The 2023 Seed to Supper program addressed food insecurity in Pennsylvania communities by empowering residents with practical gardening skills and resources to grow their own fresh, nutritious food.
It successfully created a supportive learning environment where participants reported increased knowledge, confidence, and community connections with enhanced access to healthy food options.
2023 Highlights
Hunger continued to be a growing crisis in every county in Pennsylvania in 2023. We saw prices double or even triple over the course of that year. For nearly 1.7 million Pennsylvanians, food insecurity remained a daily part of life. Hunger was a symptom of the greater issue of poverty, and a far too prevalent condition that touched both urban and rural areas of the commonwealth. It affected families, children, older adults, and people with disabilities.
In 2023 we launched our improved partially color version of the course book across the state and continued to offer it for free to qualifying participants. The full-color version was prepared for publication in 2024.
Participating Counties
In 2023 the following counties offered Seed to Supper programs: Allegheny, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Clinton, Crawford, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Greene, Lycoming, Mercer, Montour, Snyder/Union, Somerset, Susquehanna, Berks, Warren/Forest, Wayne, Washington, West Moreland, and Wyoming.
Program Impact Evaluation 2023
| The Seed to Supper Program helped me: | Agree to Strongly Agree |
|---|---|
| Grow my own food. | 99% |
| Increase garden knowledge. | 98% |
| Eat more vegetables. | 81% |
| Try new varieties of vegetable. | 87% |
| Connect with others in my community. | 91% |
| Learn more about resources available to me within my community. | 90% |
| Areas Where Participants Reported Gaining Knowledge | % of Class |
|---|---|
| Overall – Participants reported gaining knowledge in least one category | 100% |
| Choosing the best garden location | 91% |
| Preparing the garden location for success | 93% |
| Methods for planting a garden | 93% |
| Methods that support a healthy garden throughout the growing season | 95% |
| Integrated pest management practices (IPM) | 91% |
| Areas Where Participants Reported Gaining Confidence | % of Class |
|---|---|
| Overall -- participants gaining confidence in at least one category | 99% |
| Evaluating a site to choose an effective location to plant a garden | 91% |
| Preparing a location for a garden by using a soil test kit | 97% |
| Planting a garden using succession planting or interplanting techniques | 93% |
| Caring for a garden through the growing season using mulch or other water management practices | 90% |
| Using IPM practices to protect a garden from pests | 90% |
Quotes and Testimonials:
"Excellent material, facilitators, hands-on opportunities, time/opportunities to interact n ask questions; time to try it ourselves/ plant our garden plans during the class duration so we could learn in real time and apply what we were learning."
"Loved how comfortable the team was with sharing information with not only each other, but the audience."
"I just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to explain and demonstrate how to grow and maintain a garden."
"The handbook is amazing! Our Master Gardeners were wonderful! They were so helpful, friendly & knowledgeable. It was a wonderful experience."
"Excellent course. I learned a lot and enjoyed discovering new methods of gardening."
"All of the instructors were wonderful plus the education I received. Thank you for the opportunity for me to be a student these 6 weeks. Thank you!"
"It was all good. Good people, food, planting, discussion."
"Super class has built my confidence to get out there and grow my own food, a missing piece in my life. Gratitude!!"
"Not long enough!"
"Want more!"
"I would love to do this class again to get more knowledge."
"How the facilitators brought us all together to learn and enjoy the class. They shared not only their successes but also their mistakes and failures which were often comical and made them more approachable and friendly. Plus we got free seeds and seedlings!"
"I have been gardening for years. the amount of NEW information was amazing."
