The Collective Care Guide for Fields Corner

RO OT E D I N P L AC E

RO OT E D I N P L AC E :

THE COLLECTIVE CC OA L LRE C I VU E ICDAER E E TG

GUIDE FIELDS CORNER FIELDS CORNER

ABOUT

Rooted in Place is a neighborhood foodscape that simultaneously celebrates the multiplicity of cultural identities and fosters the community’s collective identity. Boston’s Fields Corner neighborhood is a multicultural mosaic, with a strong Vietnamese population alongside Cape Verdean, Portuguese, Haitian, Irish, and Subsaharan African immigrants.While Fields Corner is diverse, there exist gaps within organizing toward common goals across differences.

What if cultivating local, culturally-relevant food can help bridge these gaps? To start the dialogue, the project springboards off existing community food and advocacy initiatives, tethering their activities to the physicality of the landscape.The Rooted in Place Coalition forms multicultural collaboration across three groups: the community, the organizations, and finally, the developers and agencies. All three must work together against the challenges of displacement.

Spatially, zones at the thresholds between existing social anchors and proposed food growing sites bring the groups together.They tap into the productive potentials of various urban sites, transforming vacant yards into socially-vibrant bypasses, embankments into cultivated terraces, and mundane strip mall rooftops into rice paddies and vegetable gardens.

The growing of rice and other culturally relevant food in uncanny landscapes, such as rail embankments and mall rooftops, serves as a potent metaphor for challenging the perceptions of belonging and difference.Through the tending of the foodscape—a collective commons—the Fields Corner residents proudly identify with the ground on which they live.

KEY OF INPUTS COST

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LABOR

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INFRASTRUCTURE / MAINTENANCE

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LAND USAGE

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RECEIVE

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DISTRIBUTE

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

THE COALITION 1.0 COMMUNITY 2 . 0 O R G A N I Z AT I O N S 3.0 AGENCIES AND DEVELOPERS

1-2 3-4 4-5

THE FOODSCAPE 4 . 0 C U L T I V AT E LONG GREENHOUSE N U R S E RY TERRACE I N T E R C RO P P I N G POLE C O N TA I N E R RO O F TO P FRUITING TREE

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

5 . 0 A C C E S S O RY P R O D U C T I O N U N I T S

14

6.0 COMPOST

15

7.0 MARKET

16

8 . 0 R E N TA L S TAT I O N

17

1.0 COMMUNITY

1

UPCYCLED CINDERBLOCKS I R R I G AT I O N

5'

5'

' 10

' 10

C O M M U N I T Y G ARDEN

W H AT IS T H E F OOD S C APE C OM M U N I T Y L AN D T RU S T ?

COMMUNITY

AG DEV

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

CO MMUNIT Y LA ND T RUST

The Community Land Trust traditionally emphasizes affordable housing for low-income communities.The Foodscape Community Land Trust (FCLT) recognizes that people’s need for food is as fundamental as their need for shelter and that food is intimately tied to the landscape.The work of providing both can lead to jobs, sustenance and identity. Under the supervision of the FCLT, property is held in trust for the whole community and depends upon cooperative self-sufficiency and interdependence. The land is never sold, as it is held by the Trust, committed to maintaining the land and ensuring that it is used for the operations of the foodscape. Any profits earned from the leases goes back into the Trust to keep it functioning and to buy more land.

Individuals and families may rent out allotments within a shared garden away from their residence.

COMMUNTIY GARDEN

See page 12

LONG GR EENH OUS E 15

'

Long greenhouse are embedded with shared amenities, kitchens, seed nurseries, processing tools and machinery, and storage units.They act as armatures that stitch together and service the productive plots of land within a neighborhood block.

14

3.

60

The long greenhouses carry the components for the foodscape to be active all year. Production can be supported within the greenhouses themselves as well.

SHARED KITCHEN

ROW C U L T I V AT I O N

S TO R AG E P RO C E S S I N G

SEED N U R S E RY

R E F R I G E R AT I O N

See page 6 COMMUNITY

G A R A G E T R A N S F O R M AT I O N

RECYCLED W AT E R B O T T L E

' 24

COMMUNITY

'-

PLAZA

22

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a smaller, independent residential dwelling unit located on the same lot as a stand-alone family home (i.e. a triple decker or single family house). ADUs have the potential to increase housing affordability (both for homeowners and tenants), create a wider range of housing options within the community, enable seniors to stay near family as they age, and facilitate better use of the existing housing fabric in Fields Corner.

Springboarding off the concept of ADUs, Accessory Productive Units (APU) repurpose existing structures or attachments to buildings for the production, processing, or distribution of food.They fold food production directly into the neighborhood’s residential fabric.

12' - 15'

12

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

ACCESS ORY U NITS

AC C E S S O RY P RO D U C T I V E U N I T S ( A P U )

ACC ESSORY DWELL I N G U N I T S (AD U )

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

'

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

W I N D - P RO O GREENHOUSE W

30'

See page 14

P UBLIC EV ENT SPAC E S

Stations for renting cruiser carts are integrated with future initiatives for bike- and scooter-sharing. Cruiser carts, already used by many residents of Fields Corner, faciliate easier navigation through the foodsccape.

BLOCK

RESIDENTIAL BLOCK

C H E C K O U T B O OT H

C R U I S E R C A RT

AMENITIES

New public space allows the community to hold celebrations, pop-up events, markets, and other place-making activities.These spaces are anchored by schools, transit stations, cultivation zones, and other social places.

R E N TA L S TAT I ONNE ISG H B O R H O O D

See page 17

2

2.0 O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

3

Center of Healing,Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, grief, trauma and loss.

For the past 32 years, Fair Foods has provided healthy produce to low income families in the Boston Area. Our unique $2 Bag Program goes beyond emergency hunger relief, strengthening your dollar to make a healthy diet of fresh fruits and vegetables affordable.

Cape Verdean Association of Boston was formed with a mission to promote the power and the potential of the Cape Verdean community We make a difference in the Cape Verdean community by giving support to families, taking a role in violence prevention and by actively empowering our youth in politics and the election process.

We are a coalition of neighbors who protect and tend food forest parks in Boston.We have a four-part model: Food Forest Development, Community Land Trust, Stewardship Teams, , and Education.

The Dorchester Youth Collaborative engages high-risk young people in relationships and projects that promote their psycho-social development, as well as the health and safety of the community.

Our mission is to celebrate, preserve, and plant trees in Boston. At Speak for the Trees we’re gathering and sharing Bostonians’ stories about our trees. Like all stories, these tree stories join us together in our shared humanity.

Fields Corner Main Streets’ mission is to safeguard and advance the diverse character and economic vitality of Field’s Corner to better serve its residents and attract visitors. FCMS seeks to celebrate and preserve the accepting, safe, and dynamic community it serves.

The Dorchester Food Co-op makes healthy food accessible and advances economic opportunity through engagement opportunities for employment, ownership, and access to healthy food. We will serve and reflect the wide variety of cultural, racial, and socio-economic groups that make up the neighborhoods of Boston.

FOOD SECU RITY

FOOD DIST R IBUT IO N AN D D E L I V E RY PROG R AM S Food is central to the health of the health and identity of the community. A food delivery program ensures that all community members, especially more vulnerable residents, are able to access fresh, culturally-relevant food.The food grown in the neighborhood is produced primarily for the residents.The food is low cost due to localized production, organizations’ funding and the Foodscape Community Land Trust.

VietAID distributing free food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WIT H R ESID E N T S

Fair Food’s $2-A-Bag program

Fair Food’s community engagement event

W I T H AG E N C I E S A N D D E V E L O P E R S The coalition of nonprofit organizations oversee and direct the processes that involve local agencies and developers, ensuring that their future plans in the neighborhood are in agreement with the residents.The coalition also helps to articulate the roles of agencies and developers to the residents.

Agencies and developers who are owners of the large infrastructure envisioned for the foodscape directly work the organizations to negotiate the terms of use.

BRIDG ING

The organizations engage in active planning and organization that creates meaningful change, builds power of the collective, and develops leadership among community residents. On the ground, the organizations provide funding for maintenance and conception of the foodscape, hiring local residents and engaging volunteers.They also help to manage the distribution of the food produced in the foodscape to residents, taking into account particular needs of residents who may have a more difficult time accessing food (e.g. elderly residents, low-income residents, residents who are vulnerable to COVID-19, etc).

NO NP RO FIT FO O DSC A P E COA LIT ION

The Vietnamese American Initiative for Development’s (VietAID) mission is to build a strong Vietnamese community and a vibrant Fields Corner through the following measures: promoting civic engagement and community building; developing affordable housing and commercial space; providing small business technical assistance and microenterprise development; and offering high quality child care services.

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3.0 AGENCIES AND DEVELOPERS

5

W H AT IS A COMMU N I T Y B E N E FI T S AG R E E M E N T ?

STEPS BUILD the coalition

DEVEL O P ERS

RESEARCH facts and policy ENGAGE the neighborhood

MU NIC IPAL IT IES

The Rooted in Place Coalition is a necessary party to any CBA to ensure that the communtiy itself is engaged in its negotiation.

IDENTITY community priorities INDIVIDUA L RES IDENT S

EDUCATE decisions makers

B EN EF IT S TO INCLU D E FA ITH G RO U P S

Job training

Environmental benefits

Right-to-organize commitment

Neighborhood-serving commericial tenants (local businesses prioritized)

Funding for community foodscape

Community anchors and facilities (schools, childcare center, health clinic, etc)

APPROACH the developer

NO NP RO FITS

NEGOTIATE

HO U S ING ADVO C ATES L ANDS C A P E AR C HITEC T S

USE city processes and media

A RC HIT EC TS , P L A NNER S

C O MMUNIT Y BENEFIT S AGR EEMENT

A Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) is a contract between a developer and community-based organizations representing residents’ interests.The agreement spells out the benefits the community will receive in return for supporting the developer’s project in their neighborhood. National supermarket chains, such as Price Rite and Target in Fields Corner, are committed to local hiring and affordable pricing under the agreement.

W H O I S I N VO LV E D ?

SIGN the CBA SOURCE: Action Tank, Community Benefits Agreement Toolkit RO N A N PA R K

AGRICULT UR AL CO N S E RVAT I O N E AS E M E N T

EASEM ENTS

The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) helps to protect the health of the land by enabling private landowners, land trusts, and other entities to preserve the foodscape and restore, protect, and enhance it through long-term easements.The easements give the right of the coalitions to use or enter private land without necessarily posessing the land.These easements therefore make underutilized backyards, parking, and streets more productive for cultivation and social activities.

DITSON STREET SENIOR HOME

GROVER CLEVELAND SCHOOL

UE

E R AV EN

T

HEST

Food cooperatives emerge from the foodscape.The co-ops provide affordable food and remain committed to the needs of their members.The food co-op is grassroots VIETAID COMMUNITY CENTER initiative to build a community & worker-owned grocery store. Co-op members get to decide what foods and products are stocked on the shelves. Ultimately, the co-op model challenges the traditional food system by building a community and worker-owned asset that nourishes, employs, and reinvests in the local community.

BU SINESSES

With the introduction of the foodscape, businesses and restaurants can source food more locally and in a way that directs capital into the community.Waste can also be circulated back into the foodscape, with coordination with the coalition.

C O O P E R AT I V E S

DORC

LOC ALIZED F OOD S O U R C I N G AN D C OM PO S T I N G

MALL ROOFTOP CULTIVATION

G

IT

E

EN

FIELDS CORNER BRANCH LIBRARY

PROPOSED FOODWAY COALITION COMMUNITY CENTER

EV

A

AV

EN

U

E

6

LONG GREENHOUSE

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

15

METHOD

'

14

3.6

0

S I T UAT ED

SHARED KITCHEN

ROW C U L T I V AT I O N

S TO R AG E P RO C E S S I N G

PLAZA

NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK

7

SEED N U R S E RY

R E F R I G E R AT I O N

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

N U R S E RY

RICE

BASIL

FAVA B E A N S

C I L A N T RO

GARLIC

S OY B E A N

BLACK BEAN

C ABB AGE

KABOCHA SQUASH

ONION

TURBAN SQUASH

15 25 '

METHOD

'-

COMPOST P E AT M O S S , C O C O P E AT OR WOOD FIBRE

SAND

15' - 25' HUMUS

S E E D N U R S E RY

T R E E N U R S E RY

S I T UATE D

C O M M U N I T Y G A R D E N N U R S E RY

G ROV E R C L E V E L A N D S C H O O L

8

T E R R A C E C U L T I V AT I O N

COMMUNITY

WELL-DRAINED TERRACES

BASIL

C ABB AGE

C I L A N T RO

B O K C H OY

GARLIC

FAVA B E A N S

ONION

BLACK BEAN

C A R ROT S

S OY B E A N

KALE

KABOCHA SQUASH

TURBAN SQUASH

W AT E R R E T A I N I N G T E R R A C E S

I R R I G AT I O N

W AT E R I N L E T W AT E R O U T L E T

S O L A R PA N E L P O W E R E D

S I T UAT ED

METHOD

RICE

DITSON STREET SENIOR HOME

9

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

I N T E R C R O P P I N G C U L T I V AT I O N

BASIL

C ABB AGE

B O K C H OY

C I L A N T RO

FAVA B E A N S

GARLIC

BLACK BEAN

ONION

S OY B E A N

C A R ROT S

KABOCHA SQUASH

KALE

TURBAN SQUASH

PLANT WITH COMPANIONS

METHOD S I T UATE D

G ROV E R C L E V E L A N D S C H O O L

10

P O L E C U L T I V AT I O N

BLACK BEAN

S OY B E A N

KABOCHA

COMMUNITY

TURBAN SQUASH

5 5

-1

S I T UAT ED

METHOD

0'

NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK

11

-1

0'

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

C O N TA I N E R C U L T I V AT I O N

RICE

C ABB AGE

BASIL

B O K C H OY

C I L A N T RO

FAVA B E A N S

GARLIC

BLACK BEAN

ONION

S OY B E A N

C A R ROT S

KABOCHA SQUASH

KALE

TURBAN SQUASH

UPCYCLED CINDERBLOCKS

METHOD

I R R I G AT I O N

5'

5'

0'

-1

0'

-1

S I T UATE D

COMMUNTIY GARDEN

12

R O O F T O P C U L T I V AT I O N

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

THRESHER

8' B Y P RO D U C T: S T R AW A N D H U L L S

METHOD

RICE

D RY I N G O N P A V E M E N T

C O M P O S T A N D F E RT I L I Z E R S O I L W I T H C L AY PERLITE-CONCRETE DRAINAGE W AT E R P R O O F I N G B A R R I E R P O LY S T Y E M E A N D I N S U L AT I O N BUILDING CONCRETE SLAB

S I T UAT ED

P RO C E S S I N G / PA C K A G I N G

COMPOST

D RY I N G O N P A V E M E N T

STRIP MALL

13

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

FRUITING STREET TREE

METHOD

M U L B E R RY Morus alba

S I T UATE D

NEIGHBORHOOD BLOCK

14

A C C E S S O RY P R O D U C T I O N U N I T S

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

G A R A G E T R A N S F O R M AT I O N

22 '24

RECYCLED W AT E R B O T T L E

'

W I N D - P RO O F G R E E N H O U S E WA L L

METHOD

12' - 15'

12

'

S I T UAT ED

30'

RESIDENTIAL BLOCK

15

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

COMPOST

IN SITU BIN

METHOD

S T R AW B A L E BIN

LEAF LITTER

R I C E S T R AW A N D H U L L S

G R E E N WA S T E

COMMUNITY

EX SITU BIN

S I T UATE D

R E S TA U R A N T ON DORCHESTER

COMMUNITY GARDEN R O O F T O P C U L T I V A T I O N AT M A L L

16

STREET MARKET

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

F O L DA B L E S T RU C T U R E F O R F L E X I B L E D E P L OY M E N T

8'

METHOD

8'

12'

M B TA S TAT I O N

V I E TA I D C O M M U N I T Y C E N T E R

S I T UAT ED

G R O C E RY / R E S TA U R A N T

D O R C H E S T E R AV E N U E A N D G E N E VA AV E N U E

17

M B TA T R A I N S TAT I O N

COMMUNITY

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

AGENCIES & DEVELOPERS

R E N TA L S TAT I O N S

METHOD

C H E C K O U T B O OT H

C R U I S E R C A RT

S I T UATE D

B U S S TO P O N D O R C H E S T E R AV E N U E

VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY CENTER

18