The article presents a framework for understanding the relationship between community garden participation, and the myriad ways gardens and participation lead to emotional, social, and health impacts. Existing empirical research relating community gardens to health behaviors, such as physical activity and diet, and longer-term chronic disease-related outcomes is summarized. The research areas discussed include the effects of community garden participation on individual, social, emotional, and environmental processes; health behaviors including diet and physical activity; and health outcomes such as self-rated health, obesity, and mental health. Other mechanisms through which community gardens may affect population health are described. Applying a multitheoretical lens to explore associations between community garden participation and health enables us to delineate key aspects of gardening that elicit positive health behaviors and multifactorial health assets that could be applied to designing other types of health interventions.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has drastically altered food shopping behaviors, and the resulting economic recession has caused a spike in food insecurity. Since food insecurity is associated with poor diet, especially low intake of fruits and vegetables, food-insecure individuals may disproportionately experience negative health impacts related to poor diet during the pandemic. To assess the relationship between food security status and fruit and vegetable intake during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted an online survey of adult residents of the US state of Michigan in June of 2020. Among the 484 survey respondents, 36.2% were classified as food-insecure. Food-insecure respondents consumed fruits and vegetables fewer times per day than food-secure respondents and were more likely to report decreasing their consumption of any type of fruits and vegetables (total, fresh, frozen, and canned) since the pandemic started. For those who reduced their purchase of fresh fruit and vegetable, reasons included poor quality, poor availability, high price, reduced store trips, and concerns of contamination. These findings highlight the need for adequate food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic and in future pandemics, as well as public health messages that promote healthy eating.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected food systems including food security. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted food security is important to provide support, and identify long-term impacts and needs. Objective The National Food Access and COVID research Team (NFACT) was formed to assess food security over different U.S. study sites throughout the pandemic, using common instruments and measurements. This study present results from 18 study sites across 15 states and nationally over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A validated survey instrument was developed and implemented in whole or part through an online survey of adults across the sites throughout the first year of the pandemic, representing 22 separate surveys. Sampling methods for each study site were convenience, representative, or high-risk targeted. Food security was measured using the USDA six-item module. Food security prevalence was analyzed using analysis of variance by sampling method to statistically significant differences. Results Respondents (n = 27,168) indicate higher prevalence of food insecurity (low or very low food security) since the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to before the pandemic. In nearly all study sites, there is higher prevalence of food insecurity among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), households with children, and those with job disruptions. The findings demonstrate lingering food insecurity, with high prevalence over time in sites with repeat cross-sectional surveys. There are no statistically significant differences between convenience and representative surveys, but statistically higher prevalence of food insecurity among high-risk compared to convenience surveys. Conclusions This comprehensive study demonstrates higher prevalence of food insecurity in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts were prevalent for certain demographic groups, and most pronounced for surveys targeting high-risk populations. Results especially document the continued high levels of food insecurity, as well as the variability in estimates due to survey implementation method. Summary Multi-site assessment demonstrates widespread food insecurity during COVID-19, especially on households with children, job loss, and Black, Indigenous, People of Color across multiple survey methods.

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Maize (Zea mays) is an important staple crop in many parts of the world but has low iron bioavailability, in part due to its high phytate content. Hemoglobin is a form of iron that is highly bioavailable, and its bioavailability is not inhibited by phytate. It was hypothesized that maize hemoglobin is a highly bioavailable iron source and that biofortification of maize with iron can be accomplished by overexpression of maize globin in the endosperm. Maize was transformed with a gene construct encoding a translational fusion of maize globin and green fluorescent protein under transcriptional control of the maize 27 kDa γ-zein promoter. Iron bioavailability of maize hemoglobin produced in Escherichia coli and of stably transformed seeds expressing the maize globin−GFP fusion was determined using an in vitro Caco-2 cell culture model. Maize flour fortified with maize hemoglobin was found to have iron bioavailability that is not significantly different from that of flour fortified with ferrous sulfate or bovine hemoglobin but is significantly higher than unfortified flour. Transformed maize grain expressing maize globin was found to have iron bioavailability similar to that of untransformed seeds. These results suggest that maize globin produced in E. coli may be an effective iron fortificant, but overexpressing maize globin in maize endosperm may require a different strategy to increase bioavailable iron content in maize KeywordsInterdepartmental Genetics Graduate Program, biofortification, hemoglobin, iron bioavailability, transgenic maize ABSTRACT: Maize (Zea mays) is an important staple crop in many parts of the world but has low iron bioavailability, in part due to its high phytate content. Hemoglobin is a form of iron that is highly bioavailable, and its bioavailability is not inhibited by phytate. It was hypothesized that maize hemoglobin is a highly bioavailable iron source and that biofortification of maize with iron can be accomplished by overexpression of maize globin in the endosperm. Maize was transformed with a gene construct encoding a translational fusion of maize globin and green fluorescent protein under transcriptional control of the maize 27 kDa γ-zein promoter. Iron bioavailability of maize hemoglobin produced in Escherichia coli and of stably transformed seeds expressing the maize globin−GFP fusion was determined using an in vitro Caco-2 cell culture model. Maize flour fortified with maize hemoglobin was found to have iron bioavailability that is not significantly different from that of flour fortified with ferrous sulfate or bovine hemoglobin but is significantly higher than unfortified flour. Transformed maize grain expressing maize globin was found to have iron bioavailability similar to that of untransformed seeds. These results suggest that maize globin produced in E. coli may be an effective iron fortificant, but overexpressing maize globin in maize endosperm may require a different strategy to increase bioavailable iron content in maize.