Browsing by Subject "Gardening"

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    Designing and Implementing Workshops: A Program Evaluation of an Agricultural and Chicken Husbandry Development Program in Madagascar
    (2024-04-26) Nasir, Dania
    Madagascar struggles with intensifying human pressure on natural resources threatening lemur habitat. This program evaluation looks at the short- and medium-term impacts of the Duke Lemur Center’s gardening and chicken husbandry workshops in the village of Ambodivoara. It answers the following questions: To what extent did the workshops achieve the desired outcomes? What worked well and how can they be improved? And what was the experience of participants in these workshops? Qualitative data was collected on-site through 16 interviews and 2 focus groups with workshop participants during the summer of 2023. Overall respondents reported a largely positive experience with varied outcome achievement. At the end of the project, recommendations were given to the DLC on methods to overcome barriers to their objectives and improve the effectiveness of their efforts. Recommendations range from increasing continued engagement and interactive sessions to topic-specific adjustments.
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    Watch me grow: a garden-based pilot intervention to increase vegetable and fruit intake in preschoolers.
    (BMC Public Health, 2013-04-18) Namenek Brouwer, Rebecca J; Benjamin Neelon, Sara E
    BACKGROUND: Americans, including children, consume fewer fruit and vegetable servings than is recommended. Given that young children spend large amounts of time in child care centers, this may be an ideal venue for increasing consumption of and enthusiasm for fruits and vegetables. This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility of a gardening intervention to promote vegetable and fruit intake among preschoolers. METHODS: We enrolled two intervention centers and two control centers. The intervention included a fruit and vegetable garden, monthly curriculum, gardening support, and technical assistance. We measured mean (SD) servings of fruits and vegetables served to and consumed by three children per center before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Post intervention, intervention and control centers served fewer vegetables (mean (standard deviation) difference of -0.18 (0.63) in intervention, -0.37 (0.36) in control), but intervention children consumed more than control children (+0.25 (1.11) vs. -0.18 (0.52). The number of fruits served decreased in all centers (intervention -0.62 (0.58) vs. control -0.10 (0.52)) but consumption was higher in controls (intervention -0.32 (0.58) vs. control 0.15 (0.26)). CONCLUSIONS: The garden-based feasibility study shows promise, but additional testing is needed to assess its ability to increase vegetable and fruit intake in children.