Evaluation of the Grow Your Groceries Home Gardening Program in Chicago, Illinois

COVID-19 exacerbated existing disparities in food security in Chicago. Home gardening can improve food security but there are often barriers to participation and the benefits are understudied. Chicago Grows Food (CGF) formed in 2020 to address food insecurity during COVID-19, and created the Grow Yo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of community health 2023-04, Vol.48 (2), p.179-188
Main Authors: Kersten, Marjorie, Carrazco, Lizbeth, Rosing, Howard, Swenski, Taylor, Russell, Danielle, Idrovo, Jennifer, Lofton, Saria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chicago
Coding
Community and Environmental Psychology
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 - prevention & control
Data analysis
Ethics
Focus Groups
Food
Food consumption
Food security
Food Supply
Gardening
Gardens & gardening
Groceries
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Humans
Illinois
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mixed methods research
Original Paper
Program evaluation
Qualitative analysis
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Summary:COVID-19 exacerbated existing disparities in food security in Chicago. Home gardening can improve food security but there are often barriers to participation and the benefits are understudied. Chicago Grows Food (CGF) formed in 2020 to address food insecurity during COVID-19, and created the Grow Your Groceries (GYG) program to provide home gardening kits to families at risk of food insecurity in Chicago. A participatory program evaluation was conducted to better understand the experiences of and benefits to individuals participating in GYG. Program participants shared feedback via focus groups (n = 6) and surveys (n = 72). Qualitative data were analyzed using an iterative coding process. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Most participants reported confidence in using a grow kit to grow food, increased healthy food consumption, easier access to healthy food, and high likelihood of growing food again. Additionally, participants described increased connections within their communities, increased interaction with their family, and personal growth as benefits of the program. These results demonstrate the benefits of a novel home gardening program that uses fabric grow bags to address food insecurity. A larger scale program evaluation is necessary to better understand the impacts of participating in this home gardening program.
ISSN:0094-5145
1573-3610
DOI:10.1007/s10900-022-01152-x