University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 Dissertations and Theses
2011
The Kitchen Culture Project: A Center for Food
and Culture
Andrew S. Toomajian
University of Massachusetts Amherst, andytoomajian@[Link]
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THE KITCHEN CULTURE PROJECT:
A CENTER FOR FOOD AND CULTURE
A Thesis Presented
by
ANDREW S. TOOMAJIAN
Submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
September 2011
Architecture + Design Program
Department of Art, Architecture, & Art History
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Copyright by Andrew S. Toomajian 2011
All Rights Reserved
THE KITCHEN CULTURE PROJECT:
A CENTER FOR FOOD AND CULTURE
A Thesis Presented
by
ANDREW S. TOOMAJIAN
Approved as to style and content by:
____________________________
Sigrid Miller Pollin, Chair
____________________________
Kathleen Lugosch, Member
______________________________
William T. Oedel
Chair, Department of Art,
Architecture and Art History
DEDICATION
To my wife, Jessie, for her patience and endurance, and for her loving reminders of who I
am, and what I am about, for knowing me and loving me, and, finally (and not least of
all), for the idea for this project.
To my son, Llewyn, for helping to keep my priorities in check.
To Professor David Dillon, for helping me remember the importance of narrative, and for
expanding my sense of the architect as citizen and civil servant.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who has ever cooked for me and shared a part of
who they were over a meal you have fed me more than you could know.
Thanks to my mom, Sara Penn-Strah, for teaching me to value trying new things and
meeting new people, and to my dad, Bill Toomajian for patience, trust, and support
through a lot of adventures that probably werent his idea of a good time.
To Joe Kennedy, Steve Beck, Kendall Dunnigan and Richard Heinberg, my teachers at
New College of California, for their foundational guidance and the compelling lives they
lead.
And, finally, to my thesis committee, Sigrid Miller-Pollin and Kathleen Lugosh for
leniency, trust, and steadying guidance along the way, and to Joseph Krupczynski for
providing inspiration and valuable practical input throughout. There is always room for
you at my table.
v
ABSTRACT
THE KITCHEN CULTURE PROJECT:
A CENTER FOR FOOD AND CULTURE
SEPTEMBER 2011
ANDREW S. TOOMAJIAN, B.A. NEW COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA
M.A. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Directed by: Sigrid Miller Pollin
Food is a primary aspect of daily life, and its preparation and consumption
function as accessible markers of cultural heritage and as a vehicle for cultural exchange.
The Kitchen Culture Project seeks to create a Center for Food and Culture that will
function as an aggregator for a number of different programs and organizations working
to promote cultural awareness and community development through culinary education
and exchange. The focus of the project will be the design of a building on a site in
Greenfield, Massachusetts; to house these combined programs and a study of their
potential interactions in the community.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER
1. SIGNIFICANCE & JUSTIFICATION .............................................................................1
1.1 Food and Culture Are Inexorably Linked ..........................................................1
1.2 Incubator Kitchens .............................................................................................2
1.3 Broadening and Linking Programs and Goals ...................................................4
2. GUIDING GOALS AND PRINCIPLES ...........................................................................7
2.1 Celebrating Cultural Heritage ............................................................................7
2.2 Cultural Studies, Culinary Studies, and The Knowledge Corridor ....................8
2.3 Celebrating Agriculture .....................................................................................9
2.4 Social, Environmental, and Economic Sustainability ........................................9
2.5 The Triple Bottom Line of Food ......................................................................10
2.6 Site: Why Greenfield? Why Franklin County? ...............................................10
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................12
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1 - Incubator Kitchen interior at La Cocina, San Francisco (courtesy of
LaCocina) .................................................................................................. 2
2 - William McDonough's Triple Bottom Line .......................................................... 8
3 - The Triple Bottom Line of Food ......................................................................... 10
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CHAPTER 1
SIGNIFICANCE & JUSTIFICATION
1.1 Food and Culture Are Inexorably Linked
" he way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural
T
world. Daily, our eating turns nature into culture, transforming the body of
the world into our bodies and minds."
- Michael Pollan
First we eat, then we do everything else.
- M.F.K. Fisher
Cooking is a primal human activity. The procurement and preparation of food for
oneself and one's family are daily activities for people the world over. In the subtle
differences in how this plays out from region to region or nation to nation, we find one of
the most direct and potent expressions of culture. The United States proudly defines itself
as a melting pot, a nation of immigrants. One of the joys of this is exposure to many
different cultures, and one of the easiest ways to access this diversity is through food.
Simply put, cooking and sharing food is one of the most direct and immediate ways to
share culture, heritage, and identity.
Cooking also represents an easily accessible method of income generation. Many
informal economies spring up readily around food: people selling food out of a cooler to
workers on a job site, bake sales to raise funds for schools or community organizations,
1
or extra garden produce on a card table by the side of the road. As eating is an activity
most of us engage in multiple times a day, businesses that cater to this need by providing
affordable, tasty, and healthy food stand a good chance of success. Just as food is a
primary vector for cultural exchange, it serves a primal function in the economy, to the
extent that the exchange of food itself has often supplanted currency.
1.2 Incubator Kitchens
Incubator Kitchens are an
economic development model gaining
in recognition nationwide as their
success in growing small businesses is
proven. Their most basic function is to
provide affordable access to a
commercial kitchen that is certified to
meet all food safety regulations,
allowing entrepreneurs to develop a
culinary business without taking on
the costs involved in developing a Figure 1 - Incubator Kitchen interior at La Cocina,
San Francisco (credit: LaCocina)
certified facility. While informal economies around food are often quite successful, food
safety regulation limit their scale and prevent advertising or other forms of publicity, and
also entail a degree of legal risk for the entrepreneur. Incubator Kitchens offer a way for
2
a food business to operate entirely above-board, typically serving as a springboard to an
independent registered and licensed business. Typically, the incubator will not only
provide certified facilities, but also some level of consultancy in developing a business
plan, securing financing, marketing, and similar issues much as any small business
development program would. This expertise can help food entrepreneurs avoid
expensive mistakes and provide the necessary support to bring a quality product to its
intended market.
In some instances, incubator programs are more ambitious, bringing in specialists in
a number of food-related areas to help potential entrepreneurs refine recipes, source
ingredients, plan menus and develop other strategies specific to a culinary business. In
these cases, the incubator program itself may carry a level of branding on the project
essentially marking it with a stamp of approval that lets potential customers know that
they can expect the level of quality they have seen in other businesses started as part of
the project.
Regardless of the level of service involved, the kitchen incubator model is
consistently seen to be of great benefit for the entrepreneurs and for the local economy.
However, they have faced struggles in becoming self-sustaining, as start up costs are
high, continued use means high utility costs and repair costs, and a lot of administrative
time is eaten up by negotiating time and scheduling with short term users and managing
frequent health inspections. As this is a new form, clearly there is a lot to be learned by
examining both the successful models and the ones that have failed. I believe there is also
3
an important opportunity for a thoughtful design process to help promote the success of
such an enterprise.
1.3 Broadening and Linking Programs and Goals
Pioneer Valley entrepreneurs currently have access to a small Food Processing
Center in Greenfield, operated by the Franklin County Community Development
Corporation. A number of successful businesses have started out here, but the center
seems to mostly serve the upper Pioneer Valley, and it isn't as well known or public as it
could be. I believe that the Pioneer Valley would benefit greatly from a kitchen incubator
program with a specific mission to target entrepreneurs to develop culinary businesses
using local products and celebrating local culture and heritage.
Id like to push this program even further, developing a Center for Food and Culture
for the Pioneer Valley, cited centrally, that would include an incubator kitchen, and also a
number of public programs, including a food and culture education component, a series
of cooking classes, a retail store, participatory exhibits, and more.
The development of such a center can be seen as a smart growth strategy for its
community, as it offers the potential to develop a stronger local economy from the
ground up, without detrimental impacts on local communities or cultures. This model
treats cultural heritage as an asset, maintaining it's integrity while integrating it into the
larger (read: white/euro) culture and economy, it celebrates diversity rather than negating
it or viewing it as a liability.
4
A range of other culinary programs could be employed in conjunction with the
Incubator Kitchen, which could both compliment its work and expand its reach into the
community. Rising obesity and diabetes numbers point to a need for programs
promoting nutrition and balanced diet, especially cooking classes. School lunch
programs have come under scrutiny as childrens health has declined, I am interested in
exploring whether this facility could also function as a central kitchen for a school district
lunch program that would focus on healthy food, local ingredients, and promoting
cultural education through its menus. Existing programs in other communities, like
Mission Pie in San Francisco, use a culinary business as a as a vehicle for youth
advocacy and job training this type of program could be ideal here. There is also a
potential for tie-in with the strong farming community in the area, and organizations such
as CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture). A program that promotes
farming on heritage crops, teaches people how to cook with these foods, and hosts a seed
bank to preserve heritage crops from different cultures could be a great tie between
culture and agriculture.
The research component of my project will examine the kitchen incubator model, it's
failures and successes and the reasons for both. It will also look at the links between food,
culture, and economy, and examine models of economic generation that serve to
strengthen and preserve cultural heritage. It will also involve close examination of
existing examples of the form, looking at programming, materials, equipment and other
aspects of current kitchen incubators. As the form is still fairly new, and my proposal
5
involves expanding it's reach, I'll also look at precedents in other areas that are relevant to
the project culinary training programs, retail food spaces, museums, and education
facilities.
6
CHAPTER 2
GUIDING GOALS AND PRINCIPLES
2.1 Celebrating Cultural Heritage
While the Pioneer Valley does not share the level of cultural diversity found in major
cities, a wide range of cultural and ethnic heritages can be found. Long-standing
communities of Irish, Polish, Italian, German, and French heritage exist, as well as newer
communities of Hispanic and Puerto Rican origin, and African-American, Native
American, and Asian populations. A quick sampling of food businesses in downtown
Amherst alone shows the opportunity to sample African, Thai, Japanese, Mexican,
Lebanese, Italian, French, American, Indian, Chinese, and many other cuisines. The
colleges and universities in the area also bring in students from many nationalities and
cultures both people from other regions in North America and from abroad.
Cultural diversity is a thing to be celebrated. Our differences are not a liability to be
overcome, but an asset, they make us strong. This community is more diverse than many
of us might realize and creating opportunities to bring that diversity to the surface
brings out hidden knowledge. A primary guiding principle for me in this project is to
create opportunities to use food as a vector for sharing and celebrating cultural diversity.
7
2.2 Cultural Studies, Culinary Studies, and The Knowledge Corridor
One of the major economic engines of the Pioneer Valley is education the area is
home to the Five Colleges (Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, Mt.
Holyoke College, and The University of Massachusetts) as well as a region of smaller
schools, including Greenfield Community College, Springfield Technical Community
College, and Holyoke Community College. We are also in close proximity to a number
of other schools, Williams College in Williamstown, Western New England College,
Worcester Polytechnic, and many more.
With education such a vital force in the region, it seems natural to explore the
prospects of an academically focused component of a Center for Food and Culture.
Many area schools offer programs in cultural studies, and some offer culinary education
and training. Nutrition is also an area of study at some schools. A Williams College
professor, Darra Goldstein, edits Gastronomica, a scholarly journal of Food and Culture.
A Center for Food and Culture could work in partnership with academic institutions and
rely on them for some of its funding.
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2.3 Celebrating Agriculture
2.4 Social, Environmental, and Economic Sustainability
Figure 2 - William McDonough's Triple Bottom Line
(credit: [Link])
One area I would like to investigate further in the project is promoting
sustainability, specifically as defined by William McDonoughs concept of the triple
bottom line. McDonough encourage us to evaluate projects not just on environmental
criteria but also to look at social and economic impacts.
Looking at building performance issues relevant to this climate, Id like to push
energy efficiency, and in particular, the passive, affordable, low-tech aspects of this.
Passive solar design can really push the envelope of what we expect in terms of building
9
performance, and can improve building daylighting as well. Heat exchange systems
would be of great value here as well, and carefully placed operable ventilation could
serve to mitigate heat loads created by cooking spaces.
2.5 The Triple Bottom Line of Food
Figure 3 - The Triple Bottom Line of Food (credit: author)
2.6 Site: Why Greenfield? Why Franklin County?
Franklin Cty is poorest in the state but has a wealth of community resources and
resiliency. Home to NESEA, Franklin CDC kitchen and other CDC programs, Free
10
Harvest Supper, Town Farm, lots of Ag land, UPingill, local grains, ?. Has urban density
but not the wealth / rent prices of Northampton Bank Row urban renewal is exciting,
new businesses and restaurants lots of opportunity for new people to startup low rents
in turners and Greenfield, farmland, etc forgiving population, close to 91.
This can be a place for things to happen Greenfield harvest supper, food festivals,
etc. Serve as a community center and demonstration . education facility. Many cultural
celebrations are centered on food list suppers from paper polish steak roast,
strawberry supper at church, thanksgiving, also eid? purim? what else?
META OUTLINE:
1. ideas rationale and justifications
2. site conditions and community realities
3. design proposals
4. future thinking-what comes next, what is undone
5. backround, precendents, etc.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Solokov, Raymond A. Why We Eat What We Eat: How Columbus Changed the Way the
World Eats. New York: Touchstone Press, 1991.
Braungart, Michael and McDonough, William. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We
Make Things. New York: North Point Press, 2002.
de Botton, Alain. The Architecture of Happiness. New York: Vintage International, 2008.
Fisher, Mary Frances Kennedy. Serve it Forth. New York: Harper & Bros, 1937
Gonchar, Joann. Morphosis and Arup engineers create dynamic form that follows
function for the U.S. Federal Building in San Francisco. Architectural Record
Aug 2007 pp. 96-107.
Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. West Sussex: John
Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2005.
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Search For a Perfect Meal in a Fast
Food World.
Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. New York: Penguin Press,
2008
Watson, James L. and Melissa L. Caldwell, eds. The Cultural Politics of Food and
Eating: A Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005.
Webb, Michael. Machines in the Wild: Seattle-Based Tom Kundig Creates Edgy Houses
That Shelter and Reach Out to the Landscape. MARK: Another Architecture No.
19 Ap./May 2009 pp. 86-97.
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