Best practices for community gardening in a US–Mexico border community

Urban Farm DB summary

In the US–Mexico border region — El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces and Anthony, New Mexico, areas with high obesity rates — three pilot community gardens funded through the local Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) initiative were implemented by two local governmental organizations and one community-based organization (2016). A built environment marked by an arid desert climate, lack of access to healthy foods, barriers to physical activity, and cultural and community norms that deter healthy eating and sustainable food production contributes to obesity-related health disparities in these minority communities. A mixed-methods evaluation (n=223) examined the implementation process, immediate outcomes and best practices of implementing and sustaining the gardens. Beyond nutrition-related outcomes, potential psychosocial outcomes from participating in the community and school garden projects were observed. Best practices identified concerned (i) assessing community norms related to growing food, (ii) increasing access to land and water for community and school gardening, and (iii) enhancing social support for gardening.