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Squash & Vine: Connecting the Food CommunityTotal cost to complete: $50,000 Donations to date: $0 Remaining funds needed: $50,000 0.00% funded Date needed by: December 1, 2009  Squash & Vine: Connecting the Food Community: Berkeley, CAAt a time when our economy is weak, salmonella outbreaks are common, farmers are disappearing, and climate change threatens, it is more necessary than ever to critically examine our food system. The United States agricultural system has gradually evolved away from the celebrated system of sustenance envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, who believed, “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens." Today, farmers rarely enjoy a profit, are disconnected from the people eating their food, and have no easy means to support or learn from one another. Additionally, consumers eager to eat fresh and healthy food are not sure where to turn, and retailers committed to sourcing locally face an upward battle finding producers and encouraging people to consider the value of food beyond its cost. Many of these problems stem from difficulties participants face connecting and sharing information throughout the food supply chain, and systems built to address these issues focus only on a small section of this exchange. A Master's project at the UC Berkeley School of Information, Squash & Vine, hopes to address these issues. This project is a suite of tools focused around a new online social network built to aid communication and information sharing between consumers, producers, and retailers (e.g. restaurants and grocery stores) involved in the food community. Squash & Vine will provide new avenues for participants to share information and understand each other's connected problems while, at the same time, increasing transparency and accountability within the food system itself. To learn more about the project, visit www.squashandvine.org. We can also send you our Bears Breaking Boundaries White Paper. Project mission:Promote Transparency and Lower Barriers to Eating Locally Our solution should promote transparency by clearly linking all of the participants involved in a specific food sale, including producers, retailers, and distributors. It should lower barriers that consumers’ face by helping them eat seasonally, connect to and communicate with producers whose practices reflect their values, and find retailers who source locally. Encourage New and Struggling Farmers Our solution should provide tools to help producers share resources and exchange advice and ideas, with an emphasis on encouraging new producers to participate and seek help. It should also create clear channels of communication between producers, consumers, and retailers. This would allow producers to let others know of the struggles they face and to exchange information more easily with retailers to whom they sell. It would also encourage consumers to express their appreciation for the work put into their food, feedback that farmers both want and deserve. Encourage Political Awareness Our solution should promote discussion among all of the participants in the food system, allowing people to be more informed and aware of political barriers and their respective solutions. It should leverage both strong and weak ties and personal connections to help people become properly informed, organize around issues, and mobilize to take action. Foster Delight Our solution should emphasize the pleasure of personal connection and foster interactions that delight. It should allow people to explore the story behind their food in a fun, engaging way. As design strategist Patrick W. Jordan emphasizes, people want “products that offer something extra; products that are not merely tools but 'living objects' that people can relate to; products that bring not only functional benefits but also emotional ones.” (2002, p. 6) Our solution should motivate people to participate and to support each other by bringing this emotional benefit to the surface. Required resources:
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