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Primary Submission Category: Place/Communities
The Role of Community Gardens in Promoting Food Security, Health, Well-being, and Connectedness
Authors: Sooyoun Park,
Presenting Author: Sooyoun Park*
Food injustice is a profound issue impacting the health and well-being of people and the environment. Communities all over the world have long advocated for food sovereignty and food justice frameworks, which emphasize relationality, sustainability, and self-determination. Community gardens may be one space that represents a unique intersection of these values. Research demonstrates that community gardens not only increase access to fresh produce and improve dietary outcomes, but also foster social cohesion and strengthen community connectedness. To further understand these interconnected outcomes, this study examines how three community gardens in the region practice food justice and sovereignty principles, while also contributing to health, well-being, and connectedness to land and place. Using qualitative research methods of focus groups and interviews, I explore how community garden staff conceptualize food sovereignty and justice principles in the current context, and how participants in community gardens understand and experience health, wellbeing, and connectedness to land and place through growing food. By uplifting community knowledge and expertise, this work may illuminate how community gardens can help us reimagine more relational, healing, and sustainable food systems, and build resilience during times of crisis.