Community ties, not just funding, keep school garden programs alive
Fathi LI, Robinson M, Walker J, Littlewood R, Truby H
Food Forest
If you've ever donated seedlings or volunteer hours to a school garden, this study explains why so many of those beds go fallow within a couple of years and what actually keeps them producing.
Researchers interviewed teachers and principals running a whole-school program in Queensland that gets kids growing and eating vegetables and fruit. They found the programs that survive past year two aren't just the well-funded ones; they're the ones where schools build real partnerships with their local community and have someone whose job it is to keep everything connected.
Key Findings
Most school food and nutrition programs are abandoned within 2 years due to funding and political instability
10 school champions (3 principals, 7 teachers) across three Queensland regions identified 45 CFIR constructs and 14 sub-constructs shaping program sustainability
Five key themes for sustainability emerged: implementation facilitators, fit with education priorities, funding generation, community partnerships, and demonstrated program impact
chevron_right Technical Summary
A study of an Australian school program that teaches kids to grow and eat more vegetables and fruit found that funding stability, community partnerships, and dedicated coordinators are what keep these programs alive past the typical two-year drop-off point.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
A qualitative exploration of the sustainability of a whole-school nutrition programme in Queensland, Australia: 'keep the money coming!'.
Despite most school-based food and nutrition programmes improving determinants of healthy eating, most programmes are abandoned within 2 years due to external vulnerabilities in funding and politic...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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