[Community_garden] Community_garden Digest, Vol 34, Issue 1

Tue Nov 14 19:40:05 EST 2006

Gordon,

I did my dissertation research on community gardens and while I was interested in other aspects (citizenship, community activism, public space) I did come across a couple of articles pertaining to health and community gardening.  Feel free to contact me personally if you want to discuss this further.

Armstrong, D. (2000). "A survey of community gardens in upstate New York: Implications for health promotion and community development." Health & Place 6: 319-327.
            Twenty community garden programs in upstate New York (representing 63 gardens) were surveyed to identify characteristics that may be useful to facilitate neighborhood development and health promotion.  The most commonly expressed reasons for participating in gardens were access to fresh foods, to enjoy nature, and health benefits.  Gardens in low-income neighborhoods (46%) were four times as likely as non low-income gardens to lead to other issues in the neighborhood being addressed; reportedly due to organizing facilitated through the community gardens.  Additional research on community gardening can improve our understanding of the interaction of social and physical environments and community health, and effective strategies for empowerment, development, and health promotion.

Kaplan, R. (1973). "Some Psychological Benefits of Gardening." Environment and Behaviour 5(2): 143-162.

LaDona Knigge

----- Original Message ----
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Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 9:02:17 AM
Subject: Community_garden Digest, Vol 34, Issue 1

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Today's Topics:

   1. Community Gardens Study (gordon.bargh at utoronto.ca)
   2. wanted: community garden photos-early 20th    century/Touch the
      Soil (Lexie Stoia)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:08:50 -0500
From: gordon.bargh at utoronto.ca
Subject: [Community_garden] Community Gardens Study
To: community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
Message-ID: <20061114020850.97t41zvpehwgg08g at webmail.utoronto.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset=ISO-8859-1;    DelSp="Yes";
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Dear all:

My name is Gordon Bargh and I am planning a study related to a  
community gardens program in Toronto, Ontario.  I'll be working in  
conjunction with a representative from the Toronto Food Policy Council  
(associated with Toronto Public Health).  Our goal is to briefly  
examine the impact of a community garden program on the physical and  
psychosocial health of its users.  This particular program is located  
in a low income neighbourhood.

Some of the variables we suspect may be positively influenced through  
participation in a community garden program include:
- improved nutrition status
- increased physical activity level
- reduction in overall level of stress
- increased social contacts in the community
- greater sense of pride in both self and community
- linking with other services in the community
- acquisition of new skills
- improved employment or educational opportunities

The study itself will be small (perhaps 20 to 30 interviews) but will  
hopefully form the basis for further investigations in the future.

I am hoping that some of you may be able to help me with the following:

1) Admittedly, I am a relative newcomer to the study of community  
gardens.  I have reviewed the ACGA website as well as some local  
resources.  Does anyone know of any "landmark" studies that have been  
done which are directly related to this topic?

2) In particular, have there been any formal surveys done related to  
this topic (or at least a number of its variables).  If possible, it  
would be useful to build on an actual template of questions that have  
been used successfully elsewhere.

Thank-you for considering this request.
Kind regards,
Gord

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:09:46 -0500
From: "Lexie Stoia" <lstoia at fpconservatory.org>
Subject: [Community_garden] wanted: community garden photos-early 20th
    century/Touch the Soil
To: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Message-ID: <KDEFLBIEDCCPGDBDGIODCELGCDAA.lstoia at fpconservatory.org>
Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi everyone,
If anyone has any photos of community gardens or school gardens from the
1890s-WWI they would be able to scan and email me by Friday I would be most
appreciative. They would be used in an article about early cg's for a
magazine, Touch the Soil ( www.touchthesoil.com ). Or, if you have an
interesting history tidbit you would like to share feel free to email me or
give me a call.

Check out the Nov/Dec issue of Touch the Soil for 2 beautiful glossy
articles about community gardens!

Thanks,
Lexie

* * * * * * * * * *
Lexie Stoia
Operations Administrator
American Community Gardening Association
614-645-1880
www.communitygarden.org

------------------------------

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End of Community_garden Digest, Vol 34, Issue 1
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