Best practices for community gardening in a US–Mexico border community

Abstract

Minority communities such as those on the US-Mexico border are placed at disproportionate high risk for child and adult obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. A built environment characterized by an arid desert climate, lack of access to healthy foods, barriers to increasing physical activity, cultural and community norms which deter healthy eating and sustainable food production, shape obesity-related health disparities in these communities. Three pilot community gardens (implemented by two local governmental organizations and one community-based organization) were funded through the local Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) initiative in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces and Anthony, New Mexico (US-MX border communities with high obesity rates) in order to encourage healthy lifestyles among families in the region. A mixed-methods evaluation (n = 223) examined the implementation process, immediate outcomes and best practices of implementing and sustaining community gardens in these minority binational communities. In addition to nutrition-related outcomes, the potential for psychosocial outcomes from participating in community and school garden projects were observed. The best practices in relation to (i) assessing community norms related to growing food, (ii) increasing access to land and water for community/school gardening and (iii) enhancing social support for gardening are discussed. The implications of these best practices for obesity prevention and implementing community gardens in a minority US-MX border community characterized by cultural, geographical and socioeconomic barriers are examined.

Community gardens and their effects on diet, health, psychosocial and community outcomes: a systematic review

“…Three of these studies were conducted in the United States, with one each from Canada, Japan, Portugal and the Netherlands. All were cross-sectional in design and sample sizes ranged from 25 [40] to 500 [39]. Findings were generally positive for gardening and community-related outcomes.…”

Health Effects of Participation in Creating Urban Green Spaces—A Systematic Review

“…Studies frequently report on educational benefits and skill development (41). This includes learning about nature and the environment, urban agriculture, and nutrition, or developing skills, both in terms of interpersonal skills, such as problem solving, e.g., [106], and more practical skills, e.g., [100]. An improved connection to nature following participatory urban green space creation is found in 26 studies.…”

“…This includes five quantitative studies that report increased nature connectedness or an increased environmental identity and 21 studies that qualitatively note better connections or relations to nature, as well as participants describing that they feel more comfortable in nature, have more fun [43,126], or feel embedded in nature [118]. Additionally, six studies note that participants reported increased pro-environmental behaviors and attitudes [76,139,147], adopted more sustainable lifestyles [97,117], or cared more about the environment [106]. Participants in twelve studies attributed benefits to the environment to be an outcome of their participatory green space activities, such as an improved appearance of public spaces, an improvement to the natural environment [102,152], and benefits for biodiversity and local wildlife [53,113,116].…”

Underlying relationships between public urban green spaces and social cohesion: A systematic literature review

“…Research literature has provided a positive relationship between the supply of facilities and various forms of social processes. For instance, community gardens are in itself a place where participants can build up new friendship over an interest of gardening, share their produces with others, spend more time gardening with their families, and meet their neighbors, which all contribute to improved social ties and social support (Hale et al, 2011;Mangadu, Kelly, Orezzoli, Gallegos, & Matharasi, 2017;Noone & Jenkins, 2017). Moreover, the availability of benches, tables, and playground facilities in community gardens forms a social friendly area where individuals can socialize with each other (Kingsley & Townsend, 2006).…”