Community Gardens in Michigan

Demographic Attributes of Managers, Neighborhood Characteristics, and the Impacts of a Pandemic

Bibliographic Data

ID3759458
AuthorsDorceta E Taylor (0000-0003-2847-0779, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA, corresponding author), Ki’amber Thompson (University of California – Santa Cruz, CA, USA), Dominique Abednour-Brown (Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA), Erin Mccoy (0000-0001-8168-8123, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA), Socorro M Daupan (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA), Socorro Martha Meg-ay V Daupan (University of Michigan), Clarice Hollenquest (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA)
Year2024
Volume68
Issue4
Pages585-619
Publication date2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00027642221142204
OpenAlexW4311357674
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited68

Community gardens are more popular than ever, yet we know little about how leadership structure and neighborhood characteristics relate to programming. Hence, this paper analyzes how the racial/ethnic backgrounds of the community garden leaders are related to the activities the garden undertakes. What types of initiatives do gardens undertake to reduce food insecurity? The paper analyzes how the location of the garden impacts what it does. The article presents novel findings on the impact of leadership and neighborhood characteristics on community garden operations and outcomes. Hence, the essay examines how the race/ethnicity of garden managers and their sex and neighborhood characteristics, such as poverty rate, household income, and racial composition, are related to garden initiatives. Finally, the paper examines how community gardens responded to increased demands for food and services during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. We studied 53 community gardens in Michigan from the summer 2020 through the winter 2021. Whites manage 66% (35) of the gardens, while People of Color manage 34% (18). Roughly half of the gardens are managed by males and the remainder by females. The gardens, which lack paid staff, rely heavily on volunteers. Almost 53% of the gardens are in low-income census tracts (with median income of $40,000 or less). During the pandemic, 31% of the gardens reduced their staff, 51.4% had fewer volunteers than in pre-pandemic times, and 51.9% had increased amounts of people seeking food

Census · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Disease · Economic growth · Economics · Ethnic group · Geography · Pandemic · Population · Poverty · Race (biology) · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Demography · Gender Studies · Medicine · Organic Food and Agriculture · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability · Urban Green Space and Health

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