Food Security Projects

School Garden Markets

While most garden programs focus predominantly on education the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is running a pilot project, the Market Off West, that works to address food security for the local community in Oakland. The Market Off West is a student-led initiative that is open during the summer and provides free produce, flowers, and self-care items.

Rosa Parks Elementary School in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood, where many families face economic challenges, has created a community garden to help address local food security.¹ Students collaborated with school officials to design a garden to grow vegetables and herbs that reflect the cultural diets of the neighborhood’s diverse population. The garden also serves as a resource for the school’s farmer’s market, where fresh produce is distributed to students and their families. In addition, teachers use the garden to provide interactive lessons on nutrition and healthy eating, contributing to long-term food security awareness in the community.

Evidence for Use

There is a tremendous body of evidence showing how school gardens and markets can impact students’ understanding of nutrition, promote favorable attitudes towards fruits and vegetables, and their self-efficacy for growing and preparing foods.^2,³ Evidence also shows that community gardens can increase food security among low-income families.^4,⁵ Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on the potential impact of school gardens on food security of students and families.

Implementation Process

The Market Off West is staffed by two AmeriCorps members and three OUSD youth interns and is open several days a week in the afternoons in June and July. Flyers are distributed throughout the neighborhood announcing the days and times the market is open and to invite folks to “shop” at the market. The market is also promoted to central kitchen staff. Beyond enhancing food security for the local community, the market also serves as a job site for OUSD youth and serves as a hub for field trips where 200-300 OUSD students participate in project-based learning developing food and environmental projects.

Best Practices

Starting as a pilot project to allow for learning before trying to scale the model in any way
Securing grant funding is critical, as the project is not self-sustaining

Participating Schools

Resources

OUSD

Market Off West

KidsGardening

Starting a Community Garden on School Grounds

Citations

1. Gardening in the San Diego school district [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2024 Aug 15]. Available from: https://www.legacy.civicwell.org/resource/rosa-parks-community-garden/

2. Chan CL, Tan PY, Gong YY. Evaluating the impacts of school garden-based programmes on diet and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and practices among the school children: A systematic review. BMC public health. 2022;22(1):1-1251. https://search.proquest.com/docview/2691575024. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13587-x.

3. Holloway TP, Jayasinghe S, Dalton L, et al. Enhancing food literacy and food security through school gardening in rural and regional communities. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2023;20(18):6794. https://search.proquest.com/docview/2869356991. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20186794.

4. Gregory, M. M., Leslie, T. W., & Drinkwater, L. E. (2015). Agroecological and social characteristics of New York City community gardens: Contributions to urban food security, Ecosystem Services, and environmental education. Urban Ecosystems, 19(2), 763–794. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-015-0505-1

5. Algert, Susan, et al. “Community and home gardens increase vegetable intake and food security of residents in San Jose, California.” California Agriculture 70.2 (2016).