Successful New Direction

This past week I had a phone meeting with Margaretha Haughwout, one of the major organizers of the Hayes Valley Farm, as well as a key player in the transition of the farm to the Buchanan Mall (BM) area of San Francisco's Western Addition. This new community farm will be called the New Buchanan Commons (NBC).

My hope up to this point was that I could focus on NBC for my 505 project, specifically focusing on community outreach in the BM area. This is an underserved area of the city and the concern is that it may be difficult to get the BM community excited about the farm and to feel ownership of it.

In talking with Margaretha, it was decided that I would be folded into the team working on the NBC project. The team members are as follows:

Margaretha Haughwout: xmargarethax@gmail.com
- HVF Energy Consortium / Resource & Finance Council
- Resource Coordinator at HVF
- Artist / Graphic Designer

Zoey Krull: edibleoffice@gmail.com
- HVF Root Council / Board Member

Janelle Fitzpatrick: janellefavia@gmail.com
- HVF Energy Consortium / Resource & Finance Council
- Youth Education Coordinator

Ron Stanford: rstan1122@gmail.com
- HVF Root Council / Board Member
- Architect

London Breed: AAACC / london@aaacc.org
- Executive Director of the African American Art & Culture Complex (AAACC)

I also have a new problem and purpose statement, as my focus has shifted from the original project relating to Hayes Valley Farm.

Problem Statement:

New Buchanan Commons (NBC) is a recently proposed community farm whose organizers need to find ways to promote excitement and a sense of ownership among the existing community.

Purpose Statement:

The purpose of this study was to develop the necessary tools to enable the NBC organizers to create this level of excitement in the Buchanan Mall community.