Impact of school, community and home gardens on fruit and vegetable access and consumption in low-income neighborhoods in Silicon Valley

School, community and home gardens promote healthier eating and physical activity while enhancing neighborhoods and community cohesion. Gardens address the obesity epidemic by making locally produced nutritious food and physical activity more readily available to people of all ages. Through funding from AmeriCorps, The Health Trust has led a partnership of ten local organizations to form the Silicon Valley HealthCorps. The goal of the three-year project is to use gardens and the work of 46 AmeriCorps members to address health equity by bringing fresh fruits, vegetables and education to residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Specific outcomes of the project include increased knowledge about healthy eating and urban agriculture; increased access to locally grown produce; and, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. An evaluation of the project is underway which utilizes survey and program monitoring methods to assess (1) changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to healthy eating and gardening among project participants; (2) increases in the number and quality of community and school gardens in low-income neighborhoods, including the establishment of 8 new community and school gardens and 100 home gardens; (3) increases in production and distribution of produce in the highest need areas of the two counties, with the goal of 180,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables; and (4) changes in community resources and engagement, including the participation of at least 4000 residents in the project. Data collection is in progress, and year-one findings will be available in August 2010 and presented in this session.