UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE Feed the Gardens, Feed the Kids Policy Brief Alexandra Alford, Marissa McElrone, Lauren Woods 4/15/2016 An innovative approach to incorporate urban agriculture into the USDA Summer Feeding Programs of Knoxville, Tennessee.
FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS Resources are being wasted in Knoxville. At multiple schools in the Knoxville area, there are community gardens unused during the summer months. The summer is a prime time to grow fruits and vegetables, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service encourages increased urban agriculture activities in the summer. Students need to learn where there fruits and vegetables are coming from and how they can improve their health. Therefore, we have created FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS. FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS is a policy that has been formed to combine the unused community garden sites at local Knoxville schools with the USDA Summer Feeding Program. The combination of these programs provides an opportunity for students to remain safe and productive during the summer months. FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS will also provide an opportunity for students to learn about agriculture and nutrition. The skills and knowledge that will be taught within this policy can be used throughout students lives to improve health and an overall quality of life. FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS is the best solution to this waste of existing resources. Some may think the hiring, recruiting, and training process will take too much time and effort, so nothing should be done. However, this option leaves nothing changed; this opportunity does not help Knoxville progress with the rest of the country, since many states are beginning to add gardening projects to their Summer Feeding sites. Another option could be to maintain the community gardens throughout the entire year, without the incorporation of the Summer Feeding Program. This option does not waste existing resources, but does not fully utilize them either. There is such an opportunity for learning and community involvement with the addition of the Summer Feeding Program, which is why FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS is the best option for the community. FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS is already gaining support by the City of Knoxville and other community members. This grassroots support shows that there is potential for great success. This policy could bring money into the city as well as provide a great platform for change in Knoxville. The University of Tennessee, City of Knoxville, USDA Food and Nutrition, and members of the Knoxville community should come together to foster this change. With input from each of these groups, FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS will be successful. The creation of detailed plans and evaluation tools will be key to the sustainability of this policy. FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS provides a solution to the unused resources in Knoxville, as well as safe, educational opportunities for students. Combining urban agriculture and Summer Feeding Programs is part of best- practice options to improve the health of children across the nation. Consideration of this policy to implement needed change should begin immediately. 1
WHAT S THE PROBLEM? Urban agriculture supports several community gardens in Knoxville, Tennessee. These initiatives provide additional food security and nutrition education opportunities for students and community members. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service is encouraging farm to summer activities that promote using the bounty of agriculture that thrives during the summer months. 1 Because many gardens are associated with school and afterschool programs, unfortunately, many gardens are left unattended while students are on summer break. To avoid this educational and resource waste, we propose a policy to align Summer Feeding Programs with schools and community gardens, entitled FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS. This policy promotes additional food security and opportunities for nutrition education, while ensuring the sustainability of school and community gardens during summer months. As summer break begins, millions of low- income children lose access to school meals, which led to the development of the USDA s Summer Feeding Program. The Summer Feeding Program ensures the well- being of vulnerable children by providing meals at various educational and recreational sites during the months away from school. In addition to providing healthy meals, some programs deliver childcare for working parents and a safe environment for children that offer a platform to increase healthy foods, minds, and bodies of low- income children across the nation. 2 In 2014, the Summer Feeding Program had the largest participation increase since 1993; yet, only 1 in 6 low- income children that usually rely on school meals during the academic year participate in the Summer Feeding Program. 2 Summer programming budget cuts often result in premature discontinuation of the Summer Feeding Program at many sites during the middle of the season, leading to missed meals and educational opportunities. Adding urban agriculture to the Summer Feeding Program is a novel idea that could increase participation in the program and extend benefits. Community gardens Only 1 in 6 low- income children participate in the Summer Feeding Program. empower children to stay physically active, learn new skills, socialize with their peers, 3 and even increase the variety of vegetables in their diet. 4 However, the City of Knoxville has noted that keeping community gardens tended during the summer months is a struggle since most school- based programs are discontinued at that time. By combining the Summer Feeding Program with Knoxville community gardens, we can promote additional food security, increase participation in the Summer Feeding Program, sustain urban agriculture, and utilize available resources. Other cities in the nation have already begun to incorporate urban agriculture and community gardening into their Summer Feeding Program 5,6 and Knoxville should be the next. With the summer season quickly approaching, we must act quickly to ensure that our most vulnerable children are not left hungry while away from school. This low cost policy could reduce overhead summer program staffing costs by combining existing Knoxville resources and partners in to one powerful program. 2
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS The current situation with school and community gardens leaves many gardens untended during the summer. When school is in session there are ample children in after school programs to patronize gardens. It makes sense to have staff tending the garden during the school year when children are there and can benefit from the learning experiences and tasting fruits and vegetables. One option for the use of urban agriculture is to leave the garden programs the way they are. However, there are pros and cons to this solution. One reason community partners and stakeholders may be in favor of this option is that there are no additional funds needed to support garden staff during the summer months. This plan allows budgets, schedules, and programming to remain the same; however, this solution may require a lot of preliminary garden preparation for fall programming. Since the gardens are not tended during the summer months, garden staff will have to work harder to ensure that the space is safe and ready for students to start programming at the beginning of the academic year. There are many reasons that this option may have opposition. For instance, the wasted resources involved. The City of Knoxville has previously provided funds to support urban agriculture. When they are left barren during the summer, these spaces are not being used to the maximum potential. This plan continues the cycle of wasted resources. Also, there would not be an option for the plethora of students who are not participating in summer programming. Moving forward with this option ensures that the students who would be interested in gardening are not guided in productive educational opportunities. Previous research has shown high parental support of using public funding to support summer learning programs like gardening. 7 An alternative solution to leaving the gardening programs the way they are is to have year round garden programs. These would be separate from the existing Summer Feeding Programs. Since the Summer Feeding Programs are already in operation, they would continue in their current sites. School gardening programs would need to operate year round in order to support the infrastructure during the summer, which has been done by several school gardens. For example, a school garden in Copenhagen, Denmark is maintained during the summer by employing 3 fulltime staff and 4 part- time staff. In Brooklyn, NY the Spring Creek s Urban Classroom Garden has summer day camps for students as well as employment programs for teenagers. The Battery Urban Farm in Battery Park also relies on a summer program, called City Summer Feeding Program sites see an increase in participation when combined with gardening programming that offers fresh, nutritious produce... 1 Seedlings, to tend the garden. 8 Both of these programs, located outside of the southeast region of the United States, highlight the need for Knoxville to create FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS. These programs rely on paid staff to maintain the gardens during the summer, which would be the primary objection to extending school gardening programs through summer break. School systems may find it difficult to leverage extra funds to pay a garden 3
coordinator or extra staff during the summer. In addition, the existing staff may be reluctant to work extra hours during the summer. This would necessitate hiring part- time staff to cover the gaps. Enlisting summer programs to participate in the garden is another obstacle. Existing year- round gardens have detailed plans of all the care the garden must receive month- to- month.9 These maintenance plans include crop rotations, weeding, composting, planting, harvesting, and other general care. Creating a year round garden program would necessitate extra planning and resources. Extending the existing programs so that they are year- round would solve the problem of wasted resources. The garden plots would be utilized and plants would be cared for, rather than left to die at the beginning of the summer. This option would also provide a place for children who would normally be left alone at home without direction. A third alternative solution, which is the policy proposal presented here, is to combine the existing resources from Knoxville s Summer Feeding Program and community gardens into one coordinated summer program. Partnering organizations from the City of Knoxville, Knoxville s Community Development Corporation, and the USDA Summer Feeding Program will coordinate existing funds supporting these programs, making this policy solution possible at little to no additional associated costs. Summer Feeding Program sites see an increase in participation when combined with gardening programming that offers fresh, nutritious produce while simultaneously offering experiential learning for children.1 Although research is limited on the effects of gardening programs offered, specifically at summer feeding sites, these experiential programs have been shown to increase children s healthy behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge of fruits and vegetables.10,11,12 Other cities throughout the United States are already combining their Summer Feeding Program with their urban agricultural resources into cohesive programming.5,6 There are some potential barriers to this policy solution to be considered. Obstacles including program staff with limited gardening experience and skills may arise.13,14 However, gardening training offered by another community partner, Beardsley Community Farm, will help eliminate this potential issue by offering staff training before program implementation. 4
FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS IS THE BEST SOLUTION! The FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS policy solution combines Knoxville s Summer Feeding Program and community gardens to ultimately produce a more streamlined and efficient program. When these already existing resources are combined, rather than isolated, it will result in a more cost and educationally effective program. Partnering organizations from the City of Knoxville, Knoxville s Community Development Corporation, and the USDA Summer Feeding Program could coordinate existing funds supporting these programs, making this policy solution possible at a minimal cost. The current isolated programming is yielding low participation rates, increased hunger among children, and loss of educational opportunities for Knoxville s vulnerable low- income youth. Only about 17% of low- income children that normally rely on school meals are fed by the Summer Feeding Program. 2 With 83% of eligible children missing out on free meals, 2 it is imperative to find ways to attract more children to Summer Feeding Programs in order to avoid summer hunger. Children Eligible for the Summer Feeding Program 83% 17% Receiving Meals Missing Meals Urban agriculture initiatives can decrease hunger in our Knoxville community. 3 It can empower children and community members to take action to improve their own communities. 3 It strengthens productive relationships between members of the community and produces social opportunities for children and adults. 3 Urban agriculture does so much more than provide just educational opportunities, new skills, physical activity, 3 and healthier foods. 4 It can create stronger, healthier, more beautiful, and safer communities all over Knoxville. Unfortunately, in the current situation, many of the gardens associated with school and after school programs are left unattended during summer break robbing the children of these communities the opportunity to flourish. The City of Knoxville has noted that keeping community gardens tended during the summer months is a struggle, but nothing has been done to address this lost opportunity. However, there is a solution! The FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS policy solution aligns Summer Feeding Programs with schools and community gardens to reduce educational and resource waste. This policy can increase Knoxville s Summer Feeding participation, sustain the city s urban agriculture throughout the forgotten summer months, 5
and ensure that the children of Knoxville are getting what they deserve: healthier food, healthier educational opportunities, and a healthier community. This policy promotes additional food security and opportunities for nutrition education, while ensuring the sustainability of the school and community gardens during summer months. With Food and Nutrition Service pushing for vamped up summer agriculture activities, 1 the FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS policy provides the City of Knoxville a platform for additional government funding eligibility to enhance programming and jobs for Knoxville residents. There are other cities in the United States that have been able to successfully combine urban agriculture and community gardening with their Summer Feeding Program 5,6 and Knoxville should be the next to do so. With the summer season quickly approaching, we must act quickly to ensure that our most vulnerable children are not left hungry while away from school. This low cost policy will reduce overhead summer program staffing costs, increase Summer Feeding participation, feed more children, and results in bountiful garden harvest by simply combining existing Knoxville resources and partners in to one powerful program. ACT NOW! As always, there are issues that must be completed prior to implementation. Since FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS will be brand new, staff should be trained to provide gardening, nutrition, and physical activity information to students that would attend the program. Combining the Summer Feeding program and current community garden sites can be accomplished with creativity and motivation from all that are involved in planning. In order to receive acceptance by appropriate officials, several steps will need to be taken. (A complete timeline can be found in Appendix A and an estimated budget can be found in Appendix B.) This policy brief provides preliminary research of possible health benefits, a timeline, and an estimated budget and delineates the following steps: Organize community partners, including State of Tennessee Summer Feeding Program staff, local community providers, Second Harvest Food Bank, Knoxville City officials, Knox County Health Department personnel, and Knox County Schools staff. Present the policy brief to community partners. Develop a clear explanation of the FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS implementation process with evidence from existing programs in the country. An estimated budget for this operation is detailed in Appendix B. Potential funders may include the USDA through the Summer Feeding program, the state of Tennessee, or City of Knoxville. Foundational grants, such as the Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, may also be an option for the funding of this policy solution. For sustainability and to leverage additional funding, FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS should be evaluated by observing the number of participants, noting the use of the gardens and crops grown, and conducting interviews with participants. Research suggests 6
that the addition of a gardening curriculum to the Summer Feeding Program will increase the number of participating children. To garner legislative support, advocates should reach out to Knox County Health Department and Beardsley Community Farm staff. Both entities are interested in providing agricultural opportunities to underserved communities. In addition, state legislators, in particular, Senator Doug Overby, should be contacted in person or by email. Senator Overby was responsible for introducing Senate Bill 609, which allowed local governments to establish community gardening programs and allot vacant public land for gardens. With his historical support of community gardens, Senator Overby may be a potential advocate for this policy. We need collaboration for an educational, yet creative program! 7
References 1. Farm to summer: Why summer meal programs are ripe for local foods and agriculture- based activities: USDA. http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/f2s/factsheet_farm_to_summer.pdf. Published June 2015. Accessed February 16, 2016. 2. Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2015: Food Research Action Center. http://frac.org/pdf/2015_summer_nutrition_report.pdf. Published June 2015. Accessed February 16, 2016. 3. Hatchett BL, Hopkins J, Larsen K, et al. Something good can grow here: Chicago urban agriculture food projects. J Prev Interv Community. 2015;43:135-147. 4. Guitart DA, Pickering CM, Byrne JA. Color me healthy: Food diversity in school community gardens in two rapidly urbanising Australian cities. Health Place. 2013;26:110-117. 5. Growing leaders, growing change: Youth and urban agriculture. Going Beyond Emergency Services: WHY. Published 2015. Accessed February 16, 2016. 6. Programs: Nutrition Education. Northeast Iowa Food Bank Web site. http://www.northeastiowafoodbank.org/programs/nutritioneducation.aspx. Published 2016. Accessed February 16, 2016. 7. After School Alliance. Afterschool Alert Issues: The importance of afterschool and summer learning programs in African- American and Latino communities. After School Alliance Web site. http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_briefs/issue_african- American- Latino- Communities_59.pdf. Published July 2013. Accessed March 7, 2016. 8. Life Lab. One garden, many schools: Multi- use school garden models. Life Lab Web site. http://www.lifelab.org/2014/04/one- garden- many- schools/. Published 2015. Accessed March 7, 2016. 9. Golden P, Pfeiffer- Hoyt K. School Garden: A resource for working with volunteers to maintain your school garden. http://growing- gardens.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/03/summer- in- the- School- Garden- A- Resource- for- Working- with- Volunteers- to- Maintain- your- School- Garden.pdf. Published 2012. 10. Koch S, Waliczek TM, Zajicek JM. The effect of a summer garden program on the nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of children. HortTechnology. 2006;16:620-624. 11. Lineberger SE, Zajicek JM. School gardens: Can a hands- on teaching tool affect students attitudes and behaviors regarding fruits and vegetables? HortTechnology. 1999;10(3):593-597. 12. Morris, JL, Zidenberg- Cherr S. Garden- based nutrition curriculum improves fourth- grade school children's knowledge of nutrition and preferences for some vegetables. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002;102(1): 91-93. 13. Graham H, Zidenberg- Cherr S. California teachers perceive school gardens as an effective nutritional tool to promote healthful eating habits. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105(11):1797-800. 14. Graham H, Beall DL, Lussier M, et al. Use of school gardens in academic instruction. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2005 May- Jun;37(3):147-51. 8
APPENDIX A. Timeline Month Task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Conduct preliminary research Contact potential stakeholder/community members Create policy brief Present policy brief/ideas Create a more detailed plan Present the detailed plan and budget Train staff Recruitment Create lesson plans Select produce that will be used for gardening Feed the Gardens, Feed the Kids program implementation Evaluation
APPENDIX B. Budget FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS Budget Alexandra Alford, Marissa McElrone, Lauren Woods Item Amount Personnel 1. Summer Feeding Site Coordinators $0.00 2. FEED THE GARDENS, FEED THE KIDS Project Coordinator $3,125.00 Category Total: $3,125.00 Personnel Justification: The summer feeding site coordinators will receive their usual pay and no additional pay. There will be a project coordinator from the City of Knoxville paid at 25% time. Equipment 1. Gardening Gloves, Garden Hoes, Shovels, and Hand Trowels $1,600.00 2. Garden Soil/Compost $2,000.00 3. Plant Seedlings $500.00 4. Miscellaneous Equipment $300.00 Category Total: $4,400.00 Equipment Justification: This will supply the gardening equipment that is needed to maintain the gardens during the proposed program. This is based on the 12 community schools in Knox County. Supplies/Expenses 1. Miscellaneous Supplies $600.00 Category Total: $600.00 Supplies/Expenses Justification: This section is for any other supplies that may be needed to run the program. This is based on the 12 community schools in Knox County. Total: $8,125.00