Letter of Intent
Estimated Amount to be requested from the CSF: 
$9,155
Letter of Intent: 

Total Funds Requested from CSF: $9,155.00

Submitted by: Kamaka’ike/Natalie Bruecher, student and Perry Acworth, UW Student Farm, manager

UW Farm

The University of Washington Student Farm (UW Farm) is a student-run farm with three different growing spaces on campus. The proposed project would cultivate native gardens at a vacant growing space at the Mercer Court farm site, (plot 4.0) and renovate a permaculture planting at the Center for Urban Horticulture.

At UW Farm, our mission is to promote the study and practice of urban agriculture and sustainability. With this proposed project, we are working to incorporate food sovereignty values into our vision of sustainable agriculture. This directly addresses social and environmental aspect of sustainability.

Wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House

The Intellectual House is a longhouse-style facility that serves as a multi-service learning and gathering space for American Indian and Alaska Native students, faculty and staff. The purpose of the Intellectual House is to increase Native American students’ success at UW by preparing them for leadership roles in their tribal communities and the region.

Project Description:

The proposed project will be a collaboration between the UW Farm and the Intellectual House as well as other Native American groups on campus and in the community as we work together to design and plant two gardens of indigenous plants with significance in native food traditions.

Food Sovereignty is defined as “the inherent right of a community to identify their own food system”. As one step towards food sovereignty for the UW community, we hope to help create spaces where students, staff, faculty, and community members can learn about, grow, and consume traditional foods. While the details of garden planning and future events will be driven by our campus and community partners, we envision this project will incorporate educational events, community gatherings, art and storytelling. This project will be a collaboration between UW Farm staff/interns/volunteers, Native student groups on campus, staff and faculty partners, tribal Elders and community members. Campus and community partners will determine the specific design for the native garden.

UW Farm and the Intellectual House will meet with campus partners to discuss the development of this project, and to identify students interested in taking on a leadership role related to organizing and sustaining this project. We then plan to host tribal Elders at a larger ceremony, celebrating the creation of this space. When plant species are chosen, they may be purchased from the Society for Ecological Restoration Native Plant Nursery and local nurseries and seed resources.

Requirements and Preferences:

This project will contribute to biodiversity and restoration by reintroducing native plant species to the UW campus at two of the UW Farm’s growing sites. It will specifically focus on the reintroduction of edible and medicinal plant species, addressing social and environmental sustainability and issues related to food security.

This project will focus heavily on student leadership. UW Farm employs several student workers each year. The farm will hire a Native Garden Liaison position to work directly with members of the Intellectual House. The Intellectual House is able to hire students for Native Garden work. We plan to engage with Native American student groups on campus and envision this space to truly be student-created and led.

This project will focus on engaging Native American campus and community members to share knowledge, stories, song, and tradition among generations. The Native Gardens will also be the site for larger educational events that could bring in students from all backgrounds to learn about food sovereignty, indigenous foods, food security, social sustainability and the history of the Puget Sound land and peoples.

UW Farm has met with partners at the Intellectual House to discuss the feasibility of this project. With the Intellectual House and UW Farm’s ability to devote funds to hire student leaders, we can ensure commitment and continued work on this project in the future. Cultivating gardens on UW Farm’s space also ensures continued maintenance by UW Farm staff and student volunteers.

Timeline and Budget:

  • Spring 2019: Submit LOI to CSF committee.
  • July 2019: Hold community meeting/ceremony with tribal Elders and on-campus project partners. Lunch provided, gifts provided to Elders. Estimated attendance: 15-35 people. Activities - Storytelling, Educational activities, Initial site designs for Mercer Court plot and the improvement/renovation of the permaculture site at CUH. Estimated cost: $350
  • August & September 2019: Finalize garden designs, signage, educational content for websites, plan harvest and cooking events, educational materials design, production and harvest timelines, procurement of plants, purchase of hardscaping materials. Estimated cost $2,700 signage, educational materials, website update, $975 hardscaping, $400 plants
  • October & November 2019: Students, volunteers, farm manager and Intellectual house members install native gardens and signage at Mercer Court and CUH. A kick-off event will be held during Dawg Days with storytelling at the Intellectual House and tours of Native garden sites. Estimated attendance, 35-55 people. Over the following 8 weeks, the UW Farm will host 8 work parties to complete the work. Estimated attendance: 50-75 people.Estimated cost: Planting and installation $0.00. Storytelling and harvest event at Intellectual House $550, Harvest Event at UW Farm’s, Farm to Table event, $500.   
  • Ongoing, post project completion: Continued involvement of community partners and UW Farm students/interns/volunteers to maintain the garden spaces. Ongoing community events, medicinal and crop harvests and meals, that allow students involved in farming and sustainability to connect with and learn from Native People and learn about the cultivation and significance of indigenous foods. Estimated exposure due to the website information, permanent signage, annual work parties and harvest events: 40,000+ people Estimated cost: Future garden maintenance, plantings and activities will be absorbed into regular seasonal production for the UW Farm and Intellectual House programming. $0.00

Total Funds Requested from CSF: $9,155.00

  • Native Garden Liaison: 10 hrs./week during Summer and Fall quarters (23 weeks @ $16/hr.) $3,680
  • One-time purchase of materials: $5,475

 

 

Contact Information
Primary Contact First & Last Name: 
Kamaka’ike/Natalie Bruecher, Student Lead Intellectual House
Email: 
bruecher@uw.edu
Full Proposal
This will display after the CSF committee has reviewed and approved your LOI, and after you have received the link to edit your application.
Executive Summary: 

The proposed project will be a collaboration between the UW Farm and the Intellectual House as well as other Native American groups on campus and in the community as we work together to design and plant gardens of indigenous plants with significance in native food traditions.

The proposed project would provide on-campus space(s) for students involved with the Intellectual House to plant, grow learn and have access to culturally significant foods as a form of social sustainability and food sustainability:

  • wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Garden at Mercer Court farm site would be at the intersection of Pacific and Boat Streets: “B” plot, measurements: 75’ x16’, Currently vacant – no plants growing there.
  • wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Garden at the Center for Urban Horticulture would be the current “I” Plot, measures 20’ x 30’
  • Native (perennial) Permaculture garden - Renovating a previous CSF-funded permaculture planting with native perennial plants, 40’x15’.

This project addresses a number of issues related to social and environmental sustainability on the UW campus:

  1. Food Sovereignty. Food sovereignty is defined as the “(inherent)right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.” – Declaration of Nyéléni, the first global forum on food sovereignty, Mali, 2007

    As one step towards food sovereignty for the UW community, we hope to help create spaces where students, staff, faculty, and community members can learn about, grow, and consume traditional foods.
     

  2. This project also addresses issues of food insecurity and native peoples. Food insecurity “is a growing public health problem for college students, with significant potential for adverse effects on both physical and mental health, and functioning. Food insecurity is defined as, “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways” due to a lack of money or other resources.” – American Journal of Public Health Student hunger on campus: Food insecurity among college students and implications for academic institutions.
     
  3. This project will contribute to biodiversity and restoration by reintroducing native plant species to the UW campus at two of the UW Farm’s growing sites. It will specifically focus on the reintroduction of edible and medicinal plant species, addressing food sovereignty, food insecurity, access to healthy foods, and will increase amount of food grown on campus. These activities address social and environmental sustainability issues.
     
  4. This project will focus heavily on student leadership. UW Farm employs several student workers each year. The farm will hire a Native Garden Liaison position to work directly with members of the Intellectual House. The Intellectual House is able to hire students for Native Garden work. We plan to engage with Native American student groups on campus and envision this space to truly be student-created and led.
     
  5. This project will focus on engaging Native American campus and community members to share knowledge, stories, song, and tradition among generations. The Native Gardens will also be the site for larger educational events that could bring in students from all backgrounds to learn about food sovereignty, indigenous foods, food security, social sustainability and the history of the Puget Sound land and peoples.

UW Farm has met with partners at the Intellectual House to discuss the feasibility of this project. With the Intellectual House and UW Farm’s ability to devote funds to hire student leaders, we can ensure commitment and continued work on this project in the future. Cultivating this garden on UW Farm’s space also ensures continued maintenance of the space by UW Farm staff and student volunteers. The UW Farm also has a system for liability, food safety protocols and harvest tools and food storage. The Intellectual House has a cooking facility, food storage and areas for teaching food cooking lessons. Both facilities have space for saving seeds and hosting events.

Total amount requested from the CSF: 
$14 405
This funding request is a: 
Grant
Budget: 
ItemCost per ItemQuantityTotal Cost
Project Completion Total: 
$14 405
Sustainability Challenge: 
  1. The sustainability problem (statement of need), be sure to discuss the local context of the problem if your project addresses a broader sustainability concern.
    Food Sovereignty is defined as “the inherent right of a community to identify their own food system”. As one step towards food sovereignty for the UW community, we hope to help create spaces where students, staff, faculty, and community members can learn about, grow, and consume traditional foods.
     
  2. How your project addresses the sustainability problem
    This project will contribute to biodiversity and restoration by reintroducing native plant species to the UW campus at two of the UW Farm’s growing sites. It will specifically focus on the reintroduction of edible and medicinal plant species, addressing food sovereignty, food insecurity, access to healthy foods, and will increase amount of food grown on campus. These activities address social and environmental sustainability issues.
Explain how the impacts will be measured: 

Measuring will occur through recording the following data:

Volunteer hours – all time contributed to building gardens, planting, growing produce, harvests and working on the plots is recorded in a Volunteer log. Total hours, # of students and demographics will be collected via a sign-up questionnaire (have this on the farm page already).

Harvest amounts - All produce grown will be weighed and recorded into records for the UW Farm and shared with the Intellectual house. Written as part of Farm’s annual report and shared with campus/public. For example, in 2018 5 lbs. of Ozette potatoes were grown at Mercer Court. This lead to 80 lbs. of potatoes that were harvested along with 128 pounds of Dakota squash from 25 seeds.

# of individuals in attendance each year at the three annual educational events (Symposium, Dawg Daze, Farm To Table) that will be part of this project.

# of Indigenous Recipes collected for incorporation into the UW Farm Newsletter as shared by the Intellectual House, to campus/public, archived on websites

# and Varieties of plant seeds saved and success of seed saving recorded each year

Education & Outreach: 
  1. How will the UW community find out about your project?
    • Update UW Farm and Intellectual House websites to include grant projects tab and list all CSF projects including this one
    • Utilize UW Farm and Intellectual House facebook pages and Instagram accounts for publicity and documentation of progress and involvement
    • Include updates and involvement activities via The Weekly Dirt farm newsletter to document and publicize progress, including tribal recipes and crops 
    • Attend campus events (tabling) such as Earth Day and Dawg Daze to promote program
  2. How will the UW community become involved in and/or support your project?
    The UW Farm and Intellectual House will co-host three annual events for hands-on learning to educate, feed, empower and involve students/campus/the public about this project:
    • Indigenous Food and Ecological Knowledge Symposium, every April
    • NEW Dawg Daze involvement – host Share in the Harvest, every September, harvest team participation and preparing a community meal at the Intellectual House
    • Farm To Table community meal event hosted by UW Farm every year in late October with seed saving activities

In addition, there are over 15 classes (over 500 students) that intersect with related topics that visit the farm, have labs, and come for field trips to learn more about biodiversity, indigenous crops and traditions, food access, nutrition, farming, etc.

Over 240 Service-Learners per year help on the farm as part of class assignments. They would be involved via the Carlson Center but are all supervised on UW Farm sites.

The UW Farm and Intellectual House together are visited by many individuals. Both organizations host volunteer work parties, have an open-door policy for those that visit for personal reasons or for work, participate in events such as MLK Day of Service, CSA shareholders, alumni, conferencing, meetings, events, etc. - we are places that are open to the public and welcome involvement.

Farm Field Trip Youth education programs led by UWBG staff at CUH every April-May and Sept-October. This totals approximately 200+ k-4 youth and local K-4 teachers that will learn about native cultures, foods, etc.

Intellectual House educational activities are numerous. This project dovetails into events seamlessly.

Estimated exposure due to the website information, permanent signage, annual work parties and events: 40,000+ people

Student Involvement: 

Food grown at the Gardens will directly solve problems of food insecurity at the Intellectual House.

Cultural traditions related to food for tribes will be preserved through active sharing of indigenous recipes, medicinal knowledge, tribal planting and harvest methods, and significant plant varieties and their seed will be kept alive through living specimens and seed saving.

Students participating in the growing of crops and caring for perennial plants will learn-hands-on about how to grow food for themselves and will at the very least take home an awareness of food and social sustainability issues.

Carlson Center is the largest source for the project, along with Intellectual House members. The UW Farm hosts, on average 60 service-learning volunteers per quarter including the summer. In addition, we recruit many more via the UW ‘Trumba’ on-line calendar, facebook (3,500 followers), Instagram (1,400 followers), our weekly newsletter (1,349 subscribers), website page and foot traffic thru and by the farm sites every day. We also have over 50 active volunteers from the community that are students, recent alumni and individuals.

Timeline: 
TaskTimeframeEstimated Completion Date
Supplementary Documents : 
Year: 
Amount Awarded: 
$14,405
Project Longevity: 

Timeline:

  • Spring 2019: Submit LOI to CSF committee.
  • July 2019: Hold Community Meeting/ceremony with tribal Elders and on-campus project partners. Lunch provided, gifts provided to Elders. Estimated attendance: 15-35 people. Activities - Storytelling, Educational activities, Initial site designs for Mercer Court plot and the improvement/renovation of the permaculture site at CUH.
  • August & September 2019: Finalize garden designs, signage, educational content for websites, plan harvest and cooking events for fall quarter, educational materials design, production and harvest timelines, procurement of plants, purchase of hardscaping materials.
  • October & November 2019: Students, volunteers, farm manager and Intellectual house members install native gardens and signage at Mercer Court and CUH. Information and participation created due to a kick-off event during Dawg Daze. Storytelling at the Intellectual House and tours of Native garden sites and sampling foods grown in 2019 from current sites. Estimated attendance, 35-55 people. Also, over the following 8 weeks, the UW Farm will host 8 work parties to complete the work as recruited through the Intellectual House and Carlson’s Service-Learning program. Estimated attendance: 50-75 people.            
  • Ongoing, post grant: Continued involvement of community partners and UW Farm students/interns/volunteers to maintain the garden spaces. Ongoing community events, medicinal and crop harvests and meals, that allow students involved in farming and sustainability to connect with and learn from Native People and learn about the cultivation and significance of indigenous foods. See below.
Project status: 
Active: Planning phase