About Us

Who We Are 

The community gardens movement consists of three Cal Poly Pomona students that were able to join together their diverse backgrounds of computer science, computer information systems, and electrical engineering and fuel their passion of technology towards serving the community. The movement started as an idea to address the problem of food deserts by providing neighborhoods and communities with access to local spaces that can be cultivated for the growth of communally grown fruits and vegetables that provide food and support to members of that community. Click here to learn more about food deserts. 

Our Goal 
In keeping with its mission to serve as a key resource to the campus and its local community partners, the Learning & Research Technologies group in the Division of IT&IR at Cal Poly Pomona has begun the Community Gardens Technology Support Initiative. The goal is to provide community gardens with data that will assist in informed decision-making and increased crop yields. 

Problem & Solution
Improving food security in local communities and providing access to healthy, locally grown foods are major goals of the community gardens movement. Our research began as an attempt to address the fresh food needs of people who live in food deserts. The faculty at Cal Poly Pomona mentioned the challenge of being able to know which garden locations need student help the most, the number of students needed at each location, and what work will need to be performed when they arrive. The solution we designed is to provide community garden organizers with data that will assist them with informed decision-making and increased crop yields. 

Our Partners
This project will benefit garden care givers, Academic and community partners, Service-learning advisors, IT Data research and support, and CPP students.

How it works
Our division, LR&T will provide sensors that collect data such as soil moisture, soil temperature, humidity, air temperature, wind speed, and more. This data will be monitored, queried, and made into reports and alerts that will inform the garden leaders and service learning leads on where to focus efforts and resources. Click here to learn more about how it works.