Impact of the Use of Produce Grown in an Elementary School Garden on Consumption of Vegetables at School Lunch

Abstract

Low consumption of fruits and vegetables has been implicated as a factor in the increasing childhood obesity seen over the past 2 decades. The use of school gardens is a relatively new nutrition education strategy that may provide some additional benefit in getting children to consume the recommended amount of vegetables. Previous research into the effectiveness of school gardens has shown that they have positive impacts on children's vegetable preferences, and they can have a positive impact on children's consumption of vegetables at school lunch. However, no research has examined using school garden produce at school lunch to determine whether that tactic would have an additional impact on children's consumption of vegetables at school lunch, so that is the purpose of this study. A quasi-experimental design was used along with cafeteria observations. The results showed that offering garden produce at school lunch had a small positive impact on children's food choices.