Food Pantry Prevention: Community Gardens and Hunger in Tampa Bay Joseph England, MA, Mindy Spyker, BA, Jennifer Marshall, PhD BACKGROUND Hillsborough County ranks third in the state of Florida for the value of agricultural products sold; yet one in six Tampa Bay residents actively seek food assistance. 1 Florida is second in the nation for fresh vegetable production; however, nearly 15% of the US households are food insecure. Consistent as a trend throughout the nation, Florida’s food system presents a clear disconnect between agricultural production and individual consumption. OBJECTIVES  To identify where community gardens fit within the social landscape of Tampa Bay  To demonstrate how community gardens are being utilized as effective socio-ecological models for addressing community food security  To identify how community gardens work within the food market system to alleviate hunger through donation and present opportunities to eliminate hunger through economic empowerment METHODS References 1 USDA; Hunger in America, 2014 FINDINGS Perceived impact from community garden participation Intrapersonal  Top two personal impacts were social and spiritual (24% and 22%) Interpersonal (Impact to family)  Top two impacts to family were physical and supporting family cohesion (33% and 27%) Organizational  Each garden (6) had organized governing structure (albeit unique from one another) Community  Top two community impacts were social (27%) and positive neighborhood benefits such as real estate asset and beautification Public Policy  Policy support greatly enhances the perceived long-term sustainability of the community garden CONCLUSIONS Based on organizer responses, community gardens fit most aptly within the social fabric in the areas of community engagement, knowledge sharing, donation/altruism and community and household economic support. More than half the gardens examined had already existing programs that partner with emergency food organizations for the donation to food insecure. All gardens identified ‘harvest sharing’ as part of normal garden operations. One of the six gardens examined had an established program in place that focused on income generation, rather than strictly food donation. * Future research needs to focus on the relationship between community gardens and emergency food recipient households, also program successes and failures. Thematic Content Analysis 6 Site Observations 80 Member Surveys 7 semi- structured interviews with garden organizers RESULTS Demographics  72% of respondents were female  86% of respondents were White  38% of respondents have an annual household income over $75,000  45% have a Bachelors Degree Green – Participating Gardens Blue – Partner Organizations * Represents multiple garden plots Participating Gardens Beyond Donation “I stepped back and I was like, who goes to [food pantries] in the first place? You know? People who need food for their family and they don’t have the income to buy food for their family. And so, couldn’t the garden provide both? You know, an income stream or revenue stream for families, and fresh food at the same time. So the goal is to some day have income plots where we teach people to garden, they grow food for their family, and then we either have a produce stand or whatever, and then they can sell it. We just started last year with just one man.”