Assessing Location, Performance, and Economic Impacts of Community Gardens in Counties Surrounding Nashville Metropolitan Area of Tennessee
Abstract
Community gardens give access for community members to have a better understanding of fresh produce based on their location and benefits in urban and rural settings. Based on this key feature, determining location, performance, and economic impact helps to learn about their importance in contributing to mitigate food insecurity problems in many areas. This study assesses community garden location, their performance, and local economic impact through surveying in Davidson and Williamson County in Tennessee. The following gardens were selected and key informants were interviewed: Tennessee State University Community Garden, South Nashville Community Garden, Bellevue Edible Learning Lab (BELL Garden), Martha O’ Bryan Community Garden, Farm in the City, Faith Church Community Garden, Old Hickory Community Garden, Nashville Food Project, Edgehill Community Garden, The Giving Garden, Bit of Garden, Stewards Garden Christ Community Garden, Thompson Station Community Garden, Late Bloomers, and Princeton Hills. Owner or participants on the selected community gardens provided information on their garden spaces, community, crops and plants raised, and volume of production and exchange in those gardens. We found that many individuals in community gardens do not sell their produce but give it away to provide fresh produce for those they need, depending on location, network, and relationships in the community. Though exact health, environmental, and other benefits of community gardens are difficult to monetize, this study documented agricultural production from these community gardens and computed potential economic impacts based on the information.
Subject Area
Agricultural economics|Agriculture
Recommended Citation
Kanita Hutchinson,
"Assessing Location, Performance, and Economic Impacts of Community Gardens in Counties Surrounding Nashville Metropolitan Area of Tennessee"
(2019).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI27545261.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI27545261