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The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing

For quite some time, food systems scholars, public health workers, and food justice activists have recognized structural problems in the global food system that can cause food insecurity and inequitable access to nutritious foods. The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying disruption in food supply...

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Autores principales: Schanbacher, William D., Cavendish, James C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10359818/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37483929
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1147967
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author Schanbacher, William D.
Cavendish, James C.
author_facet Schanbacher, William D.
Cavendish, James C.
author_sort Schanbacher, William D.
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description For quite some time, food systems scholars, public health workers, and food justice activists have recognized structural problems in the global food system that can cause food insecurity and inequitable access to nutritious foods. The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying disruption in food supply chains (FSCs) exposed these problems and raised questions about how community gardening and urban agriculture might offer some solutions. In this article, we examine the effects of the pandemic on the operations of community gardens in Central Florida and the attempts of these gardens to address the disruption in food supplies in their local communities. We do so by using data drawn from two research strategies employed by the members of University of South Florida’s Urban Food Sovereignty Group: (1) a survey conducted in 2021 of 45 leaders of community gardens throughout the Central Florida region; and (2) participation in the meetings and activities of a coalition of community gardens based in Tampa, Florida, from 2019 to 2022. Results reveal that although most community gardens in Central Florida were forced to change their routines in various ways (e.g., limiting the number of workers or volunteers who could work at the garden at the same time, or delivering workshops and education programs online instead of in-person), some gardens were able to maintain their regular operations and even reported increases in their membership or participation during the pandemic. Many community garden leaders also recognized the positive effect that community gardening seemed to have on their gardeners’ mental health, noting that their gardens became places of refuge for gardeners who sought safe, outdoor spaces, to relieve stress and interact with their neighbors. These same leaders also observed the effect of the pandemic on residents’ access to quality food, and intensified their efforts to provide more fresh food to pantries and traditional emergency food outlets. Survey respondents also shared important lessons they learned from the pandemic by suggesting that community gardens establish clear emergency protocols, use existing resources more efficiently, continue their educational programs, and strengthen their communications and cooperation with other gardens and actors in local food supply chains in order to ensure food security. We conclude by suggesting that one of the best ways that local communities can avert future food crises and strengthen their resilience is to root themselves more firmly in the principles of food sovereignty so they can sustain themselves when commercial FSCs are disrupted.
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spelling pubmed-103598182023-07-22 The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing Schanbacher, William D. Cavendish, James C. Front Public Health Public Health For quite some time, food systems scholars, public health workers, and food justice activists have recognized structural problems in the global food system that can cause food insecurity and inequitable access to nutritious foods. The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying disruption in food supply chains (FSCs) exposed these problems and raised questions about how community gardening and urban agriculture might offer some solutions. In this article, we examine the effects of the pandemic on the operations of community gardens in Central Florida and the attempts of these gardens to address the disruption in food supplies in their local communities. We do so by using data drawn from two research strategies employed by the members of University of South Florida’s Urban Food Sovereignty Group: (1) a survey conducted in 2021 of 45 leaders of community gardens throughout the Central Florida region; and (2) participation in the meetings and activities of a coalition of community gardens based in Tampa, Florida, from 2019 to 2022. Results reveal that although most community gardens in Central Florida were forced to change their routines in various ways (e.g., limiting the number of workers or volunteers who could work at the garden at the same time, or delivering workshops and education programs online instead of in-person), some gardens were able to maintain their regular operations and even reported increases in their membership or participation during the pandemic. Many community garden leaders also recognized the positive effect that community gardening seemed to have on their gardeners’ mental health, noting that their gardens became places of refuge for gardeners who sought safe, outdoor spaces, to relieve stress and interact with their neighbors. These same leaders also observed the effect of the pandemic on residents’ access to quality food, and intensified their efforts to provide more fresh food to pantries and traditional emergency food outlets. Survey respondents also shared important lessons they learned from the pandemic by suggesting that community gardens establish clear emergency protocols, use existing resources more efficiently, continue their educational programs, and strengthen their communications and cooperation with other gardens and actors in local food supply chains in order to ensure food security. We conclude by suggesting that one of the best ways that local communities can avert future food crises and strengthen their resilience is to root themselves more firmly in the principles of food sovereignty so they can sustain themselves when commercial FSCs are disrupted. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-07-06 /pmc/articles/PMC10359818/ /pubmed/37483929 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1147967 Text en Copyright © 2023 Schanbacher and Cavendish. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Schanbacher, William D.
Cavendish, James C.
The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
title The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
title_full The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
title_fullStr The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
title_full_unstemmed The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
title_short The effects of COVID-19 on Central Florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
title_sort effects of covid-19 on central florida’s community gardens: lessons for promoting food security and overall community wellbeing
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10359818/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37483929
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1147967
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