Enhancing the ASU Grow Project

As described in my Food Security and Arizona post, Arizona State University has a wealth of sustainability programs and initiatives in place. One that I am personally intrigued by is ASU Grow, a community garden where members are allotted cost-free plots to grow and harvest in return for volunteering to clean and maintain the natural areas of campus.

While I would like to be involved in ASU Grow, I have a few concerns as well. One is that I am not in a good position time-wise to join a community garden at the moment. Another larger concern is that I do not know how to grow anything. Likewise, I have not been a part of a community garden and do not fully understand the experience. However, I am interested in taking action to support food security and my local community. This has lead me to design a potential enhancement to the ASU Grow program, which could be implemented to allow people like me to get involved in the community garden, while allowing existing members to increase their participation and rewards.

To begin, let's review how the ASU Grow system currently operates.

• A community member volunteers four hours per month
• In return, the community member is allotted a plot to grow and harvest

This system is excellent for people who both care about food security and are intrinsically rewarded by the act of gardening. I imagine that the current membership of ASU Grow primarily consists of skilled hobby gardeners. However, I think I have a solution that will encourage people who have a community involvement interest, but not the gardening skills, time, or desire, to become involved in the program, while also rewarding the skilled gardeners.

As an aside, I like how ASU Grow does not involve direct exchanges of money. Especially in the U.S., it seems that people are fast to throw money at problems rather than actively becoming involved in implementing solutions. While funding is important and has its place, it is not a part of ASU Grow and does not belong there.

Therefore, my solution for the gardening-averse is not as simple as paying to harvest others' crops or buying them at the market. Instead, I'll start at the four hours of monthly volunteering. I think every member of ASU Grow should do this in order to participate. Four hours a month is next to nothing in the scheme of one's life, but the hours can add up to make a big difference when many people volunteer. So, if all members agree to volunteer, then our next challenge is to handle the fact that some people do not want to be gardeners, although they may still like to consume fresh, organic, locally grown food.

My answer in this case is to allow such members to split their allotted plots with the avid gardeners. The avid gardeners would handle all of growing and harvesting on their own plot, as well as the gardening-averse member's plot. At harvest time, one half of the gardening-averse member's plot is retained by the avid gardener. Hence, the avid gardener gets 50% more land and the opportunity to participate more in the intrinsically motivating hobby that they already have and are very skilled at. The gardening-averse member still volunteers at the same level, does not grow anything, but receives one-half plot of yield at harvest, thus fulfilling the needs for community involvement and locally-grown food.

Now let's review the revised system.

• All members volunteer four hours per month
• All members are allotted one plot of land
• Members who prefer gardening may grow and harvest their full plot
• Members who prefer not to garden may team with a gardener who will handle the growing and harvesting of the full plot. Half of the yield belongs to the gardener and half belongs to the member who was originally provided with the plot. 

I see this as a potential win-win situation, since the inputs and outputs are balanced to match each members' efforts and desires. The outcomes of the revised system follow.

Gardener

• volunteers four hours per month
• receives one full plot to grow and harvest
• teams with other member and grows on an additional full plot
• receives own plot plus an additional half plot at harvest

Non-gardener

• volunteers four hours per month
• receives one full plot to grow and harvest, but does not perform gardening
• teams with other member who will perform gardening
• receives one-half plot at harvest

I believe that this system is a potential way to increase participation in programs like ASU Grow by encouraging members who are interested in volunteering and receiving locally-grown food, but do not personally have gardening skills or interests. It also benefits gardening members by providing them with extra land to grow on, which they would not have otherwise had access to.