Growing Healthy Collaborative: A Farm–to- school–to–home project is associated with fruit and vegetable consumption

Background: Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption among children through farm-to-school activities may promote access to and acceptability of produce for supporting healthy eating among children and families.

Methods: A community-based participatory research-informed three-year intervention was implemented in Somerville and Cambridge, MA, diverse, moderate-income school districts. The multi-level initiative included procurement policies, menu-development and implementation, taste-testing, school-yard garden programming, and farmers' market programming. A baseline to follow-up cross-sectional evaluation design (winter 2006 / spring 2008) was used to evaluate the impact of the Growing Healthy Collaborative (GHC) initiative on 4th-8th grade student attitudes towards and consumption habits of fruits/vegetables at home and at school using an anonymous, in-class, self-administered questionnaire.

Results: Approximately 2,000 students completed surveys annually: 35% white; 31% African-American; 9% Asian; 7% Hispanic. In 2008, 56.5% of students ate school lunch 3 or more times in the past week. From baseline to follow-up, student attitudes and consumption behaviors, particularly regarding vegetables, improved at school and at home. Favorable attitudes towards vegetables improved by 18%, and consumption increased by 14.5%. Students with favorable attitudes had significantly higher fruit/vegetable intakes (p range <0.0001-0.0443). Students who participated in any GHC activity (gardens, taste tests, farmers' markets) were significantly more likely to have reported eating any fruit or vegetable in past 24 hours (p range <0.0001-0.0232).

Discussion: GHC intervention elements were associated with fruit/vegetable consumption and attitudes, suggesting that farm-to-school activities may help promote fruits/vegetables generally and local produce specifically.