Assessing the Economic Contributions and Benefits of Consumer Horticulture

Abstract

<jats:p>Consumer horticulture (CH) programming can result in outcomes and impacts at the individual level, such as money saved by reducing inputs, greater return on the landscape investment, healthier plants, and improved quality of life. It may also lead to community-level impacts that provide public value, such as water quality protection, water conservation, and protection of biodiversity. In addition to documenting such outcomes and impacts, it is important to quantify their economic value, connect the value to actions taken by extension audiences, and demonstrate to extension’s stakeholders a return on investment. However, it is difficult to document the economic contributions of consumer horticulture and even more difficult to document the economic impact of consumer horticulture extension programs. CH reaches individuals and communities directly and indirectly through personal gardens and landscapes, indoor flowers and plants, school and community gardens, and horticulture therapy. The economic contributions and benefits of consumer horticulture are challenging to quantify, but can be evaluated using several different strategies, including measuring the consumer dollars spent and the economy driven by consumers’ purchase of gardening supplies and landscape services. A second strategy is to examine the value of consumers’ gardening actions on environmental ecosystem services that support soils and plants, provide food and raw materials, and regulate functions, such as pollination, storm water catchment, water quality preservation, green waste reduction, and wildlife habitat and diversity. A third strategy is to focus on cultural, social, and health system services, such as education, recreation, and therapy, that result in exercise, nutrition, health, and happiness. Using a combination of these strategies, workgroups of Tennessee extension professionals are balancing the feasibility of data collection with the usefulness of the data gathered by developing realistic and robust outcome indicators that will form the basis for local and statewide reporting.</jats:p>

Are We on the Same Page? Exploring National, State, and Local Educational-response Themes for Extension Master Gardener Coordinators and Volunteers

“…Indeed, extension's ability to meet public needs for CH relies heavily on volunteer staff (McAleer, 2005;Meyer, 2007), and the EMG volunteer program has the potential to provide ''the largest direct contact service within the Cooperative Extension Service'' (McAleer, 2005). CH programming generates as many or more contacts for extension than other production-focused program areas (Bradley et al, 2017).…”

How can assessment systems be used to evaluate healthcare activities in the care farms?

“…(Etheredge et al, 2016;Gorman & Cacciatore, 2017;Soga et al, 2017). In many other researches (Etheredge et al, 2016;Bradley et al, 2017;Kelley et al, 2017;Im et al, 2018;Lehmann et al, 2018) there is just a collection of data and information not supported by an appropriate methodological approach. In other cases (Aldous, 2015;Artz, & Davis, 2017), instead, an exact method and excellent results do not correspond to the validity of the study confirmed by the academic community.…”

Identifying Critical Issues in the Horticulture Industry: A Delphi Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The horticulture industry provides significant contributions to society, including the provision of healthy foods [1], economic development [2], the provision of essential vitamins and minerals [1], and contributions to recreation and leisure activities [2]. However, the horticulture industry is facing critical challenges globally, which affect the production and processing of and research into horticultural crops [3].…”