AWD 3302: Project Files

Title: Project 1 Annotated Bibliography

Author: Sydnee Mizuno

Date:

Electrical engineering is a broad field that can cover anything from artificial intelligence, to cutting edge healthcare solutions, to personal electronics. There are countless other applications in this discipline, but the end goal is the same – to improve the overall quality of life. One way that engineers are trying to achieve this goal is by designing and implementing solutions to help improve the production and distribution of fresh food. While the lack of access to food is a global problem, it can especially affect urban areas. And as time goes on, the population will only to continue to grow and increase the severity of this problem. While the quantity of available food is certainly important, the quality should be considered too; to feed a hungry community, bringing in more fast food chains is not a healthy solution. This is where electrical engineers can help. By using skills from their discipline, they can create innovative technology to grow and deliver fresh produce year round. This technology already exists here in Boston and Cambridge, and it is led by startups that have visions for a healthier future.^[i.n.]

Vanni, O. (2016, June 22). Boston's Budding Agricultural Tech Cluster Has a Growing Problem to Solve. BostInno. Retrieved from http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/06/22/boston-agriculture-and-food-tech-companies/

The site BostInno, which covers local news about technology and startups, gives an overview of the numerous food-related challenges in the world. There is a spectrum of issues from malnutrition and obesity to food scarcity and starvation. Within the U.S., 14 percent of households - translating to 17.4 million of them - throughout the U.S. experienced food insecurity at some point in 2014 (1). In both the U.S. and the rest of the world, the population will only grow and worsen this problem. Thankfully, many companies are currently looking for solutions, including two local startups. Grove Labs in Somerville created a product that allows people to grow produce in their own homes. Freight Farms in Boston repurposed shipping containers to grow crops. This article is helpful in spotlighting the different local companies that are solving today's food issues with engineering skills.Interested readers could click through the links provided in the article to find more in-depth information about each company in order to join the solution.

Subbaramann, N. (2015, April 12). Somerville's Grove Labs Wants to revolutionize fresh food. Boston Globe. Retrieved from https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/04/11/somerville-grove-labs-wants-revolutionize-fresh-food/g4M3EqLuJhRl63OWNiP9wJ/story.html

The Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper Boston Globe ran an article about the company Grove Labs and its revolutionary approach to fresh food. Starting in a fraternity room at MIT, founders Jamie Byron and Gabe Blanchet created an indoor aquaponics system and garden. They eventually took this hobby and turned it into a well-funded business. The current working prototype uses well-designed smart lighting and sensors to monitor the growing conditions within the system, all of which feed data into a smartphone app (1). Not only does the article show Grove Labs' success in numbers with its $2 million funding and 50 early customers, it also features a consumer's positive opinion. Alexi Conine, who lives in the South End of Boston, praises the Grove Labs' product for providing fresh food regardless of the season. This is especially important in a city like Boston with its record of cold, snowy winters that make farming difficult.This article provides Grove Labs' background, product reviews, and product features that could positively influence potential customers to buy a system and reap its benefits.

Here and Now Staff. (2015, February 23). Freight Farms: How Boston Gets Local Greens, Even When Buried in Snow. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/23/388467327/-freight-farms-grow-local-flavor-year-round

NPR's food blog "The Salt" explores how the Boston startup Freight Farms has impacted the local food space. In 2010 the co-founders Jon Friedman and Brad McNamara looked for ways to grow food anywhere. They came up with the idea to use shipping containers as controlled farming environments. Using digital technology, systems that include pumps, irrigation, LEDs, nutrients, and pH levels can be remotely monitored and controlled. This article clearly endorses Freight Farms' solution to healthy food distribution in urban areas. It presents the farmers Shawn and Connie Cooney as satisfied customers. With their four shipping containers, the Cooneys can grow the same amount of produce as on four acres of land. And with the climate controls, they can grow produce every day of the year. NPR's article demonstrates how technology has provided these farmers with the capability to manage a profitable business in a city to the benefit of all.

Schoenfeld, B. (2011, September 21). How the Farm-to-Table Movement Is Helping Grow the Economy. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220357

Award-winning author and television writer Bruce Schoenfeld discusses the benefits of fresh, locally grown food. Besides the obvious health advantages of accessible agriculture, there are also major economic advantages. In Seattle, small farms are making $10,000 to $1 million anually. In Cleveland, there is the potential to generate $750 million if the city grows just 5% of the total food it consumes. The farm-to-table movement creates jobs and revenue from farm work and the sale and distribution of produce. This movement is not just for fancy restaurteurs; many markets exist near lower income neghborhoods that provide access to healthy food at a steep discount.With the numerous examples of economic prosperity resulting directly from local agriculture, Schoenfeld strongly supports the growth of it. This article is a good source for readers interested in learning about the economic effects of locally grown food. It could also inspire them to investigate innovations in this food movement or even create their own.

Bellows, A., Brown, K., &Smit, J. (2004). Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture. Community Wealth. Retrieved from http://community-wealth.org/content/health-benefits-urban-agriculture

Members of the Community Food Security Coalitions's North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture present research on the practical health benefits of farming in the city (1). When there is easier access to fresh food, community members are more likely to eat healthily. Food security is also increased with this access; when there is personal interaction between a consumer and a local producer, instead of say a massive supermarket, there is an increase inknowledge and commitment to healthy, sustainable, and secure food products and practices (5). Small scale agriculture also provides economic advantages by saving household food dollars. This paper is a comprehensive source of arguments supporting the practice of urban agriculture.^[i.n.]