Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This research is grounded in sustainability, food, and people. It is a case study exploring how to equitably measure the needs and impacts of people sustaining food systems at the peri-urban agricultural interface. The goal of this research was to develop a framework for measuring the social impact of stakeholders associated with The Good Acre, a food hub in Falcon Heights (suburb of Saint Paul), Minnesota, using a community-design approach. This community-design approach incorporated participatory action research principles, and included interviews, routine meetings, focus groups, surveys, follow-up emails, and compensation for time and knowledge shared. The measuring of social impact involved a social organizational life cycle assessment, which is an emerging methodology used to measure progress in social equity for the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. The methodology and framework that resulted from this study is an exploratory proof of concept for modeling the reciprocal relationships stakeholders have with organizations, communities, and systems in the context of life cycle assessment and sustainability. Ultimately, this research could be used to inform more targeted and equitable service delivery for The Good Acre. Future opportunities for research are numerous and include applying temporal or geographical data to the indicators to measure social impact, scaling up the framework to characterize the system as a whole, or applying the proof of concept to another organization.