Do Farm-to-School Programs Make a Difference? Findings and Future Research Needs

Joshi, Anupama; Azuma, Andrea Misako; Feenstra, Gail

doi:10.1080/19320240802244025

Cited by 147 publications

(151 citation statements)

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“…Some programs have resulted in reduced health risk behaviours (including antisocial behaviour and willingness to try new foods), increased nutritional and eco-literacy, improved eating habits, increased satisfaction with life, increased emotional wellbeing, increased student resilience, better learning outcomes [129,130]. Mixed results from these programs have been documented in the literature, however studies did frequently find that the most effective program uptake was at schools where a whole-school and committed approach (with enthusiastic role modelling) was taken [33,[126][127][128][129][130][131]. It is important to note that significant constraints in study design and methodology limit comparative analysis and hence program design.…”

Section: Implications For Future Generationsmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…It is important to note that significant constraints in study design and methodology limit comparative analysis and hence program design. Successful implementation and longevity of such programs (with schools often finding them hard to maintain and costly) are extremely difficult to measure, so have only started being conducted widely [127]. Generally, however, researchers agree that these programs often make a difference for the least food literate children and therefore where there is greatest need [128,131].…”

Section: Implications For Future Generationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These programs aim to improve children's exposure to food, raise awareness, support local food production (such as the farm-to-school initiative in the U.S.), incorporate healthy food into school canteens, as well as integrate health and nutrition education opportunities [43,127,128]. By far the most common type of agricultural program for primary and secondary schools is to participate in vegetable gardening (82% and 58% respectively) [109], with the focus most often being on prompting nutritional changes in children.…”

Section: Implications For Future Generationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Who Cares? The Importance of Emotional Connections with Nature to Ensure Food Security and Wellbeing in Cities

2018

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Abstract:To be "connected" is "to care", because how and what we care about is influenced, and influences, what we are connected with. Emotional connection predicts environmental concern and children exposed to green environments take this appreciation of nature with them into adulthood. However, the majority of the human population is now living within urban areas, where opportunities for people to interact and bond with nature are greatly diminished, thereby potentially threatening the liveability of cities into the future. Connection with nature has been shown repeatedly to benefit human wellbeing and predict pro-environmental behaviours. By definition "nature" includes urban agriculture, which is also an integral component of a city's foodscape, thereby providing opportunities to improve the wellbeing of city inhabitants as well as help ensure food security. This will only be attainable if the next generation has an emotional connection to nature, and the necessary life skills to help them enter adult life as informed food citizens who make healthy and sustainable decisions for themselves as well as others. This paper reviews existing literature on foodscape (or one's food environment) and biophilia (the love of life or living systems) to highlight the need for inter-disciplinary research that combines urban agriculture and food literacy to ensure future food security and wellbeing of urban inhabitants.

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Section: Implications For Future Generationsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Implications For Future Generationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Future Generationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Who Cares? The Importance of Emotional Connections with Nature to Ensure Food Security and Wellbeing in Cities

2018

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“…Other evaluation studies found a positive effect on attitude in the short or longer term (19,31,36,37) . In a review of Contento et al (38) , it is stated that effects of school-based nutrition education programmes on attitudes were generally positive but inconsistent.…”

Section: Reflection On the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the Dutch school-based education programme ‘Taste Lessons’ on behavioural determinants of taste acceptance and healthy eating: a quasi-experimental study

Battjes-Fries

Haveman‐Nies

Renes

et al. 2014

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To assess the effect of the Dutch school-based education programme 'Taste Lessons' on children's behavioural determinants towards tasting unfamiliar foods and eating healthy and a variety of foods. Design: In a quasi-experimental study design, data on behavioural determinants were collected at baseline, four weeks and six months after the intervention in both the intervention and control group. Children completed consecutively three questionnaires in which knowledge, awareness, skills, attitude, emotion, subjective norm and intention towards the two target behaviours were assessed. Teachers implemented on average a third of the programme activities. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted to compare individual changes in the determinants in the intervention group with those in the control group, corrected for children's gender and age. Effect sizes were expressed as Cohen's d. Setting: Dutch elementary schools. Subjects: Forty-nine classes (1183 children, 9-12 years old) in grades 5-8 of twenty-one elementary schools. Results: The intervention group showed a higher increase in knowledge (d = 0·26, P < 0·01), which persisted after six months (d = 0·23, P < 0·05). After four weeks, the intervention group showed a higher increase in number of foods known (d = 0·22, P < 0·05) and tasted (d = 0·21, P < 0·05), subjective norm of the teacher (d = 0·17, P < 0·05) and intention (d = 0·16, P < 0·05) towards the target behaviours. Conclusions: Partial implementation of Taste Lessons during one school year showed small short-term effects on increasing behavioural determinants in relation to tasting unfamiliar foods and eating healthy and a variety of foods. Full and repeated implementation of Taste Lessons in subsequent years might result in larger effects.

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“…Furthermore, although often limited to self-reported consumption, students in school districts across the U.S. have described a preference for fruits or vegetables after participating in FTS programs (Bontrager Yoder, Liebhart, McCarty, Meinen, Schoeller, Vargas, & LaRowe, 2014;Powers et al, 2011). Joshi, Azuma, and Feenstra (2008) reviewed findings of the effects of FTS and found that several studies showed positive effects on student food choice and attitudes and especially on increased participation in school meals, although they called for more research to determine the sustainability of the behavior change.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Local Procurement in Farm to School Programs: An Exploratory Investigation

Roche¹,

Conner²,

Kolodinsky³

2015

JAFSCD

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Farm-to-school (FTS) programs have become more widely adopted in recent years because of their potential to mitigate childhood obesity, as well as their economic development and educational benefits. As a result of FTS programs' diverse purposes and grassroots nature, the types of activities they encompass vary considerably from program to program and no systematic measures of impact have emerged. Furthermore, FTS programs launched in colder climate regions may be particularly challenging due to a shorter growing season and narrower range and volume of available products. In this exploratory study, we set out to learn more about the factors that lead to increased procurement of local food in FTS programs. To do this we analyze the results of three recent studies of the impact of FTS programming on school purchases of locally produced foods in Vermont, conducted in 2012 and 2013. The results of a census of FTS programs in Vermont and an evaluation of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snacks program indicate that price subsidies do not necessarily increase local food procurement in Vermont, while a study of FTS programs working with food hubs in Vermont suggests that social capital in the form of viable partnerships and relationship-building holds promise for increasing the procurement of local food. Implications for FTS programming and future research are discussed.

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Do Farm-to-School Programs Make a Difference? Findings and Future Research Needs

Abstract: Farm-to-school programs are increasing in number across the United States, yet research and evaluation of programs is limited, with only a few studies published in refereed journals. For this article we

Cited by 147 publications

References 10 publications

Who Cares? The Importance of Emotional Connections with Nature to Ensure Food Security and Wellbeing in Cities

Who Cares? The Importance of Emotional Connections with Nature to Ensure Food Security and Wellbeing in Cities

Effect of the Dutch school-based education programme ‘Taste Lessons’ on behavioural determinants of taste acceptance and healthy eating: a quasi-experimental study

Increasing Local Procurement in Farm to School Programs: An Exploratory Investigation

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