Seed to Supper 2021

The program adapted the Oregon Food Bank's course materials for Pennsylvania growing conditions while successfully teaching low-income adults to grow their own food.  100% of participants reported increased gardening knowledge.

Highlights

2021 the Year in Review

2021 was still heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple COVID-19 variants and the continued vaccine rollout that began in late 2020.  Since the start of the pandemic, one of every five Pennsylvania workers had filed for assistance.

In 2021, hunger was a growing crisis in every county in Pennsylvania. 1.4 million people struggled with hunger, including almost 400,000 children. This translated to 1 in 9 adults and 1 in 7 children who were unsure of how they might get their next meal. "Feeding Pennsylvania" food banks reported a significant increase in the need for food assistance in their communities, with an average 65 percent increase in demand.

Terms like "food insecurity," which is the lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life, became popular. Along with "food deserts," which were areas without grocery stores, farmer's markets, or other businesses selling healthy food and produce. "Food swamps" were areas in a community that had a concentrated number of fast-food businesses or sold processed foods and junk foods, such as convenience stores.

Research indicated food insecurity contributed to the following consequences: obesity and other chronic health conditions in adults and children, and lower academic achievement in children because hungry children had trouble concentrating in class. They needed healthy food for general growth and development. Eating healthy foods has been proven to contribute to reducing certain health conditions such as diabetes, improved cardiac health, and more.

Introducing the Seed to Supper Program

In 2021, a statewide initiative was launched. Ten counties provided the new program across the state. During this pilot year, Master Gardeners experimented with various presentation methods to provide practical, basic gardening education to their communities. The course book, originally developed by the Oregon Food Bank, was revised and updated to reflect the climate and growing conditions of Pennsylvania. Master Gardeners partnered with Extension's Food, Family, and Health Team to impart knowledge on nutrition, food literacy, and cooking skills to develop an all-encompassing series of classes to enhance the quality of life for those in need.

This course, offered at no charge to low-income adults by Penn State Extension Master Gardeners, aimed to reduce those statistics by teaching new gardeners how to successfully grow a portion of their food on a limited budget. Charitable programs were not always able to fully support those struggling with hunger, especially with highly perishable items such as fresh produce. Surveys showed that produce was listed as the most desirable and important food item at food banks and pantries. Seed to Supper was often offered in collaboration with community-based host agencies to reach those in need.

The initial success of the program spurred the organization to continue and improve the programming in future years.

Program Impact Evaluation 2021

Facilitator Quotes:

• "The Seed to Supper program is epic, a real game changer! Everyone learned a lot and had fun."
• "One client, who did most of her grocery shopping at the Dollar Store and rarely ate fresh vegetables, now harvests and eats tomatoes from the garden."

Participant Quote:

"I learned so much information that will help me provide food for my family by growing it myself. Not to mention information that I may not have had access to if not for this program."