Gardening and FV Intake on College Campuses DJ Staub, Doctoral Student GetFRUVED Weekly Webinar Series November 13, 2017 University of Florida, Food Science and Human Nutrition Department

OVERVIEW: Key Findings from Get FRUVED Study and Tips for Promoting Gardening on Your Campus Background: Fruit and vegetable intake among college students GetFRUVED Findings: Results from GetFRUVED gardening survey Your Campus: How to get your GetFRUVED organization involved One of our successful subprojects of the GetFRUVED study was investigating how gardening during childhood and during the first year of college relate to fruit and vegetable intake. Today we will review what we know about fruit and vegetable intake among college students and then look at what we learned about college students that garden and how that relates to fruit and vegetable intake. Then we will talk about how to get started with gardening activities on your campus.

Goals of the Intervention: Nutrition Transition through college years often associated with weight gain Increased consumption of energy-dense foods Decreased consumption of nutrient-dense foods Dietary habits shaped during college years often persist into adulthood Perpetuation of obesity epidemic Increased chronic disease incidence

Fruit and Vegetable Intake among College Students DGAs recommend at least 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetable per day Decrease risk for CHD, cancer, stroke Less than 10% of college students meet recommendations! Only 14% of students who completed the FRUVED eligibility screener met FV recommendations! Solutions???

Gardening and FV Intake Gardening programs have been shown to increase FV intake among children and adolescents Often implemented in the school setting May include concurrent nutrition education Offer additional benefits beyond improved FV intake Little/no research related to gardening to improve FV intake among college students

A Retrospective Study of Gardening Experience and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption at the End of the First Year of College Staub, D.1; Colby, S.2; Olfert, M.3; Zhou, W.2; Colee, J.1; Kattelmann, K.4; Vilaro, M.1; Loso, J.1; Franzen-Castle, L.5; Mathews, A.1 1University of Florida; 2University of Tennessee; 3West Virginia University; 4South Dakota State University; 5University of Nebraska-Lincoln Objective: To investigate the association between gardening experience and FV consumption among a diverse sample of college freshmen at the end of the first year of college.

Study Timeline

Survey Components Demographic questionnaire Gardening experience questions Childhood gardening experience (“growing up”) Recent gardening experience (“in the past 12 months”) Frequency of engagement in recent gardening National Cancer Institute FV Screener Mean FV intake

Results Table 1. Participant Demographics

Results * Figure 1. Prevalence of Gardening Experience Figure 2. Mean FV Intake by Gardening Experience * Figure 1. Prevalence of Gardening Experience

Results Figure 3. Mean FV Intake by Recent Gardening Experience Figure 4. Association between Frequency of Participation in Recent Gardening and FV Intake * .056 ± .024, F (1, 639.1), p<.05 Figure 4. Association between Frequency of Participation in Recent Gardening and FV Intake Figure 3. Mean FV Intake by Recent Gardening Experience * .056 ± .024, F (1, 639.1), p<.05 Figure 1. Prevalence of Gardening Experience

Conclusions Nearly half of college freshmen have no gardening experience by the end of their first year Students with recent gardening experience have significantly higher FV intake compared to those with no recent experience Frequency of participation in recent gardening is positively associated with FV intake Gardening programs targeting first-year college students may be an effective strategy for improving students’ FV intake

Conclusions Next steps: More research! Gardening classes? Dorm gardening plots? Gardening clubs? Community gardening initiatives?

Getting Started: Take a Tour A local farm Your university’s farm A farmer’s market Contact advisors or faculty in agricultural sciences Ask about regulations/residence hall gardens Starting a garden on your campus could be a huge under taking. IF your campus does not already have an active garden or farm where students work, then start slowly. Tours are great ways to learn about what is happening on your campus and in your community. You can make connections and gauge interest of your student partners. Try contacting faculty and advisors in agriculture. Ask the residence hall association about regulations on plans in and outside of residence halls.

Local farms and community gardens often welcome regular volunteers Team building Community service Monthly work day Partner with gardening or horticulture club Every organization needs a variety of service ideas. Your campus garden or farm or local farms often welcome volunteers – especially if you can “Guarantee” a number of workers and/or commit to a regular schedule even if it is only a few times per year. Volunteering on a farm is a great team building activity. It’s fun, it’s active, it is often organized by the farm. Contact other student organizations to encourage attendance and promote the day.

Encourage Porch Gardening Starting a garden is a big step Students can benefit from small scale gardening Club Activity: “Pot Up Day” Growing your own produce has benefits even on the smallest of scales. Organize a campus event where students can come and plant their own veggies or herbs. Plastic or terra cotta containers are affordable and easy to manage if not too large. Contact your agriculture department about seed or seedling donations. Contact your county Extension office or Master Gardener program for a “speaker” and assistance.

RESOURCES Thank you! Your agriculture department County Cooperative Extension Office Collegiate 4H Club County Master Gardener program Gardening club Thank you!