P130 Supplement Farm-to-Preschool Festival to Meet the Parents’ Needs in Gardening with Instructional Garden Videos

Abstract

<h3>Objective</h3> The objective of this study is to understand the helpfulness of using instructional garden videos to promote home gardening and additional needs to support families with children 0-5. <h3>Use of Theory or Research</h3> Research showed food-based gardening could lead to consumption of healthy and fresh fruits and vegetables and prevent food insecurity for low-income families. Previous Farm-to-Preschool parents survey showed 13% of participants had a home garden while 75% wanted to learn how to start a home garden. A series of English and Spanish garden videos was developed by Extension professionals using evidence-based Master Gardener curriculum. <h3>Target Audience</h3> Parents with children 0-5 years old who participated in the 2021 Farm-to-Preschool. <h3>Program Description</h3> Farm-to-Preschool Festival is an annual event open to Families with children 0-5 years old to promote healthy living behaviors with educational activities and materials. During pandemic, in-person activities were adapted to online delivery with materials dropped to early childcare facilities. English and Spanish Garden YouTube links were sent to parents with children's books, garden tools, plants, and recipes. <h3>Evaluation Methods</h3> A retrospective Qualtrics survey was sent to parents (n = 344) who received festival kits and garden video links from childcare centers. <h3>Results</h3> Participants filled out 35 surveys in Spanish and 20 surveys in English which in total represented 103 children. All participants agreed having a home garden was beneficial to their children and 50% participants had a garden. The top reasons for not having a garden were space and lack of knowledge and skills. Seventy percent of participants rated garden videos as very helpful. Most mentioned additional needs were garden tips; more videos or zoom sessions; and garden materials. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Instructional Garden videos were helpful to parents with young children to start home gardening. More video topics on container gardening can be helpful to support low-income families with limited space. <h3>Funding</h3> First 5 Imperial; University of California, Agriculture and Nature Resources