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Cultivating Communities : Reaping the Benefits of Community Gardens in Tulsa Schools

Cultivating Communities : Reaping the Benefits of Community Gardens in Tulsa Schools. Authors: Trevor Anderson, Lyle Baker, Eric Beaver, Smita Gupta , Tyler Haas, and Henry Le. SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE Summer 2011. I ssue Overview.

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Cultivating Communities : Reaping the Benefits of Community Gardens in Tulsa Schools

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  1. Cultivating Communities: Reaping the Benefits of Community Gardens in Tulsa Schools Authors: Trevor Anderson, Lyle Baker, Eric Beaver, Smita Gupta, Tyler Haas, and Henry Le SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE Summer 2011

  2. Issue Overview • Fruit and vegetable consumption in Oklahoma is poor. Our mission is to establish a community garden at a North Tulsa high school in order to promote positive dietary habits and foster social capital among its associated impoverished community. • In 2009, the CDC ranked Oklahoma dead last in “consumption of fruits and vegetables” with only 14.6% of Oklahomans eating five or more servings of vegetables per day. • The overall obesity rate among Tulsa County adults is 26.9%. In addition, 35.7% of Tulsa County adults are overweight. • Based on USDA data, 18,553 North Tulsans (including 4302 adolescents) are living within a food desert. • South Tulsa has a few successful school-based community gardens. • North Tulsa currently has two start-up community gardens, but neither are school- based. • North Tulsa has relatively higher density of areas federally recognized as "food deserts" when compared to the rest of Tulsa.

  3. Implementation Plan • Who: • Teachers, parents, students, outside volunteers and members who would like to participate. • Potential partners: Tulsa Community Garden Society, Third Place, Newsome Farms, Tulsa Food Security Council. • What: • Develop partnership with Booker T. Washington High School, already an adopted school of OU-Tulsa. • Build a garden and community space for tools/gathering. • Partner with teachers about implementing basic farming and nutrition into the curriculum and offer independent student projects to students. • Have extra-credit and extra-curricular incentives for students. • Summer camp opportunities. • Cooking classes for healthy cooking/eating for parents and community affiliates. • When: • Approval/planning: 2-3 months. • Creating the foundation: 9 months-1 year. • Having a sustainable garden: 1 more year.

  4. Future Condition • Have a more unified community environment including students, parents, and volunteers. • Garden accessibility to the surrounding community. • Survey the health of students before and during the implementation of the garden. • Have a pleasant, aesthetically pleasing gathering space. • Host social gatherings centered around the garden (fundraising events, parties, cooking classes, and gardening, growing and cooking competitions). • Ideally form a collaboration with Nathan Hale Magnet High School's student-run restaurant (Hale's Bistro). • As the garden begins to prosper, start collaborating with current farmers' markets. • Upon achieving success, we plan to expand to other schools.

  5. Accountability • Benefits (Draper and Freedman, 2010): • Increased vegetable and fruit consumption  • Improved health (physical and mental) • Increased social capitol • Academic improvements • General community beautification • Costs (American Community Gardening Association, • no date; Surls, Rachel 2001): • Opening fee of $2500-$5000 • Maintenance and operation • Annual water costs • Replacement equipment costs • Potential Funding Sources: • The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program, National Gardening Association Youth Garden Grant, GreenWorks! Community Action Projects, Oklahoma Environmental License Tag Grants, National Garden Association Grants, and Learn and Serve America Program Grants • Follow-Up: • Probe dietary habits of students before and after being involved with the community garden. "Community Gardens were found to enhance positive dietary habits, such as increased fruit and vegetable consumption and preference among participants, regardless of setting or population" (Draper and Freedman, 2010, 479). • Assess students' academic performance who are participating in the community garden. "Youth gardening programs and projects were found to produce positive dietary, academic, and developmental results" (Draper and Freedman, 2010, 478). • Measuring Social Capital. Measure local crime rates surrounding the school. Research Studies discussing social benefits of community gardens. • Utilize a formal Logic Model to map and assess the progress and success of our project from start to finish. (Community Food Security Coalition)

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