The City of Holyoke is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Conway School of Landscape Design. During Conway’s winter term, three talented graduate students–Kyle Finnell, Sean Hagan, and Harrison Takeno Houser–prepared a study in support of the Holyoke’s food system, based on community engagement results, previously conducted research, and the student team’s research and analysis. The primary community partners for this project are the City of Holyoke, the Food Economy and Equity Council, Nuestras Raices, and Holyoke Community College (HCC). The goals of the partnership are to increase the food system’s resilience, increase local access to healthy food, and increase opportunities for food-related jobs in the community. This project aims to provide an additional framework for the city and its partners working toward these goals.
The Conway students’ report, A Spatial Analysis Supporting Holyoke’s Food System: Mapping Food Production, Composting, and Healthy Food Access, provides extensive recommendations and considers landscape elements needed to support indoor and outdoor growing, evaluates the diversity of public land, identifies needed infrastructure, and utilizes maps to illustrate concepts. The document not only provides the city with recommendations that will influence food policy and food equity in Holyoke but provides an excellent learning experience for the student team.
To view the pdf of the full final project, click here