.
    • People too: knowledge has to grow.
    • Share research: Cuba's experience.
  • Less Waste: More Soil.
    • Recovering wasted food for eating.
    • Picking up fallen fruit.
    • Composting.
    • Food waste info.
      • Bio-gas.
    • Human waste to grow food.
      • Healthy soil.
    • Do it yourself.
      • Home composting.
    • Plants like urine.
    • Worms work overtime to eat food waste.
    • Reducing vast amounts of food we waste is the easiest way to increase local food supplies.
  • Starting young: Healthier local food in schools, colleges and universities.
    • Junk food marketing is aimed and children.
    • More salad bars are coming to schools.
    • Smarter lunch rooms.
      • Design it right.
    • Schools learning how to buy locally.
    • School yard produce.
    • Keep it simple.
      • Gardening without gardens.
        • Earth boxes.
  • Farmers markets and CSA's: Making the most of direct sales.
    • Farmers Markets $$$
    • Make them affordable
      • Farmers markets are struggling for locations
      • Direct sales are great
        • Biggest pay back for farmers.
  • Growing community with community gardens.
    • Planting community into community gardens.
    • Raises property values.
    • Political power.
    • Finding space is not easy.
    • 2 block diet garden.
  • Satisfy so many needs of the community.
  • Getting food to hungry people.
    • Moving beyond emergency relief.
    • Eating well is the best medicine.
    • Money is not everything.
  • Ending food desserts.
    • Ruin health.
    • Cars drive food desertification.
    • Crime and groceries do not mix.
    • Freshening up the corner store.
    • Food without mobility is not enough.
  • Waiting for the market to deliver healthy foods to shrinking neighborhoods with low incomes and high crime rates is going to be a long wait.
  • Is local food safe?
    • Industrial safety standards hurt small producers.
    • New federal food safety act won't hurt.
    • Illusory safety.
  • Contaminated soils can produce unhealthy foods to eat.
  • Smaller local producers are just as capable of producing contaminated food as large producers.
  • What can we do?
    • System and changes in personal choices.
    • Food links to national security.
    • Tax breaks.
    • Planners.
    • Food policy.
    • Community groups make change.

 

 

 

The Start to Year Four /  by Victoria DeWitt

The COD is no longer our home. We now convene in the new and improved communications building. The commute is a little longer but who am I kidding, the overall space is definitely doable.

This semester in studio our class has been split into two sections. One group is focusing on City Beautiful in Pennsylvania and the others, myself included, are studying Food Hubs to rebuild Las Vegas. Our studio is being lead through extensive research and urban determinism of a healthy environment. As a class we created a list of topics we most definitely needed to get more information on. The list included Las Vegas itself, food programs, needs of people, energy, food hubs (obviously), successful food hub precedents, health in food, and indoor agriculture.

I chose to look at the needs of the people. I started with the question of: What do people need to be happy? A few million dollars was not the answer, neither was a pack of puppies. I found the key to a happy life is a healthy environment. The USDA, EPA and CDC all have their own requirements of a healthy environment but all share the common theme of bettering peoples health and rights to know information while caring for, and bettering the environment. While researching I found two other faces of a healthy environment: Richard Jackson and Dan Buettner. Richard Jackson specifies his research on actually designing a healthy environment. Dan Buettner looks at Blue Zones, places on the earth where people live longer and healthier lives, researching how they live. I found Buettner's research of blue zones to be the most interesting due to the simplicity of life he found after discovering the Power 9.

New studio. New outlook on my environment. Pretty good start.