Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Hortaliza: A Youth "Nutrition" Garden In Southwest Detroit, Kameshwari Pothukuchi

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

This paper documents a youth garden that was developed in 2000 through a university-community partnership in a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood in southwest Detroit. It involved four community-based organizations and several residents -- youth among them -- from the neighborhood, in garden planning, set-up, and management. Kids grew vegetables of different kinds to take home and ate healthy snacks at the garden. They learned about the importance of vegetables and fruits to healthy diets, the nutritional value of particular vegetables, and how to grow vegetables. At the end of the season, we documented increased interest among kids in eating fruits …