Growing Healthy During COVID ’19

ABSTRACT

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center and community partner nonprofit, Front Yard Bike Shop utilize innovation to continue to reach SNAP-Ed clientele through gardening outreach efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the stay at home mandate presided by the Governor of Louisiana is in place, we are able to reach students in need through safe, social distancing deliveries. As one of the states with the highest cases of COVID-19, this partnership assures students the opportunity to participate in the therapy of horticulture from their homes, no matter the amount of green space or lack thereof.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• gardening
• extension
• agriculture
• non-profit
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Amid the 2020 COVID-19 world pandemic, citizens struggle to create normalcy during chaotic and unusual circumstances, primarily children residing in underserved communities. With over 65,000 cases of COVID-19 as of July, 2020, Louisiana ranks third highest cases per capita in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). According to Department of Children and Family Services, almost 400,000 Louisiana residents qualify and received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (food stamps) in 2019.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center (SUAREC) has a long standing reputation for reaching underserved people of color across the state and nation. Prior to COVID-19, the SUAREC Extension team provided services and programs to underserved children and families through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) program. Through SNAP-Ed implementation, staff reach people in 13 of the 64 parishes in Louisiana. Considering the number of youth and families served, it is imperative to ensure the overall health of youth and families are maintained during this pandemic.

SNAP-Ed is the nutrition promotion and obesity prevention component of the SNAP, the US domestic hunger safety net formerly known as Food Stamps that provides economic benefits to eligible, low-income individuals and families for food purchases. It is a federally funded grant program that supports evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention interventions and projects for persons eligible for SNAP through complementary direct education, multi-level interventions, and community and public health approaches to improve nutrition (United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, n.d.).

The SUAREC’s SNAP-Ed program provides a gardening initiative called Growing Healthy, which focuses on gardening efforts to support nutrition education instruction at schools, senior centers and residential homes, head starts, etc. At participating sites, the SUAREC Growing Healthy program has implemented over 40 gardens, including raised bed, in-ground, or containers. These gardens are utilized to further nutrition education lessons as a hands-on, demonstration tool to teach students how to grow their own food and learn to cook using fresh, healthy ingredients that promote increased health and wellness.

Measuring and defining success of the Growing Healthy program is obtained through observing and documenting garden sustainability, continuation and increased produce consumption by participants. If a garden is set up correctly, with one (or more) garden advocate(s), this will ensure the sustainability of the garden after its initial implementation. A garden advocate can be a teacher, a staff member, or a participant (at senior living home), this is a person or group that pays attention to the garden on a daily basis, making sure everything is growing well, that there aren’t any pests and that the garden has what it needs at all times. Should an issue arise (pest or disease, etc.) it can be caught early and addressed by contacting the program coordinator to take proper control measurements.

In particular, one SNAP-Ed Growing Healthy site is called Front Yard Bikes (FYB), which was an abandoned public playground located in a high crime area with derelict housing, is now repurposed as an after school program with a huge garden for the participants. Since gardening is known for its therapeutic and nurturing benefits, youth learn a plethora of general life skills by gardening in a familiar community space. The heart of the program is motivated by compassion for kids from low-income families that are willing to work for what they desire. Front Yard Bike is a nonprofit whose mission is, “a community bike shop that focuses on teaching participants of all ages how to fix and maintain bikes.” FYB further their mission by teaching and developing youth’s skills in mathematics, physics, and mechanics, while promoting inclusivity, mentorship, recreation, and academic achievement. Based on the location, youth are offered a safe space within their community in an atmosphere where they are supported. Additionally, students learn responsibility by adopting coping skills to deal with ethical and moral decisions they face in their day-to-day lives. Through this program, the hope is to impact the youth of Baton Rouge, one bike at a time, one heart at a time, because “the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow” (LaFont, 2020).

During COVID-19, FYB stepped up to the front lines, maintaining social distancing and proper protective equipment, and continuously distributed school lunches, school work and activities to the over 150 students and families served in their after school program. Unfortunately, many FYB students have limited or no access to the internet or printers. Thus, delivering grade appropriate school activities to the students assists with having a consistent availability of academic presence during out-of-school time.

In an effort to continue to encourage participants to engage in gardening activities, the SUAREC SNAP-Ed Growing Healthy program provided 100 seed starting kits for FYB to distribute to their youth. The seed starting kits consist of four different types of seasonally appropriate seeds (for the spring ex: watermelon, cucumber, tomato, pepper seeds), an empty seed starting tray, soil to fill the trays and four blank plant labels to label which seeds are planted where in the trays, and an instruction sheet, all fit neatly into a 1 gallon size zip-loc bag. Youth continue to have an educational activity as well as grow vegetables and fruit seeds with the skills attained from participating in the FYB raised bed garden. Through the brave distribution efforts that the staff at FYB are continuing, SUAREC is able to reach students and provide technical assistance as students nurture their seeds into plants, plants into gardens and gardens into fresh produce available for themselves and their families.

Outcomes of the seed kit distribution will be documented through oral, written or visual surveys, receiving reports back from the FYB distribution crew – who is distributing food and activities to students homes all summer long, as to what percentage of students who have received seed starter kits have planted theirs and which have even turned theirs into a home vegetable garden. With this information and constant communication, we, SUAREC, can meet the students and their families where they are in the growing process and meet their needs as far as technical support, garden expansion or maintenance, all while practicing social distancing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.