Gardening as a Therapy to Improve Physical and Mental Health

<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> Access to fresh and nutritious food in adequate quantities is especially important in the young and elderly populations. Most elderly are on fixed incomes. Their income level is not always enough to support their needs at retirement. Inflation, increased energy costs, increased food costs and rapidly rising medical costs can reduce available incomes. Yen (2004) reported that 40% of elderly who rely only on their own resources do not receive adequate food and nutrients. This is important to society because the elderly are becoming an ever increasing proportion of the American population. It has been estimated that 19% of the elderly population are in a low enough income level to be eligible for the federal Food Stamp Program (Guthrie and Lin, 2002). Children are the second critical target group; they need exercise, green space and a source of
nutritious food. This seems clear due to the exploding prevalence of obesity in children in the United States. Because most people have little or no background or training in agriculture, these two groups can benefit from learning how to grow their own food. At present, less than 2% of the U.S. population is involved in production agriculture. The overall objective of this proposal is to improve the mental and physical well-being of: 1) Minority and other elderly on fixed incomes in Jefferson City,2) Youth in the Jefferson City area, including selected Lincoln University students. To meet this objective a garden area will be developed at the edge of campus, allowing these groups to grow their own food. A farmers market will be developed adjacent to the garden so that excess produce can be sold for profit. There will be booths that are restricted to students and elderly. They will share
booth space to foster interactions between the young and old. Area farmers will be invited to sell their products at the market to provide an outlet for sales. Also, an inspected kitchen will be developed in the South Campus building which is across the street from the proposed farmer's market area. Students, farmers and the elderly will be able to use this space to develop value-added products to sell at the market. The above capacity building proposal supports Objective 5.1 in Lincoln Universities Strategic Plan and states that Lincoln University will enhance programs and services that benefit stakeholders on the local and state levels. One strategy to accomplish this objective is 5.1.3 where we will increase collaboration and programming with institutions and organizations in the Mid-Missouri area.
<p>APPROACH:<br/> Methodology: The experimental groups will include youth, elderly (age 50 and up), community garden and farmer's market participants. Objective 1: All participants will be weighed and their height measured at the beginning and end of the study. Body mass and blood pressure will be determined. Participants will complete 3-day food records. A nutritionist will teach participants to assess portion sizes with food models paying particular attention to portions of vegetables and fruits. Participants will receive instructions on measuring serving size and to keep food records. Food records will be analyzed to evaluate energy intake, fiber, macro- and micro-nutrients. The nutrient intakes will be compared for different age and gender. Consumption of vegetable and fruits will be reported. Blood samples will be collected following overnight fast. Objective 2:
efficacy of the project will be evaluated with an experimental design that will compare youth and elderly who have participated in the community gardens and farmers market with a control group of individuals who did not participate. All participants will complete survey that includes demographic information (including gender, age, socioeconomic status, etc.); gardening, food preparation and nutrition knowledge; physical health and eating behaviors; mental health status; and social perceptions and activities. The survey will be completed toward the end of the growing season. Knowledge of gardening, food preparation and nutrition will be assessed using a multiple-choice instrument designed to determine participants' familiarity with basic principles of food science. Objective 3: Extension personnel will identify elderly that are located in Senior Living Centers and who cannot easily come
to campus for purposes of gardening. Small garden plots will be developed at the Center and at sites convenient to seniors. Seniors will be educated about organic gardening techniques, including sustainable and organic, and will produce vegetables for consumption. They will work closely with Lincoln University extension specialists so that the garden remains viable throughout the season. Excess produce will be sold at farmers market and profits returned to those in growing the produce. Youth will be transported to the site or child friendly sites will be developed allowing the young to work closely with the elderly. Funding to meet this objective will expand the capacity of the University to provide gardening activities in the local community. Objective 4: Participants in the study will sell produce through gardening efforts on campus, from gardens developed around town and from, gardens
at Lincoln University's Busby Farm. All produce grown and sold by study participants will be tracked using records of all sales at the Farmers Market. Total sales from gardening efforts, individual sales for vendor participants, and the total number of visitors to the farmers market will be recorded.
<p>PROGRESS: 2012/09 TO 2013/08<br/>Target Audience: Low income youth and seniors. Minority children andseniors(50 or older): African Americans, Hispanicand other ethnicities. Women and otherunderserved audiences. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training activities How to Shop at a Farmers Market Safe Food Handling Practices Solar Cooking and Food Dehydration Food preservation and preparation: Canning techniques Other value-Added products: Salsa making and bake goods Cooking demonstrations: Smoothies, various soups and other healthy foods Nutrition classes Food and kitchen safety Introduction to Marketing, workshop to market vendors Introduction to gardening Cover crops training Soil fertility and composting Vegetable identification, growing and cooking with herbs Integrated pest
management Identification of garden pests Sustainable plant maintenance: watering and fertilization Growing organic vegetables Integrating nature and agriculture: Fruit and vegetables and pollinators How to build raised beds Propagating, identifying and establishing native plants Learning to identify native edible plants Preparing native plants for human consumption Native pollinators and other beneficial insects Wellness activities: gardening, tai-chi and yoga. Making crafts and floral arrangements with native plants Making signs, pavers, press flower art and other crafts Volunteering Training Organizational skills Professional development Importance of biodiversity for pollinators and other wildlife. Douglas Tallamy national speaker. Bringing Nature Home book author. Lincoln University Native Plants Program. Training about native plants production and establishment in gardens. Offered
by St. Louis Botanical Garden, Shaw Nature Reserve staff. Attending �Growing Power�s National-International Urban Small� conference. Wisconsin. Organic and sustainable topics were covered during event. Cambio de Colores Conference. University of Missouri. Network and research about Hispanics and other immigrant groups. How to assemble and build a hoop house. One-on-one training. Lincoln University. Native grasses as forages workshop. Train the trainer event. Lincoln University. Pest management practices workshop. Lincoln University. Better Processing School. University of Missouri. All staff attended the �Missouri Minority Limited Resource Farmers Conference�. Sustainable agriculture sessions included. All staff attended �Lincoln University Staff Development and in-service training�. Team work training, reporting, Impact in Extension, among other
topics. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Cambio de Colores Conference. Oral presentation and paper to be published in proceedings. St. Louis, MO. Educational booth and value added product sales at LU�s �In Touch with Nature at Busby Farm� field day. Jefferson City, MO Educational booth at �Integrated Pest Management� Alan T. Busby Farm field day. Jefferson City, MO Educational booth at �Alternative Agriculture Field Day� at LU-George Washington Carver Farm field day. Jefferson City, MO Booth display, activities for children, produce and seedlings sales, at the LU Farmers Market for two months. Jefferson City, MO Tour of the commercial kitchen and educational booth atLU�s �2013 Missouri Minority and Limited Resource Farmers� Conference. Jefferson City, MO Gardening/marketing training, garden tour
and assisting with market sales. Offered to at-youth risk from the Prenger Family Center. Jefferson City, MO Educational display at �Project Inspire� for disadvantages children and single mothers. Rolla, MO. Training, displays and community garden tours at 3 two-day conferences �Promoting Well-Being through Nutrition, Wellness and Gardening�. Target group: minority seniors. Jefferson City, MO Booth at the 2013 �Missouri State Fair�, Sedalia, MO. Booth at the �Taste of Local Missouri: Cole County Food Festival. Facebook pages: Lincoln University Community Garden and Lincoln University Farmers Market Personal emails, postcards via regular mail, posting flyers in public places. Local groups. Boys and Girls Club, Lincoln University programs, Missouri Prairie Foundation, Missouri Department of Agriculture, MU-Extension, AgrAbility Program, the
Samaritan Center, Common Ground, The Halo Project,CMCA Social Workers, the Salvation Army Emergency Assistance Center and various churches. Jefferson City, MO. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? All activities proposed for 2013-2014 are to complete the following goals of this project: Goal 1. To prevent childhood obesity and improve nutrition. Goal 2. To increase Global Food Security and reduce Hunger. Mainly for elderly Goal 3. To secure Food Safety. For youth and elderly -ProfessorDr. K.B. Paul, State Extension Specialist in Agriculture will be the evaluator for the project in early 2014. We will use his recommendations to complete our goals before the end of the project on August 31, 2014.This will be donetomonitor the progress of the project and report places of improved effectiveness and efficiency to the PI -The voucher system to
purchase food items at LU-Farmers Market, for local foster families, will continue in 2013-2014 period in partnership with the Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association (CMFCAA), with a grant awarded to CMFCAA through the Missouri Department of Agriculture and donations from local groups. Participation was low in 2012-2013and we expect to increase it this year. -Create additional garden space for vegetable gardening and for demonstrations. Additional beds and garden space will be provided for LU students and other underserved populations including homeless veterans. -Sprouts and Roots Program Keep offering Sprouts and Roots training for seniors in Jefferson City focusing on marketing and entrepreneurship to encourage more sales at the market. Extend Sprouts and Roots Program to seniors in Kansas City, St. Louis and Bootheel region. We will offer advanced training in these
three locations in collaboration with LU Cooperative Extension Satellite Offices and Impact Centers and staff. Topics include advanced gardening, food preparation, value-added products, nutrition, wellness, entrepreneurship and marketing techniques. Participants that attended Sprouts and Roots conferences in 2013 will be invited to participate. Pre and post testing will be used as tools to evaluate change of knowledge. Changes in wellbeing will be measured through a follow up post-survey. Two �Nature and Urban Agriculture� summer camps. Because children gave us positive response about the overall satisfaction of the camps in 2013, camps will focus on entrepreneurship, including production and marketing of value-added products with the purpose of increasing participation at the LU-Farmers Market. We expect that by increasing the knowledge in entrepreneurship, for children and
seniors, income will increase and career opportunities will be provided. We expect to accomplish objective 4 of this project that is still not complete: �To examine the effect of improved income, through farmers� market sales and through value-added training on improving economic security in young and elderly�. -Partner with one church and one community center to establish gardens for youth-at risk and homeless veterans. We will provide excess produce and meals cooked in the commercial kitchen for homeless shelters. This will help us to achieve the objectives of serving more underserved populations and will offer the opportunity to homeless and youth-at-risk individuals to learn about gardening. -Grow niche/specialty crops to sell at the Sprouts and Roots booth at the LU-farmers market and other venues like field days or local festivals. This will offer opportunities of
entrepreneurship and to help the program to become sustainable. -We will work with a marketing specialist to sell produce and value-added products at the market to generate a budget for the Sprouts and Roots program, the market and the kitchen to become self-sustained. Excess produce will be donated to food banks and home shelters or composted. -Raised beds will be used by elderly and disable individuals. We will try to encourage people with physical disabilities to participate in our program. -Guidesheets and factsheets will be developed in nutrition, farmers market, gardening, native plants and food safety. We developed extension handouts for most of the classes offered but they have not been published, they will be submitted for peer review in 2014.
<p>PROGRESS: 2011/09/01 TO 2012/08/31<br/>OUTPUTS: Lincoln University Farmers Market opened Saturday morning from May-October and Thursday afternoon from July-September 2012. To determine attendance to market, number of vendors and buyers were tallied as well as vendor's profits. Surveys were filled by vendors to determine their satisfaction with the market. LU groups MANNRS, Native Plants Program and Sprouts and Roots participated to promote their programs. Research conducted on Sprouts and Roots Program participants assessed the efficacy of training and programming by using three main evaluative techniques including overall effect of training sessions on the self-reported health and well-being of participants, change of knowledge about topics presented during different sessions and participants' satisfaction levels with training received. Health and well being were
measured during the first and last sessions in the spring for adults and in the summer for children using questions such as mass body density, height, weight, gender and age. Measures of physical health included quality of life, sleep and exercise habits. Mental health was assessed by examining life satisfaction and depression. Social support and intergenerational relationships were also evaluated. Change on knowledge on topics about food safety, fighting obesity through gardening, nutrition, nature, wellness and basic gardening was evaluated before and after sessions (pre-post testing). The test kitchen finished in summer 2012, was used for cooking classes and demonstrations offered to Sprouts and Roots participants. The kitchen will open to the public in 2013. Events:community garden increased from 25 raised beds in 2011 to 51 at the end of summer 2012. Additional garden space will be
created for the use of Lincoln University students and the community. A native plant demonstration garden was established in 2011 and was enlarged in 2012 to provide habitat for pollinators and for educational purposes. Native fruits have also been planted. Field days: vendors participated in LU's In Touch with Nature day after the regular market as a new venue to sell their goods. Gardening advice was provided regularly via phone, email and on-site. Ten Garden Clubs, Master Gardeners and local schools visited the community garden. Products: Handouts and a poster about market and the Sprouts and Roots program were developed. Dissemination: Newspaper ads, career day at LU, LU websire, City of Jefferson website, Farmers Market Association website, Earth Day event, Facebook page, personal emails and personal communication. The market was featured in two local newspaper articles. The market
schedule will be similar in 2013. We will continue recruiting more vendors and will build a following for the Thursday afternoon market. In addition, special sales will be promoted off season. To increase number of vendors and visitors the market, community garden, test kitchen and the Sprouts and Roots program, the advertising will be placed in additional newspapers and websites. T-shirts, bumper stickers and other items will be available in 2013. Other activities for next year include musical performances and more educational booths and demonstrations. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Nadia Navarrete-Tindall, principal investigator- Associate Professor. Native Plants Extension Specialist- project manager, organize events, training, reports, promote project /Dr. Mara Aruguete, Co-Pi. Psychology professor. Training and mentoring. Prepare programming. Pre-post evaluations and analyses/ Ms. Yvonne
Matthews, Co-Pi, technical assistance working with seniors. Jeff Hargrove, part time-field technician, community garden establishment and maintenance. Offers technical assistance. Veronica Taylor, part-time Nutrition Specialist, offers training, on nutrition topics, Bod Pod evaluation and children and senior recruiting. Maggie Hopper, full time, Kitchen and Market manager. Collaborators: Missouri Department of Agriculture, University of Missouri Extension and Missouri Health Department (Charlie Hopper). Dr. Jaime Pinero, Jacob Wilson-training on LU-Integrated Pest Management/Karen Glabreath, LU-Paula J. Carver Center on Minority Health and Aging/Amy Hempen and Sue Bartelette, LU-Native Plants Program. LU-MANNRS (Julius Moody). LU students: Angelica Hempen and Michael Watson help with surveys at the market and did community outreach. Two Psychology students volunteers assisted with data
collection/Volunteers: Dana Calcutt, M.D. TARGET AUDIENCES: Minorities and underserved audiences. Youth at risk, elderly and women. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
<p>PROGRESS: 2010/09/01 TO 2011/08/31<br/>OUTPUTS: Outputs. The extension part of the study created a community garden and farmers market. A certified kitchen will open in May 2012. The research part developed the Sprouts and Roots Program (S&R) to recruit minorities and underserved youth and seniors to study if gardening, better nutrition and other healthy habits can improve well being and physical health and promote intergenerational relationships. Recruitment was done in schools, assisted living centers, churches and Lincoln University in winter 2010 and spring 2011. Flyers, emails, calls and visits were done. Summer 2011: Children and seniors attended indoor and outdoor classes and grew vegetables. Fall 2011: 11-week program offered to seniors included diverse topics-see below. Preliminary results suggest that youth increased in height and weight during the program
and blood pressure decreased, exercise increased, poor health and poor sleep decreased, and intergenerational contact increased. 11 girls and 6 boys participated, and 90% of girls and 50% of boys finished. Total retention was 64% for 2011. Most children plan to return in 2012. Height, weight, biomass and psychological data for adults are pending. Twenty-five adults aged 65 and up participated. Retention through the summer was 100 % and fall was 45%. About 90% were female and most participants plan to return in 2012. Events: A Community Garden was done in winter 2010 with more than 25 raised beds for vegetables and flowers. Additional planting areas allow vegetables requiring large areas to grow. The Farmers Market began in early summer, offering low-income families access to locally produced and healthier food. Discounts will be offered to low-income families in 2012. The market was a
venue for families to increase incomes by selling hand-made items or produce from backyard, small farm or Community Garden plots. Sales were reported to be $35-$150 per day. The market ran 5 mo. in 2011 and will restart in May 2012. Preliminary results: Approximately 1305 people of different ethnicities attended the market, with 20-220 customers averaging 60/ week. Vendors fluctuated from 5-12 and most plan to return next year. Field days: S&R participated in LU's Touch of Nature day to promote the program. Fall Festival was done in conjunction with the Market. Information booths were staffed by Extension Specialists. Food samples were offered. The last training session was a pot luck dinner with dishes prepared by participants. Workshops for youth included: Introduction to gardening, crafting and cooking. For seniors: Gardening, crafting, nutrition, exercise and aging, sexual health and
healthy cooking. Technical assistance was provided to a Community Center, LU Student Services, Boys and Girls Club, assisted living housing, a church, schools and others. Advice was provided regularly via phone, email or on-site. Products: A cookbook with healthy recipes, recipe cards using edible native plants and brochures describing native plants. Dissemination: Besides field days, an information booth was available at the Market and other events. Three newspaper articles and an article in Lincoln University President's podium publication were published. PARTICIPANTS: 1. Dr. Nadia Navarrete-Tindall, principal investigator- Associate Professor. Native Plants Extension Specialist- project manager, organize events,training, reports, promote project /Dr. Mara Aruguete, Co-Pi. Psychology professor. Training and mentoring. Prepare programming. Pre-post evaluations /Dr. Suman Ahuja, Co-Pi.
Assistant Professor Clinical Nutrition. Training. Pre-post evaluations /Mr.Robert Channer, farmers market and community garden manager/Ms. Yvonne Matthews, technical assistance working with seniors 2. Jeff Hargrove, field technician, community garden establishment and maintenance. Offers technical assistance. Veronica Taylor, Training, data collection. Partners: Missouri Department of Agriculture and Missouri Health Department. Charlie Hopper, Tony Anderson and Anna Barlow/Collaborators: Dr. Jaime Pinero, Integrated Pest Management/Karen Glabreath, Paula J. Carver Center on Minority Health and Aging/Amy Gooding, Native Plants Program/Volunteers: Dana Calcutt, M.D. TARGET AUDIENCES: Minorities and underserved audiences. Youth at risk, elderly and women. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.