From Plot to Plate: Improving Health through Women's Participation in Community Food Gardens

Community food gardens and small urban farms are of burgeoning interest among the public in many major U.S. cities, including Chicago. These forms of urban agriculture are increasingly viewed as opportunities for empowering low-income, food insecure residents with the means to grow their own fresh vegetables, feed their families, and become more physically active while investing in the community at large through the ‘greening’ of the built environment. Women are active participants in community gardens especially and often function as gatekeepers to family health, in part through the daily routines of family meals, which must be culturally acceptable as well as nourishing. Thus, women’s experiences and perspectives should be included in the formation of public policies, interventions, and campaigns that seek to support public health through urban agriculture.

In a recent mixed-method study of 46 women gardeners in Chicago, the author found that health did not improve substantially over the course of a full gardening season for a variety of mental and physical health indicators (e.g. CESD anxiety scores, BMI). Semi-structured interviews revealed that although gardeners were learning how to grow their own food and were enthusiastic about sharing the experience with their families, actual garden output varied greatly, and produce did not always make it from garden plot to plate. The results suggest that the health impacts of food gardens are likely to be much greater for families and communities if women are also given guidance on how to prepare and cook vegetables for inclusion in culturally appropriate meals.