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2013 Autumn | Agriculture and Food Systems

Gardening to Feed the Community

Student(s):

Kaitlin Behrens

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment

Site supervisor(s):

Kathy Krogslund

Partner(s):

  • University District Ppatch

Faculty advisor(s):

Eli Wheat, Program on the Environment, University of Washington

This summer, I interned as a garden assistant at the Univer- sity District P-Patch community garden. Through my internship I had the chance to grow vegetables, which were then donated to the University District Food Bank. After 6 months of maintaining and harvesting the garden plots I was able to donate a total of 423.5 pounds of produce to the food bank, directly helping the 1,100 households that visit each week. Through my academic research and involvement with the p-patch I found that community gardens have many benefits. They stimulate social interaction, promote food security, foster community engagement and encourage environmental sustainability.