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PKFlemmingMastersThesis2014.pdf (15.27 MB)

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Cultivating the Connection Between South Boston Grows, A Garden-Based Nutrition Education Intervention, and Community Eating Habits.

Flemming, Phoebe K
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1389608140

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Food and Nutrition (MFN), Bowling Green State University, Family and Consumer Sciences/food and Nutrition.
The document looks at the connection between the eating habits among those who grow food in local, urban gardens in the neighborhood of South Boston, Massachusetts before, during, and after participating in this Garden-Based nutrition education intervention, known as South Boston Grows. The purpose of this intervention was to identify ways to improve eating habits in urban areas of need, otherwise known as food desserts. It has become apparent over recent years that a growing number of youth, as well as a growing number of those with reduced socioeconomic status in urban areas, are at a higher risk for being overweight or obese. Thus, this type of garden-based nutrition education intervention was put in place to improve eating habits and ultimately, intake of produce from the project gardens and farms in these urban areas of need and beyond. Annually, approximately a dozen teen participants are involved in the summer program for 7-10 weeks and 10-12 school and after school programs are involved during the school year, in appropriate garden-based education topics, including growing and preparing food in and from urban gardens, composting, seed saving, cooking healthy food at a nearby kitchen with produce they grew, and even looking at how to farm in large scale suburban and/or rural farms. To evaluate the success of the intervention, participants completed a pre- and a post-test (when appropriate) that evaluated fruit juice and vegetable (of many varieties) intake before, during, and after the intervention. The results of these surveys showed that participants were much more likely to try new foods that they grew themselves than they may have been before participating in the intervention. Some of the most popular foods to eat out of those grown included; green salad, peas, carrots, and broccoli. Participants were significantly more likely to try new foods they never tried, when they grew them. A sense of community and appreciation for the environment has also grown among participants through this intervention. Retention rates of the program were significant with many teens involved for >2 years. Vegetable intake increased significantly post-intervention, according to the survey results. This Garden-Based nutrition education intervention improves community eating habits and interactions among participants while increasing physical activity among participants, inadvertently.
Julian Williford (Advisor)
Pobocik Rebecca (Committee Member)
Haar Christine (Committee Member)
124 p.
Nutrition
Garden-Based Education; Food Access; Nutrition Education; Urban Farming; Vegetable Intake; Fruit Juice Intake; Community Eating Habits; Farm2School; Farm to School; Garden-Based Nutrition Education Interventions

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Flemming, P. K. (2014). Cultivating the Connection Between South Boston Grows, A Garden-Based Nutrition Education Intervention, and Community Eating Habits. [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1389608140

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Flemming, Phoebe. Cultivating the Connection Between South Boston Grows, A Garden-Based Nutrition Education Intervention, and Community Eating Habits. 2014. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1389608140.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Flemming, Phoebe. "Cultivating the Connection Between South Boston Grows, A Garden-Based Nutrition Education Intervention, and Community Eating Habits." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1389608140

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1389608140
397
© 2014, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Cultivating the Connection Between South Boston Grows, A Garden-Based Nutrition Education Intervention, and Community Eating Habits. by Phoebe K Flemming is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.