Health Benefits of School and Community Gardens

Angela OCallaghan, Ph.D. Assoc. Professor Area Extension Specialist Social Horticulture 702-257-5581

Goals of this presentation

1. Identify the health impact of chronic disease in Southern Nevada 2. Describe how good nutrition and physical activity can prevent chronic disease 3. Describe how a school or community gardening project can improve nutrition and physical activity 4. How to plan, implement and evaluate a gardening project 5. Local resources for school and community gardens

Why are you here?

Desperate for another meeting? Dying to know more about gardening in the desert southwest? Need ceus? Hoping for a free lunch?

% of Total Deaths (Nevada)

Heart disease 26.6 Chronic lower respiratory disease 5.6 Diabetes mellitus 1.6 Atherosclerosis 0.7

Chronic Disease in So. Nevada

Chronic diseases are leading causes of diminished quality of life in Clark County In particular:
Cardiovascular disease Cancer Diabetes
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Diabetes in Clark County

8.8% of adults (>20 years old) Highest rate in Nevada

Increasing Diabetes in NV

Obesity among Clark County adults

24.5% almost one out of every 4 adults in Clark County is obese (BMI > 30 kg/m)
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Obesity in Youth (Nevada)

in 2007 11% of high school students were categorized as OBESE. 54% of high school students did not meet recommended levels of physical activity Changes in 2008 Fewer exemptions from Phys. Ed. Classes More nutritious selections of food, snacks and beverages Less advertising of unhealthy snacks 1

Health effects of plants

Ulrich, 1984 Horticulture Therapy Healing Gardens

Physical activity
Reduces risks involved with
Diabetes Obesity Hypertension

By lowering weight and blood sugar levels (among other things)

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American Heart Association news release

Diet and exercise can prevent or slow the development of type 2 diabetes and produce clinically significant improvements in blood sugar control and cardiovascular risk factors in people with the condition, according to the statement. This benefit can reduce or eliminate some patients needs for medications to control risk factors. http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCU LATIONAHA.109.192521 (full text of statement) 2

flowers, fruits, vegetables, trees & shrubs development of minds and emotions of individuals, enrichment & health of communities and integration of `garden' in the breadth of modern civilization. PLANTS and products (food, medicine, O2) essential for human survival; & PEOPLE, whose involvement with `the garden' brings about benefits to them as individuals and to communities and cultures they comprise.
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Horticulture - art and science of growing

Gardening is listed as one of five ways older adults can be more physically active National Diabetes Education Program
http://ndep.nih.gov/media/five-ways-older-adultsactive.pdf?redirect=true

February 1, 2002 Table of Contents Promoting and Prescribing Exercise for the Elderly Lists gardening as one element of an active lifestyle.

Good reference
Community Gardens Help to Tackle Obesity
Parliament of Australia House of Representaties Standing Committee on Health and Ageing Inquiry into Obesity in Australia

Direct benefits
Many commonly grown garden vegetables are high in phytochemicals. Research indicates these plant chemicals have beneficial effects against inflammation, oxidative stress, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Vegetables include:
Onions, garlic, berries, soy, celery, and carrots.
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Incorporation

of herbs into everyday meals may be beneficial, as a diet in which culinary herbs are used generously provides a variety of active phytochemicals that could promote good health
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An edible garden

Nutrients in Plant Foods

Vegetables Serving Size Bell Pepper 1 medium Broccoli 1 medium stalk Carrot 1 carrot, 7"l, 1 1/4"d Celery 2 medium stalks Cucumber 1/3 medium Green Beans 3/4 cup cut Green Cabbage 1/12 med. head Leaf Lettuce 1 1/2 cups Onion 1 medium Potato 1 medium Radishes 7 radishes Summer Squash 1/2 medium Sweet Corn kernels from 1 medium ear Sweet Potato 1 medium, 5" long, 2" diameter Tomato 1 medium

Calories

Sodium (mg)

Potassium (mg) 220 460 250

Carbohydrate (g) 6 8 7 2 3 2

Fiber (g)

Sugar s (g) 4 2 5

Protein (g) 1 4 1

Vit. A (%DV) 4 6 110

Vit. C (%DV) 190 220 10 2 6 2

Calcium (%DV)

25 45 30

40 80 60

15 10 20 25 15 45 110 10 20 90

115 0 0 20 35 5 0 55 0 0

260 140 200 190 170 190 620 190 260 250

4 2 5 5 2 11 26 3 4 18

2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 2 2

2 1 2 3 1 9 1 2 2 5

0 1 1 1 1 1 3 0 1 4

10 4 4 0 130 0 0 0 6 2

15 10 10 70 6 20 45 30 30 10

4 2 4 4 2 4 2 2 2 0

100

70

440

23

120

30

25

20

340

20

40

Community gardens

Growing foods Improving neighborhoods Provide satisfying labor Cultural traditions

Hanna and Oh, 2000 3

What foods from where?

University of Texas Online Perry-Castaeda Library Map Collection

1989 survey of NJ gardeners

Socioeconomic benefits of gardening Benefit Life quality Fresh food/vegetables Improved diet Personal satisfaction and enjoyment Economic well-being Saved money Social well-being Socializing Helping others Sharing the produce with others Feeling of self-sufficiency Improved neighborhood Percent 44.4% 35.2 26.0 33.5 31.3 29.0 14.5 13.8 13.0

Patel, 1991

Community Gardening
Group of people comes together to create a garden Usually a vegetable garden with a few ornamental plants May have policies and procedures for
Selection of gardeners $$$ Standards of behavior Replacing gardeners
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Participants May Include

Elderly, either able bodied or infirm Youth Low income Middle class
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Increased vegetable intake

A survey of 776 adults in a US city found that when a household member participated in a community garden, other adults in the house were more likely to consume fresh fruits and vegetables 3.5 times as likely to consume the recommended 5 a day.
Alaimo et al 2008

Gardening as Physical Activity

Once people become gardeners, they spend time and energy doing it! Park et al (HortTechnology OctoberDecember 2008): Can older gardeners

meet the physical activity recommendation through gardening?

Average gardening time = 60 min Average heart rate = 98 Oxygen uptake = 13.5 ml/kg/min
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Benefiting well-being
A sense of control over ones environment is often predictive of good health and higher quality of life among the elderly.

Horticulture training for elderly adults in assisted living (Las Vegas research)
18 students Age range from 75 102 16 women; 2 men Mean 85 years All required either walker or wheelchair Had demonstrated little/no interest in other programs
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Experimental design
Four week course After lunch Each student received plants, pots, seedlings/seeds Students were interviewed concerning their sense of mastery of their environment pre and post class (n = 18), and five months after end of class (n = 8)
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Course Outline
Week 1 staff describes class, interview students concerning personal history, mastery heath and happiness; students describe their

apartments, their plant wishes, and gardening history

Week 2 students receive plants and pots & instruction on maintenance Week 3 students receive seeds or seedlings and instruction; offer assistance to others Week 4 students evaluate their plants; staff re-interviews
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Mastery of environment
Students responded to statements:
1. What happens to me in the future mostly depends on me.... 2. Sometimes I feel that I am being pushed around in life..... 3. I have little control over the things that happen to me...... 4. There is really no way I can solve some of the problems I have.... 5. There is little I can do to change many of the important things in my life.... 6. I often feel helpless in dealing with the problems of life........ 7. I can do just about anything I really set my mind to do.....

Self reports
Students were asked how they viewed their overall health on a 1 (very poor ) 5 (perfect) scale Students were asked to report on their happiness from 1 (very unhappy) to 5 (very happy)

Results elements of Mastery (t1t2)

Significant improvement between precourse survey and post (last day) for Questions
1 (future depends on me) 2 (feel pushed around) 5 (little to change life) 6 (feel helpless) 7 (can do anything set mind to) p = 0.042 p = 0.023 p = 0.042 p = 0.028 p = 0.001
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Results elements of Mastery (t1t3)

Significant improvement between precourse survey and five months after for Questions
2 (feel pushed around) 3 (have little control) 5 (little to change life) 6 (feel helpless) 7 (can do anything set mind to) p=0.007 p=0.038 p=0.068 p=0.026 p=0.011
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Results Self reported Health

Significant improvements:
Pre (t1) to post (t2) p = 0.001 Pre (t1) to 5 mos after (t3) p = 0.005 Post (t2) to 5 mos after (t3) p = 0.02

Results - Self reported happiness

Significant improvement
Pre (t1) - post (t2) Pre (t1) - 5 mos after (t3) Post (t2) - 5 mos after (t3) p = 0.042 p = 0.033 p = 0.08

Alzheimers and gardens

Treatment gardens for people with Alzheimers diseasean accessible positive outdoor environment that supports individual treatment goals with measurable positive outcomes on resident behavior, mood, depression, social interaction, sleeping patterns, awareness, orientation, spatial negoriation and active engagement in activities. (Tyson, Alzheimers care quarterly, 2002; 3(1): 55-60.)
http://www.alzinfo.org/alzheimers-treatmenttherapeutic-gardens.asp 3

Public Safety
Although a study of community gardens in Houston TX showed no decrease in crime with community gardens -

representatives showed that community gardens appeared to have a positive influence on neighborhoods, with residents reporting neighborhood revitalization, perceived immunity from crime, and neighbors emulating gardening practices they saw at the community gardens
3 http://horttech.ashspublications.org/cgi/content/abstr

Food for Thoughts School Gardens

School gardens
Can be used to teach a range of subjects, from health and nutrition, to genetics and other physical sciences, to math and social sciences. Can improve childrens attitudes toward vegetables and unfamiliar foods. Can provide a site for children to get active Challenge children to be stewards of their environment.

School Gardens
Before you start

Creating a school garden requires a fair amount of planning

Planning
Make sure that a significant proportion of the school parents, students, teachers, administration agrees that a school garden is something they want.

The Principal must be invested in

having a garden.

What do you want?

Will this be a
Vegetable garden? A flower garden? A Native American garden? A desert plant garden?

Each of these can be used to teach, but each has very different requirements.

A garden building plan

Who will build the garden?
Volunteers? Teachers? Parents? Students?

Raised beds and planters are often the easiest to set up and use. Use little or no grass in a school garden

A maintenance plan
Who will do the work of making sure the garden survives (watering, weeding, etc.)?
Volunteers? Teachers? Parents? Students? How about during school breaks?

A funding plan
School gardens are self-funded. Where will the money come from for plants, fertilizers, equipment?
Grants? Fundraisers? Donations?

A curriculum plan

How will this garden be integrated into the rest of the curriculum? Staff at CCSD will help to review garden based curricula, but the responsibility for development falls to the school (teachers and administrators).

What is most important role of a school garden?

Growing fruit and vegetables for food Socializing with 4.5 gardening friends Feeling relaxed and safe 10.6 in plant environment Learning about plants 9.7 Other
Waliczek et al. 2000

% parents 74.7

% teachers 54.1 16.4 4.9 24.6 0.0

0.5

Essentials for success

Item % respondents

Responsible person Garden site Funding Support of principal

63 61.4 60.6 48

Gardening equipment 47.7

DeMarco, et al. 1999

Garden-based health & nutrition

Grades 2 5 Knowledge increase re: nutritional value of vegetables No greater stated acceptance Increase in eating vegetables as snacks!

Koch et al. 2006

Youth farm market project

Inner city project in Minneapolis/St. Paul Youth (preteens and teens) who grew vegetables ate them. exposure to a garden-based nutrition education programs (sic) improves youths preference for vegetables compared to those not exposed to a garden program.

Contact Karyn Johnson 257-5523

http://www.unce.unr.edu/programs/sit es/foodforthoughts/

Creating a garden (school, community, other)

Interested in creating a community garden?

UNCE works with communities that are establishing gardens Provide classroom training Guidelines for actual building Ongoing support for physical plant

A CITY CAN BE TRANSFORMED

Contact Elaine Fagin 257-5573

COMMUNITY GARDENS ARE NOT A NEW IDEA

Xochimilco ancient floating gardens of Mexico City

WHAT IS NEEDED TO GET STARTED

1. A small committed group.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

A shared vision. PATIENCE to get through rocky times. The physical space. Access to physical labor. A LITTLE CASH DOESNT HURT.

Before starting, answer the following

Easy access to water? How many hours of sunlight does the area receive? From what direction is the light? What is the level of time, strength & interest?

If landscaping is in place
Know what you will encounter when you begin to dig (wires, pipes, etc.). Identify the potential workload chemical, physical, botanical that will be required to remove existing materials (e.g. lawn, concrete). Identify what of the existing materials will be replaced. Identify which of the existing materials will be retained.

What do you want to achieve?

A garden is more than the plants; it requires irrigation, time and more. For instance Are you gardening for food or view?
How big will the mature plants get? Do you really want a 50 foot ash tree in the courtyard? Native desert plants tend to be smaller and slower-growing.

Gardening in the Mojave

Not quite like other parts of the world Driest desert in North America Average annual rainfall 4.25 Salty soil; this area was once an ocean
Water left Salt didnt

Strong dry winds Intense sunlight

Gardens in Raised Beds

Container gardening
Effective for very small places Maximum control of planting More manageability Wide variety of possible planters

Unusual edibles

There is a surprising variety of desert plants, some more appropriate for certain gardens than others.

Income can be a factor

Low income gardeners often cite access to fresh foods enjoy nature, but also Organizational efforts for garden spill over into other neighborhood efforts

Community gardens in the Las Vegas area

Archie C. Grant senior housing development. A garden area had been abandoned for ~ 5 years. Residents and city staff decided to resurrect this garden.

Work days

Now a community focus

With produce!

Rose Garden
A housing development for low income seniors/disabled in North Las Vegas. UNCE had given a brief course on gardening at this site in 2007 In 2009 residents and staff wanted another course with a hands-on component City staff arranged for a community garden to be built.

Preparation
Residents grew their own seedlings indoors Originally 12 participants Dropped to 8 during the winter

Started small

 At first, gardeners were afraid that nongardeners would steal their hard work. By January, they saw that they needed to give some away!

Now, that is a radish!

Las Vegas Community Garden

Began in the mid-1990s in West LV 32 raised beds Joint project of UNCE master gardeners and the Doolittle Senior Center (LV parks and rec.) Elderly gardeners raise enough produce to contribute hundreds of pounds of produce to hungry people each year.

Current situation
More effort was going into developing gardens in low income areas New projects:
Floyd Lamb park Acacia park

Evaluating effectiveness

Several means Self reported effects (surveys) Physical differences (BP, weight, bmi) Increase in amount of vegetables eaten (journals, etc. )

Measurements
Information knowledge gain Behavior changes Attitudinal changes

No guarantees
Meta-analysis of 11 studies found little consistency among results, but did note A general increase in willingness to try eating vegetables, even as snacks. A general lack of improvement in food preferences.
Robinson-OBrien, et al 2009

Gardening Class
Gardening in Small Places Feb. 27 Beginning class: 8am noon Advanced class: 1pm - 5

Resources fact sheets

http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/ files/ho/2001/sp0115.pdf http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/ files/ho/2004/fs0472.pdf http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/ files/ho/2002/fs0261.pdf http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/ files/ho/2000/sp0026.pdf

References
Lautenschlager, Lauren and Chery Smith. Beliefs, knowledge, and values held by inner-city youth about gardening, nutrition, and cooking. Agriculture and Human Values. 24(2): 245-258 Relf, Diane . HUMAN ISSUES IN HORTICULTURE. HortTechnology April/June 1992 2(2) Collins, Claudia and Angela OCallaghan. The Impact of Horticultural Responsibility on Health Indicators and Quality of Life in Assisted Living. HortTechnology. Oct-Dec 2008. Waliczek, T.M., J.C. Bradley, R.D. Lineberger, & J.M. Zajicek. 2000. Using a Web-based Survey to Research the Benefits of Children Gardening. HortTechnology Jan-Mar. 10(1) DeMarco, L.W. Diane Relf, Alan McDaniel. 1999. Integrating Gardening into the Elementary School Curriculum. HortTechnology: April-June 9(2)

References cont.
Patel, I.C. 1991. Gardening's Socioeconomic Impacts. Journal of Extension. 29(4) Koch, S., T.M. Waliczek, J.M. Zajicek. 2006. The effect of a summer garden program on the nutritional knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of children. HortTechnology OctDec. 2006. Robinson-OBrien, R., Mary Story, Stephanie Heim. 2009. Impact of Garden-Based Youth Nutrition Intervention Programs: a review. J. Am. Dietetic Assn. Hanna, Autumn K. and Pikai Oh. 2000. Rethinking Urban Poverty: A Look at Community Gardens. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 2000 20; 207. Alaimo, K., E. Packnett, R.A. Miles, D.J.Kruger 2008. Fruit and vegetable intake among Urban Community Gardeners.J Nutrit. Ed. And Behav. 40 (2): 94-101