Abstract
In order to achieve the goals of ending poverty and hunger, as stated under the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, there needs to be a focus on low-income families who are most affected by these issues. Two ways to support low-income families in improving food security include providing access to affordable, fresh foods and education about food systems. Twenty-six percent of residents in Meadville, Pennsylvania live below the poverty line and 50% of students in the school district receive subsidized lunch. In 2014, the Community Wellness Initiative of Allegheny College established an affordable community and school garden in Meadville, Pennsylvania. There are monthly cooking and gardening workshops for community members. The garden-based curriculum is being integrated into middle- and high-school classes to teach students to think critically about the food system while learning basic growing and cooking skills. Students then bring lessons home to their families furthering the education of families in Meadville. This paper will describe how the garden is used to teach families and students of Meadville to grow, prepare, and purchase high-quality food in order to improve food security.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alaimo, K., Packnett, E., Miles, R. A., & Kruger, D. J. (2008). Fruit and vegetable intake among urban community gardeners. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 40(2), 94–101.
Armstrong, D. (2000). A survey of community gardens in upstate New York: Implications for health promotion and community development. Health and Place, 6(4), 319–327.
Balbus, J. M., & Malina, C. (2009). Identifying vulnerable subpopulations for climate change health effects in the United States. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine/American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 51(1), 33–37.
City-Data.com. (2016). http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Meadville-Pennsylvania.html. Accessed August 2016.
Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M., Gregory, C., & Singh, A. (2015). Household food security in the United States in 2014. Economic research report no. (ERR-194) 43Â p, September 2015. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err194.aspx.
Comstock, N., Miriam Dickinson, L., Marshall, J. A., Soobader, M., Turbin, M. S., Buchenau, M., et al. (2010). Neighborhood attachment and its correlates: Exploring neighborhood conditions, collective efficacy, and gardening. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(4), 435–442.
Cook, J. T., & Frank, D. A. (2008). Food security, poverty, and human development in the United States. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1136, 193–209.
Corrigan, M. P. (2011). Growing what you eat: Developing community gardens in Baltimore, Maryland. Applied Geography, 31(4), 1232–1241.
Davey Smith, G., & Brunner, E. (1997). Socio-economic differentials in health: the role of nutrition. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 56, 75–90.
Dubois, L., & Girard, M. (2001). Social position and nutrition: A gradient relationship in Canada and the USA. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 55, 366–373.
Gatto, N. M., Ventura, E. E., Gyllenhammer, L. E., & Davis, J. N. (2012). LA Sprouts: A garden-based nutrition intervention pilot program influences motivation and preferences for fruits and vegetables in Latino youth. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(6), 913–920.
Hartmann, C., Dohle, S., & Siegrist, M. (2013). Importance of cooking skills for balanced food choices. Appetite, 65, 125–131.
Heflin, C. M., Seifert, K., & Williams, D. R. (2005). Food insufficiency and women’s mental health: Findings from a 3-year panel of welfare recipients. Social Science and Medicine, 61(9), 1971–1982.
High Schools.com. (2016). http://high-schools.com/directory/pa/counties/crawford-county/42039/. Accessed August 2016.
James, W. P. T., Nelson, M., Ralph, A., & Leather, S. (1997). The contribution of nutrition to inequalities in health. British Medical Journal, 314, 1545–1549.
Kirkpatrick, S. I., McIntyre, L., & Potestio, M. L. (2010). Child hunger and long-term adverse consequences for health. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 164(8), 754–762.
Larson, N. I., Perry, C. L., Story, M., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2006a). Food preparation by young adults is associated with better diet quality. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 106(12), 2001–2007.
Larson, N. I., Story, M., Eisenberg, M. E., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2006b). Food preparation and purchasing roles among adolescents: associations with sociodemographic characteristics and diet quality. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 106(2), 211–218.
McLaughlin, K., Greif Green, J., AlegrÃa, M., Costello, E. J., Gruber, M. J., Sampson, N. A., et al. (2012). Food insecurity and mental disorders in a national sample of U.S. adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(12), 1293–1303.
Mutangadura, B. G. (2015). Sustainable development in Southern Africa: Progress in addressing the challenges. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 1, 56–69.
Nord, M., Andrews, M., & Carlson, S. (2005 October). Household Food Security in the United States, 2004. United States Department of Agriculture-Economic Research Service. USDA-ERS Economic Research Report No. 11. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=878333 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.878333.
Patel, D. R., & Agnetta, A. (2016). Food insecurity and nutrition. Journal of Alternative Medicine Research, 8(1), 17–22.
Public School Review. (2016). Second district elementary school. http://www.publicschoolreview.com/second-district-elementary-school-profile. Accessed August 2016.
Slopen, N., Fitzmaurice, G., Williams, D. R., & Gilman, S. E. (2010). Poverty, food insecurity, and the behavior for childhood internalizing and externalizing disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(5), 444–452.
Sterling, S. (2003). Whole systems thinking as a basis for paradigm change in education: explorations in the context of sustainability. Ph.D. Thesis, Bath: University of Bath.
The World Bank Poverty Overview. (2016). http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview. Accessed October 2016.
Tieg, E., Amulya, A., Bardwell, J., Buchenau, M., Marshall, J. A., & Litt, J. S. (2014). Collective efficacy in Denver, Colorado: Strengthening neighborhoods and health through community gardens. Health and Place, 15(4), 1115–1122.
Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (2016). https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld. Accessed October 2016.
United States Census Bureau. (2016). Poverty status in the past 12 months: 2010–2014. American Community Survey 5-Year estimates. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/IPE120214/4248360,42. Accessed August 2016.
Utter, J., Denny, S., & Dyson, B. (2016a). School gardens and adolescent nutrition and BMI: Results from a national, multilevel study. Preventive Medicine, 83, 1–4.
Utter, J., Denny, S., Lucassen, M., & Dyson, B. (2016b). Adolescent cooking abilities and behaviors: Associations with nutrition and emotional well-being. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 48(1), 35–41.
Van der Horst, K., Ferrage, A., & Rytz, A. (2014). Involving children in meal preparation. Effects on food intake. Appetite, 79, 18–24.
Wells, N., Myers, B. M., & Henderson, C. R. (2014). School gardens and physical activity: A randomized controlled trial of low-income elementary schools. Preventive Medicine, 69(Supplement), S27–S33.
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). From one earth to one world: An overview. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics. (2015). http://www.worldhunger.org/2015-world-hunger-and-poverty-facts-and-statistics/. Accessed October 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hinton, T., Martin, K., Pallant, E. (2018). Teaching Food Security to Low-Income Rural Families in the United States. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Handbook of Sustainability Science and Research. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63007-6_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63007-6_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63006-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63007-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)