Building Capacity for Food Justice: The Multifaceted Benefits of an Urban Home Gardening Intervention

Innovation is needed to build capacity for food justice in urban food apartheid areas. Home gardening programs have the potential to achieve such goals. Chicago Grows Food created the Grow Your Groceries Home Garden intervention in 2022 to improve access to produce in food insecure communities. A mixed-methods, longitudinal investigation was conducted to determine how the program affected food access, cost savings, gardening skills, health, and socioemotional outcomes. Participants (N=46) were surveyed pre- and post-program over two annual cycles. Focus group participants (N=9) provided enriching context and detail. While results on improved gardening confidence over time emerged non-significant, the mixed-methods findings were positive. Participants reported increased food access, cost savings, healthier eating, stress reduction, and strengthened relational bonds, showcasing wide-ranging impacts on food security and well-being. Urban agriculture organizations may use this intervention as a model for home-based gardening programs, thus paving a path for localized food justice efforts.