Alternative food practices, including farmers markets and CSAs, are often inaccessible to low-income families. Subsidized CSAs and fruit and vegetable prescription programs have the potential to decrease food insecurity, increase fresh fruit and vegetable consumption, and generate better health outcomes. However, several challenges can limit the success of such programs, including the logis¬tics of distribution and an inability to cook from scratch due to a lack of kitchen infrastructure, time, or skills. In this paper, we investigate two diet-related health programs conducted with commu¬nity partners in Madison, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon. We used photovoice to evaluate and enhance these programs, which supplied low-income participants with free or subsidized weekly shares of local food, addressed transportation bar¬riers associated with access, and offered recipes and cooking education. Drawing on social practice theory, we demonstrate how these programs altered food provisioning practices for low-income individuals and families by building their competence in the kitchen, fostering meaningful social relationships, and cultivating new meanings related to fresh, local food. The short-term gains were positive, and such community-based nutrition pro¬grams warrant continued support as part of a broader strategy to address poverty and food insecurity.
Drawing upon Dewey's centering of science as a tool for democracy, the emerging field of civic science aims to strengthen the ties between science, citizenship, and democracy. In the study detailed in this article, the authors sought to understand whether and how university students who are aspiring scientists and science teachers develop civic-minded dispositions and competencies related to civic science. The study employed a qualitative research design that was exploratory yet conceptually rooted in civic development theory and emergent civic science approaches. Using prompted reflections focusing on the intersection of scientific and civic realms, this study explored the ways in which university students who participated in a two-semester service-learning course facilitating science outreach for youth made meaning of the connections between scientific and civic skills and dispositions, and how the service-learning experience influenced their civic identities. The study findings revealed varying levels of sophistication in students' understanding of the relationship between democracy and science; a spectrum of awareness about the ways inequity impacts younger students' relationship to science and about the implications for democracy and science; and important insights into the ways university students integrate their learning through applied science teaching into their personal civic identities. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for well-designed servicelearning opportunities in the sciences.
A week-long residential 4-H Agri-science youth camp had the goal of increasing understanding of agriculture as a system, however evaluating such a complex construct is difficult by adopting any one data-collection method. This paper presents the methods used in the evaluation of the camp and how these methods enhanced the overall program evaluation. The camp introduced 28 students, who were about 12 years of age from rural and urban counties of Wisconsin to the different aspects of the agricultural system, and promoted understanding of the connections among the various system components. The study utilized a mixed-methods triangulation design with group mapping (qualitative and quantitative), participant observation (qualitative), student reflections in the form of group presentations (qualitative), and retrospective post-then-pre surveys (quantitative) to measure and assess the anticipated outcomes. The qualitative assessment of the maps from Days 1 to 5 showed a significant improvement in students’ understandings of the interconnections of farm systems, which was validated by quantitative assessment of maps. Participant observation revealed that the camp provided students with a rich experiential learning experience and identified areas of improvement such as coordination of efforts between the different camp instructors. Student reflections and the end-of-camp survey indicated that the students increased their knowledge and skill levels as a result of attending the camp. The mixed-methods design used in this study serves as an example for designing better quality youth and Extension education program evaluations, as well as programs where the goal is to increase participants’ understandings of complex systems.
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