This public-private partnership project became a reality after the COVID-19 pandemic and Winter Storm Uri made clear the vulnerabilities in Dallas' food system. Other states around the country have started to develop and adopt food plans that have shown improvement, and this project aims to answer the question:
How might we create a more resilient, accessible, local, and nutritious food system?
Context Building
After conducting a literature review of existing food plans across the country, as well as food plan frameworks like those developed at the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, we began mapping out the State of the Dallas food system using a two pronged approach to ensure we could understand dependencies, barriers, and opportunities.
I developed an interactive value-network map to visualize the relationships and interactions between various stakeholders in the food system. This was to help identify key areas for intervention and collaboration.
This study was supported by a geograhic map that visualized the locations of food deserts, food production sites, and food distribution centers across Dallas and Dallas County.
Stakeholder Engagement
We developed a unique and customized research method to engage with stakeholders through this process, with the aim to understand more about their needs, barriers, and wants. These aligned perfectly with our breakdown of the pillars in the food system, so we could synthesize findings effectively.
The research method was developed to gather findings by people sketching and writing their throughts on the sheet, during lunch.
Current Focus
The project is currently focused on understanding the current state of the Dallas-Dallas County food system, and visualizing it in a simple and effective manner. We have been working closely with Dallas County, the City of Dallas, the North Texas Food Bank, and various other stakeholders to ensure that the plan is comprehensive and effective. Our next steps involve refining and verifying our initial findings with stakeholders, and to start building teams to tackle the food system"s various problems.
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