Growing a School Garden
the Golden Hill Learning Center Experience
Jo Anne Judge-Dietz, Olmsted County Public Health
Gordy Ziebart, Golden Hill Principal
Caleb Langworthy, Garden Manager
Golden Hill Students
Agenda
• Background on school gardens
• Cross-curricular garden program at Golden Hill
• Student views
Learning Objectives
At the end of the session the learner will be
able to describe:
• Rationale for a school garden program
• Cross curricular uses for a school garden
• Helpful partnerships for successful school
garden
• Impact on youth
Funding PartnerSHIP
Background
– Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP)
Funding for local public health to partner with schools,
community, worksites and health care providers to implement
strategies to prevent chronic disease
• Long Term Goals
Reduce health care costs by reducing overweight and obesity
through better nutrition and increased physical activity
• Short Term Goals
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Implement Farm to School Programs
Improve nutritional content of snacks, ala cart and vending at schools
Establish school gardens
Build partnerships for local food sourcing
Partnerships
• School District Support
– Leadership
– Student Nutrition Services
• Site-based school support
– Principal, Wellness committees, Parent Teacher
Organizations, Science, Ag, FACS, Business, Art
teachers, cafeteria staff, PE teacher
• Community support
– Parents, neighbors, farmers, local growers,
Master Gardeners, horticulture and garden
businesses, health professionals
Why school gardens?
The benefits of school gardens
–Health and wellness
–Environmental impact
–Art and beauty
–Educational opportunities
–Youth development
Rationale for Gardens
• One-third of US children are obese or overweight 1
• Fewer than 10% of children (age 4 to 13 years) meet MyPyramid
recommendations for daily servings of fruits and vegetables.2
• In adolescents nationwide, 13.8% of students surveyed had eaten
vegetables three or more times per day 3
• Eating more fruits and vegetables, can be an important part of a weight
management strategy.4
• Up to 10 exposures to new foods are often required to increase
acceptance.5
• Several studies have demonstrated that children participating in gardenbased nutrition education programs increase fruit and vegetable intake,
willingness to taste and preference for fruits and vegetables.6
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Hedley AA Prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children, adolescents and adults JAMA 2004 291:2847-50
Guenther PM, Dodd KW, Reedy J, Krebs-Smith SM. Most Americans eat much less than recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. Am Diet Assoc. 2006;106:1371-1379.
2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survellience Survey , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC “Can eating fruits and vegetables help people to manage their weight?”
Birch LL, et al. What kind of exposure reduces children’s food neophobia? Looking vs. tasting. Appetite.1987;9:171-178.
Lautenschlager L, et al. Understanding gardening and dietaryhabits among youth garden program participants using the theory of planned behavior. Appetite. 2007;49:122-130.
McAleese JD, et al. Garden-based nutrition education affects fruit and vegetable consumption in sixth-grade adolescents. J AmDiet Assoc. 2007;107:662-665.
Hermann JR, et al. After-school gardening improves children’s reported vegetablei ntake and physical activity. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2006;38:201-202.
Morris JL, et al. First-grade gardeners more likely to taste vegetables. Cal Ag. 2001;55:43-46.
Lautenschlager, et al, knowledge, and values heldby inner-city youth about gardening, nutrition, and cooking. AgrHuman Values. 2007;4:245-258.
Additional Research
School Gardens as a Strategy for Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Oxenham, and King, Journal of Child Nutrition & Management : School Nutrition Association. 2010 Spring, v. 34, issue 1
Using Nature and Outdoor Activity to Improve Children's Health
McCurdy, et al , Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2010 Jul;40(6):152
Growing Environmental Stewards: The Overall Effect of a School Gardening
Program
Aguilar, Waliczek and Zajicek , Texas A&M University Study 2008
Nutrition to Grow On: A garden-enhanced nutrition education curriculum for
upper-elementary school children Morris et al, J of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2002
First-grade Gardeners More Likely to Taste Vegetables
Morris, et al, California Agriculture, January-February 2001.
Garden-enhanced Nutrition Curriculum Improves Fourth-grade School
Children’s Knowledge of Nutrition and Preferences for Some Vegetables
Morris et al, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2002
Local Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Percentage of students who ate fruits and vegetables
five or more times per day (recommended daily intake)
during the past seven days
Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted 2007 and 2009 Rochester Public School District.
Results compiled by Centers for Disease Control. Data used with permission.
Health and Wellness
Taste
Grow
Prepare
Learn
Access
Youth development and engagement
Opportunities for
mentoring
Opportunities for
success
Access to healthy food
Garden Produce
from school gardens in 2011
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Beets
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Fresh herbs
Kale
Kohlrabi
• Lettuce and
salad greens
• Onions
• Peas
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Pumpkins
• Radishes
• Strawberries
• String beans
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Squash
Sweet corn
Swiss chard
Tomatoes
Cherry
tomatoes
• Watermelon
• Zucchini
Coming soon: apples, pears, grapes, blueberries, raspberries
Cross curricular learning activities
• Family and Consumer Science:
– Food preparation
– Cooking
– Preserving
• Health
– Nutrition
– Active living
• Science
– Biology
– Plant life, water cycle
– Reproduction
• Math
– Plot calculations
– Costs, sales, profits
• Agri-Business
– Planning
– Buying selling
– Promoting product
• English
– Composition
– Poetry
– Journaling
• Art
– Site beautification
– Photography
– Creations from the garden
• Industrial Arts
– Building structures for the
garden
Art from the Garden
Inspiration from the garden
Multi impact = greater support
Nature’s mental
health center
Physical activity
station
Curiosity courtyard
Determine a focus for the garden
• What is the goal of your school garden
–Health and wellness
• Food access vs. new food
experiences
–Education, science and environment
–Art and beauty
–Youth Development
Who’s at the table
Partnerships
• Build in sustainability with a strong committee
• Build on collaborative relationships
• Regularly review who is at the table, missing
from the table
• Recognize the motivation for each member to
be involved
• Involve kids early and often
What will make the garden experience
have a lasting impact?
For students:
• Learning from teachable moments
• Fun
• Results from meaningful work, WIIFM
• Pride
• Building relationships
For the school:
• Connections, relationships
• Incorporating policy, system and
environmental change
“Many things grow in the garden
that were never sown there.”
Thomas Fuller, 1732
Jo Anne Judge-Dietz
Olmsted County Public Health
[email protected]
507-328-7452