Waste for Food Program Plan NWACC EMPACTS PROJECT Have you ever had the desire to help the less fortunate, but didn t know where to begin? The following outlines a program that allows them to mutually help themselves while enhancing the sanitation of our local environments. I. Program Description: a. Urbanization of Northwest Arkansas has just hit a high point. Projects to widen roads, build sidewalks and bike trails, and embellish main focus areas of cities have been ongoing for almost half a decade. NWA s metropolitan area (Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville) has seen a population growth averaging at 8.3% between 4/2010-7/2014 with an average increase of 25 people per day. Accompanying the growth of a city is an increase in poverty levels, and NWA is no exception with an average of 19.2% increase between the years of 2009-2013. b. This project is intended to encourage the cleaning of our counties by picking up and sorting recyclable materials in exchange for fresh produce. Its target audience is mainly the lower income households and/or homeless families of a given area. c. We know that the project can work because it is successful in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. The program began in 1991, when a surplus of vegetable production made it difficult for farmers to sell their product. According to Bonde.com.br, by 2007 the program had already recovered over 45 thousand tons of waste from ending up in landfills. The treehugger.com website says It's a win-win situation: surplus food doesn't get wasted, materials don t end up in landfills, [and] people eat vegetables and healthy food. Curitiba is really the green capital of Brazil.
d. Here is a link that gives a very short and basic understanding of how this could work: http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/the-city-of-curitiba-cashes-your-waste-forsurplus-food.html II. Landscape Survey: a. We are hoping to include multiple groups and have an open relationship between all. Hopefully, we can create an open connectedness in communication between all participants to increase the sufficiency and productivity of the help we do. i. Groups that could potentially help with our cause: 1. Walmart- 2. J.B Hunt- 3. Procter and Gamble- 4. Keep Arkansas Beautiful- 5. Waste Management- 6. George s/tyson/conagra Foods- 7. Goodwill/The Salvation Army/Habitat for Humanity- 8. Local Farmers- 9. City Counsel/County Government- 10. TRG Recycling Group/Rogers Recycling Center- 11. Other Non-Profit Organizations- providing ideas a. The One Inc. - in Little Rock, Ar.: +1 501-955-3444 http://theoneinc.org
III. Staff Audit: a. We would like to have all staff and volunteers who will potentially be involved to be brought into discussions at an early stage of planning to gather more ideas and other perspectives. The more suggestions that are at the beginning the more potential problems that can be avoided throughout the process. b. We are currently in the process of finding a way to get members of the community interested and involved with the startup. This includes trying to establish a working relationship with Dr. Chris Huggard, who runs the Service Learning program for students, at NWACC. IV. Perform an Audit of the Below Poverty Families and Homeless Community: a. We would like to include the point of views of our target group so that we are better informed and prepared for what their needs are, and not merely assuming that we know what they need. V. Planning Team: a. There needs to be multiple leaders at the helm. Someone to lead the physical side and someone to lead the technology side of things. The physical being setting up meetings and organizing the cleanup sites; while the technical side of things may be setting up GIS technology (Geographic Information Systems) and different webpages to help spread the word and the locations of the program and events. VI. Target Goals and Outcomes: a. The goals of the program are to first provide a way for the below poverty families and homeless community access to perform a simple to moderate task in exchange for multiple kinds of produce (e.g. fruits/vegetables). The second goal is to clean up much
needed dump sites, street trash, job sites, random trash and numerous other forms of waste throughout the cities, counties, states or nation. The magnitude of how much this program can help is only limited by the imagination and willpower of those involved. We can quite literally change the national poverty and homeless statistics of the peoples living among us. b. The outcomes of the program as stated previously are only limited by those involved. Some of them include: cleaner cities, symbiotic relationships between corporations, feeding the less fortunate, community involvement, possibly a large amount of benefits for the environment and all that are involved. VII. Timeline: a. There is no timeline for a finished product, however, this is part of a school project for which we must have a clear idea and projected outcome of what can be expected by December 10, 2015. As the program grows in awareness and participants then a proper plan of action can be set up to keep things running smoothly. VIII. Action Plan: a. At the moment there are only three people involved in the idea for this program who work together, but have individual tasks. The tasks can be further divided as more people become involved. For now they are as followed: i. Kyle Skerjanec: 1. Phone: 479-721-1282, E-mail: kyleskerjanec@gmail.com 2. Tasks: Physical lead tasked with contacting the necessary outlets needed for information and networking connections, setting up meetings,
ii. Shay Harris: NWACC EMPACTS PROJECT creating and refining documents including our timeline, and delegating additional responsibilities as they arise. 1. Phone: 479-657-5517, E-mail: saharris556@gmail.com 2. Tasks: Technology lead tasked with creating maps of the areas that we iii. John Copeland: will be operating in with the use of GIS and GPS technologies. This includes the placement of tentative locations where we will be setting up the Trading Station/s. The maps will give a clear depiction of the overall operation within the given municipalities. 1. Phone: 479-935-5016, E-mail: john.copeland99@yahoo.com 2. Tasks: Include researching for possible sites of interest, necessary information for upcoming events or meetings, as the program builds he will become responsible for leading their advertisement. IX. Wish List or Best Projected Outcome: a. If money were no obstacle and we had access to unlimited resources then this is where we would like to see the program succeed: i. The program would become a self-sustaining charity that is recognized and accepted by the majority of city officials at all levels. ii. It would see the national hunger statistic levels diminish drastically. iii. Symbiotic synchronicity between all parties involved in the program s success. iv. We would be able to get more companies on board to donate/supply more than produce. (e.g. meat, dairy, school supplies, toiletries, etc.)
X. This is what Curitiba has stationed around the city to help speed up the sorting process: