Validating scales to assess learning about sustainable food through university gardens

Purpose University gardens are innovative educational spaces that facilitate posing topics relevant to civic education, such as healthy and sustainable eating. This study aims to provide reliable quantitative tools to assess learning about sustainable food practices after garden-based interventions within higher education. Design/methodology/approach Based on their previous qualitative research on learning promoted by garden-based interventions, the researchers designed two Likert-scale questionnaires. The first is the “Growing Food Habits_Purchase” (GFH_P) scale, which informs on the habits or profiles of people who can make food purchasing decisions. The second is the “Growing Food Habits_Intake” (GFH_I) scale, which informs on the habits or profiles of people regarding food consumption (diet). Findings After validation, GFH_P consists of 14 items in four dimensions (reliability through McDonald’ ω = 0.721; Total Variance Explained = 52.97%), and GFH_I consists of 12 items in four dimensions (ω = 0.872; TVE = 60.699%). These two scales constitute valuable tools for applying before and after educational interventions at university gardens to assess progress in food purchasing and intake habits. Their use can demonstrate the actual contribution of garden-based learning to the transition toward more sustainable diets that is key to transforming the food system. Originality/value This work responds to the need for quantitative instruments that allow for a rigorous evaluation of the academic impacts of garden-based learning. To date, there were no validated questionnaires to assess the educational impact of gardens as teaching-learning environments for food education.