Manatee County Food Deserts Harvest Away

摘要

Vegetable gardening workshop attendance held at the University of Florida,Manatee County Extension Office did not have the ethnic diversity matching the demographics of local communities. Additionally, the Department of Health (DOH) surveyed food desert residents and identified a preference for backyard gardening versus community gardening. The members of these communities expressed a desire to be taught how to garden in their own backyards on a limited budget through quick local classes. Combining the DOH assessment and the need for program participant diversity, the Plant-a-Pail~(TM) project was developed. Utilizing limited resources, the community members were shown how to effectively grow seasonal vegetables in five-gallon portable buckets. Thegoal set in January 2016 was to place 700 portable vegetable gardens in food deserts within a two-year period.