Local Food Systems Design: Enabling Small Urban Farms in Dallas County
Project Background
Project Overview
Small urban farms across Dallas operate in isolation, with growers struggling to keep their operations financially afloat past their initial startup years. Most begin as grassroots neighborhood efforts to address local food insecurity, surviving on exhausting weekly farmers markets and shrinking charitable donations. While regional leaders want a more resilient food supply, small growers face significant systemic barriers, lacking formal distribution networks, commercial procurement connections, and clear guidance on how to grow.
The challenge was to determine how small urban farms can successfully participate in the broader Dallas-Dallas County food system. This required defining an incremental, step-by-step roadmap toward economic viability, balancing regional food security goals against the constraints of limited grower bandwidth, disconnects in municipal policy, and rigid institutional buying standards. This project aims to answer the question: How might we enable small urban farms to successfully participate in the larger Dallas-Dallas County Food System?
Research Methods
Literature Review
We analyzed urban agriculture frameworks from peer cities, zoning policies, and distribution channels.
We also drew on historical SMU field data, which included 300 community surveys, 8 focus groups, and 30 ethnographic interviews that led to the founding of Restorative Farms.
Multi-Site Farm Immersion
We conducted on-site field visits across four agricultural sites: Joppy Momma's Farm, Bonton Farms, Luna Farms, and Restorative Farms. We categorized each operation by land size, corporate structure, crop volume, and underlying mission. We selected Joppy Momma's Farm as our primary case study because it had deep historical roots in the surrounding Joppa neighborhood and clear ties to local family narratives
Community Field Intercepts
To understand how residents interacted with local farms, we designed field intercept protocols across three community settings:
Tha Neighborhood Kitchen: I administered a 4-hour questionnaire-based intercept study examining food acquisition patterns, round-trip travel times, and cooking habits.
John C. Phelps Center Fright Fest: Conducted 2 hours of exploratory, conversational intercepts with families attending a community festival.
Joppy Momma's 5K Run: Completed 3 hours of direct observation and contextual conversations during a farm-sponsored athletic event.
Across these field intercepts, we gathered qualitative food narratives, recorded neighborhood ZIP codes, and asked participants about their knowledge of local farms.
Target Populations
Our investigation addressed two interdependent participant groups:
Small Urban Farm Operators
Growers managing small acreage within city limits. These operators balance agricultural labor with civic goals. Their daily routines involve soil preparation, pest management, harvesting, and community outreach. They operate under limited budgets and rely on volunteer programs or workforce development grants.
Neighborhood Residents
Community members living in adjacent South Dallas zip codes, including 75216, 75217, and 75277. Many of these residents manage households, shop for family members, and commute across neighborhood boundaries for grocery shopping. They hold clear preferences regarding food preparation, valuing fresh meals because they contain fewer preservatives and allow direct oversight of ingredients. However, they face time constraints, transportation hurdles, and limited exposure to institutional farm initiatives.
Key Insights
Finding 1:
Successful participation is model-dependent rather than standardized
Our comparative farm visits showed that success cannot be measured by a single metric such as crop yield or wholesale revenue. Each farm addressed a distinct community need.
Finding 2:
During intercept interviews at Tha Neighborhood Kitchen, data showed 11.76% of community members were familiar with Joppy Momma's Farm. Most respondents lived within minutes of the site. The presence of physical farming infrastructure did not create neighborhood awareness. However, respondents demonstrated strong interest when told about the farm, confirming that an unreached audience lived nearby
Finding 3:
Resident engagement is relational rather than transactional
At the Joppy Momma's 5K event, every attendee we observed held a personal connection to the farm's founders or staff. People did not engage with the farm simply to buy heads of lettuce as if visiting a grocery store.
What Was Shipped: Prototype Testing & Results
Results
Our findings prompted a new design hypothesis: if we can communicate the personal stories of urban farms to nearby residents through familiar local spaces, community members will take measurable steps toward engagement.
We designed a physical storytelling installation installed at multiple public locations serving the Joppa community.
The physical display included:
A three-panel wire grid fixture displaying photographs of farm personnel.
Narrative pancaels detailing the history of Joppa and Kim's health recovery.
Physical recipe handouts featuring fresh collard green dip with an embedded QR code for cooking instructions.
A dedicated volunteer phone line prompt ("Text VOLUNTEERING to XXX-XXX-XXXX").
A physical paper sign-up clipboard for notifications about upcoming farm events.
Across the testing period, the prototype demonstrated clear community engagement:
60% of physical recipe handouts were taken by visitors.
A 15% increase was recorded in individuals expressing direct interest in farm missions and volunteering opportunities.
Recipe campaign funding reached 50% of the original financial target, showing direct willingness among community members to back farm initiatives.
40% form filled by visitors added their contact information to the physical event sign-up sheet.
Learning
This study demonstrated the importance of testing behavioral commitments rather than relying on self-reported intent. When surveyed, people consistently endorse healthy eating and express a willingness to support neighborhood farms. In practice, that support does not materialize through typical commercial retail transactions.
If conducting this study again, I would run comparative prototype tests in multiple community hubs, such as local barbershops, churches, and clinics, to measure engagement across different civic environments. The most valuable next step for the Food Plan Collaborative is to track whether library event sign-ups translate into sustained attendance at farm workshops, establishing a verified retention metric for community food initiatives.