Using Donnella Meadow's model for identifying leverage points we focused on thinking about Ron FInley's South L.A. gardening project within the greater food systems norm for context.
CONSTANTS, PARAMS, INDIVIDUALS : finley, city council, residents, volunteers, malnutrition persists
BUFFERS : ready availability of poor quality food
STRUCTURES : vacant lots/parkway availability
DELAYS : legal action against finley; community awareness
BALANCING PROCESS : increase in nutrition-related disease
REINFORCING PROCESSES : "if a kid plants kale, a kid eats kale" + 1 tomato yields seeds + volunteer access to food
INFORMATION FLOWS : understanding city land laws; access to info about healthy food + gardening techniques
RULES OF THE SYSTEM : food is free because people give their time; city mandates on parkway maintenance
POWER TO SELF-ORGANIZE : finley as positive, inclusive community leader; community, families come together
GOAL OF THE SYSTEM : "mitigate LA food deserts"
PARADIGMS : parkways are worthless, farming = countryside, good food is expensive, can't grow my own food.
POWER TO TRANSCEND PARADIGMS : community understanding of personal connection to where its food comes from.
