A comprehensive digital platform that transforms how community gardens operate, distribute food, and engage with their communities. By connecting garden managers, volunteers, and community members through one integrated system, we make fresh produce more accessible while ensuring garden sustainability.
Communities in food deserts lack consistent access to fresh, nutritious food due to the failure of traditional grocery stores and food distribution systems. Members of these communities often live miles from the nearest source of nutritious food, leading to negative effects on health and the environment.
9 of 10 Americans
don't eat the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables
Over
Americans live in food deserts.
While community gardens offer a promising solution, they often struggle with volunteer retention, consistent maintenance, and effective resource distribution. This leads to garden deterioration and ultimately fails to provide reliable food access to those who need it most.
See the
Solution
1
Volunteer Shortages
2
Lack of Interest
3
Inefficient Distribution
4
Difficult Coordination
We aim to understand how community gardens can effectively combat food deserts and explore how technology could enhance their impact. By investigating the challenges faced by community gardens and their stakeholders, including low-income families, volunteers, managers, and local organizations, our research sought to identify opportunities for technological intervention.
1
What are the main challenges facing garden managers and volunteers?
2
What methods do gardens use to encourage community involvement?
3
How do gardens coordinate with volunteers?
4
How can community members make better use of local gardens?
We conducted a targeted survey of garden managers and volunteers to understand the practical challenges of running and maintaining these vital community resources. The survey focused on exploring operational difficulties, community engagement strategies, volunteer coordination methods, and opportunities for improving local garden accessibility. By gathering firsthand insights from those directly involved in community garden initiatives, we aimed to ground our technological solution in real-world experiences and identify specific pain points that our app could address.
78%
of gardens have no centralized way to manage participation
88%
of gardens use paper notes, email, and/or phone calls to coordinate tasks
1
Current garden management systems don't support scalability or growth
2
Lack of clear communication channels hinders volunteer engagement
3
Limited organization discourages participants and creates accessibility issues for community members
4
Gardens are valued and serve crucial roles in food desert communities
David Martinez
David is a Del Valle high school science teacher who manages the local community garden in his spare time. With six years of home gardening experience but no formal management training, he took over when the previous manager left. He's passionate about the garden's community impact but struggles to balance it with teaching.
David uses basic digital tools: Google Calendar for scheduling, spreadsheets for inventory, and Facebook for updates. He documents through photos and relies on experienced volunteers for guidance.
Personal smartphone
Google Calendar
Group texts
Email chains
Facebook groups
Basic spreadsheet
Home gardener for 6 years, first-time garden manager, lives 9 miles from the nearest supermarket.
David views the garden as both community service and an educational resource. He aims to create a self-sustaining system with reliable volunteers that needs minimal oversight. His science background drives his interest in environmental education.
Time management
Volunteer coordination
Garden knowledge gaps
Disorganized systems
Task prioritization
Limited availability
Creates weekly task lists
Learns through online resources
Maintains equipment inventory
Teaches gardening classes
Networks with local organizations
Documents garden progress
Ideation
Phase
High
Task creation and assignment
Volunteer schedule tracking
Communication system
Simple gamification elements
Task viewing and completion
Pickup/delivery selection
Recipe generation
Mid
Inventory management
Skill progression system
Inventory forecasting
Food waste reduction tips
Delivery route optimization
Low
Multi-garden coordination
Advanced analytics
Community events calendar
Nutrition information
Knowledge sharing platform
Partner organization integration
Pain Point
"What can I do once I get my box?"
"Not enough info on tasks I assign"
Home screen overwhelming (Volunteer)
"How do I level up in lessons?"
Opportunity
Feature recipe builder more prominently
More tasks on screen at once
Make tasks page the volunteer home page
Add "recommended lessons" section
Our
Solution
Blum connects community gardens, volunteers, and food-insecure residents through a unified platform that simplifies garden management, incentivizes volunteer participation, and ensures efficient food distribution through a periodic produce box.
When users create an account in Blum, they select an experience that is tailored to their needs, whether they are a manager, volunteer, or a community member.
Customers get a preview of the produce included in their upcoming box with the option to include the contents in recipes that are generated in a way that minimizes food waste.
Customers can have boxes delivered by volunteers on bikes or held in a safe locker system until it is picked up. Either way, fresh produce is always accessible.
A hefty suite of management features means that those running community gardens can do what they love to do, rather than focus on organizing.
Garden tasks are all found in one place so everybody knows what can be done and can help where they are most needed. A central communication channel throughout the whole garden keeps it running like a well-oiled machine.
Intuitive task management with engaging skill progression allows garden helpers to easily sign up for shifts, track their contributions, and develop new abilities while connecting with their community.
There shouldn't be any barriers to contributing to the health of your community. Volunteers can grow their knowledge and know when they are most needed so they can maximize their impact.
At its core, Blum is an app designed to connect communities together through relieving food insecurity. A friendly visual presence helps bridge the gap between gardens and food-insecure neighbors, inviting all community members to participate in a shared solution regardless of their background or experience.
Our typography balances strength with accessibility through a bold, organic sans serif in our logo that conveys community spirit, while the clean, geometric body text ensures clear communication throughout the app.
We created a palette of light, earthy tones to create an organic, inviting atmosphere throughout the app. These colors evoke the garden environment while remaining vibrant and accessible, helping diverse communities feel welcome while reinforcing the app's connection to fresh, natural produce.
Petal
#F6DFD7
(0, 9, 13, 4)
Radish
#B56175
(0, 46, 35, 29)
Shade
#454B4C
(9, 1, 0, 70)
Artichoke
#A6AFA4
(5, 0, 6, 31)
Friendly shapes with rounded corners complement the app's welcoming design. Vegetable icons use the same approachable style while incorporating vibrant colors, reinforcing the earthy palette and creating a cohesive visual system that feels accessible to all.
To make fresh produce more accessible, gardens can use eco-friendly Blum boxes that protect garden fruits and vegetables as they wait to be picked up or delivered.
Whether constrained by schedule, travel, or anything else, access to healthy food is still important. Our pickup hubs remove final barriers to food access while strengthening local food networks, ensuring garden abundance reaches those who need it most.
Spreading the love of fresh food doesn't stop at harvest. Our eco-friendly delivery bikes connect gardens to the broader community, ensuring fresh food reaches everyone while creating visible symbols of neighborhood food resilience in action.
Problems
Solved
Centralizes previously fragmented garden organization.
Encouraged consistent volunteer engagement through gamification.
Streamlined garden produce distribution with minimal climate impact and infrastructure cost.
Made gardens more inviting and accessible for community members.
Reduced food waste by tailoring recipes to customers' exact needs.
Gave communities in food deserts a stable source of nutritious food.
Where to
Next?
Further emphasis on food waste
Cross-garden knowledge base/forum
Detailed garden analytics
Smart garden tools & automation (IoT)
Advanced farming technologies (e.g. hydroponics)
Further gamification of volunteer experience
Where to
Next?