Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Alleviating Social Isolation And Food Insecurity Through Community Gardening: How The Orono Community Garden Impacts Seniors, Sarah Mullis

Honors College

Senior food insecurity and social isolation are potentially two serious issues within Maine communities. The Orono Community Garden (OCG) is a local effort to combat both of these issues. The OCG relies on volunteer workers, who donate the food they produce to low-income seniors living in three neighboring housing complexes in Orono, Maine. This project uses participant observation, surveys, and personal interviews as the basis for a qualitative analysis, to assess how seniors’ food security is influenced due to the food from the OCG, the ways in which the OCG provides a sense of community and social integration for the …