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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Selected Works

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Krista M. Harper

Life Sciences

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Youth Participation In Changing Food Systems: Toward Food Justice Youth Development, Krista Harper, Catherine Sands, Diego Angarita, Molly Totman Mar 2014

Youth Participation In Changing Food Systems: Toward Food Justice Youth Development, Krista Harper, Catherine Sands, Diego Angarita, Molly Totman

Krista M. Harper

We present results from a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project in which young people from Holyoke studied the school food system in order to make positive interventions in their school district. We used the Photovoice research method, placing cameras in the hands of youth so that they themselves could document and discuss their concerns and perspectives (Wang, et al., 1996). The research was designed to gain insight about the students’ knowledge of food, nutrition, and community food systems. The research also illuminated students’ impressions of public policy, active citizenship, and community building that have arisen out of food justice …


A Photovoice Participatory Evaluation Of A School Gardening Program Through The Eyes Of Fifth Graders, Catherine Sands, Krista Harper, Lee Ellen Reed, Maggie Shar Jan 2009

A Photovoice Participatory Evaluation Of A School Gardening Program Through The Eyes Of Fifth Graders, Catherine Sands, Krista Harper, Lee Ellen Reed, Maggie Shar

Krista M. Harper

In the springtime, fifth grade students at the Williamsburg Elementary School in rural Western Massachusetts ask to snack on sorrel and chives from the school garden, between planting potatoes and building a shade structure for their outdoor classroom. They are members of the first cohort of the curriculum-integrated program initiated by Fertile Ground, a grassroots organization in western Massachusetts. The children’s delight in the fresh greens they have grown marks a national phenomenon: the farm-to-school movement. With limited resources, parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community activists are developing inroads to better school food and food education, by constructing school teaching …