Do Right! Church-Based Community Gardens

Through collaborations with faith-based and community partners, the Center sought to help empower communities to improve healthy food access and nutrition through the Do Right! Church-based Community Garden program.

The Need

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of certain chronic diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, stroke and some cancers,[1] but most people aren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables. Those who have limited or no access to full-service grocery stores are at an even greater disadvantage for increasing their intake of fresh produce.

Our Approach

The Center addressed this issue by developing a Church-Based Community Garden Initiative. The goal was to increase access to healthy foods in low access areas by helping churches start and sustain a church garden.

The Center offered technical assistance and training to help establish a viable community garden, and then church and community volunteers operated and sustained the garden. At harvest time, church sites were able to distribute an abundance of freshly grown produce to their congregants and the community.

How it Worked

The Center launched its efforts by conducting an assessment on participating church sites to evaluate criteria such as water sources, topography, drainage, sunlight exposure, storage, and fencing. Each church developed a team to facilitate planning and implementation. The Center supplied a Community Garden Plan template to assist sites in processing crucial garden planning elements such as:

• Site Preparation
• Planting Lists
• Garden Layout
• Volunteer Recruitment
• Outreach Plan/Community Events
• Planting Schedules
• Weed Maintenance
• Produce Distribution Plan
• Tools and Supplies

Each church was responsible for developing its garden lot with technical assistance from a Master Gardener provided by the Center. The churches were then responsible for maintaining their garden lot. Produce was usually given to the congregation and the community, but churches were also free to determine whether to sell their harvest.

The Center provided numerous trainings for the churches, including compost training, spring garden training, and fall planting training.  The churches also had access to one of four master gardeners available to assist the churches.

The Center provided each site resources to get supplies, such as:

• Gardening Tools
• Soil Test Kits
• Seeds/Seedlings
• Gloves
• Compost Bins
• Rain Barrels
• Fencing
• Raise Beds

Food and More

Community gardens are certainly about growing healthy food, but other benefits are realized through community gardening projects. Community gardens:

• can increase physical activity
• foster a sense of community
• enable people to grow healthy, nutritious food for their families and communities, encourage more fruit and vegetable consumption, and
• help families save on food budgets.[2]

The Outcome

Twenty churches participated in the Do Right! Church-based Community Garden initiative. Most garden sites were located in communities with low access to full service grocery stores. These gardens were open to over 60,000 residents with household incomes that are on average nearly 25% below the poverty level.[3]

Church-based community gardens have thrived. The Center offered participating churches gardening training workshops in partnership with Ohio State University Extension to help sites sustain their community gardens.

The Churches

Word of Deliverance   
Inspirational Baptist Church  
Roselawn Lutheran Church ELCA   
Tryed Stone New Beginning Church
St. Mark AME Zion Church   
Corinthian Baptist Church   
New St. John Missionary Baptist  Church   
New Vision United Methodist Church   
Zion Baptist Church   
Shiloh Seventh Day Adventist Church
Gaines United Methodist Church  
Mt. Carmel Missionary  Baptist Church   
New Unity Baptist Church  
Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist  
St. Simon Cyrene Episcopal Church  
West Cincinnati Presbyterian Church   
Morning Star Baptist Church  
Christ Temple Baptist Church   
Christ Emmanuel Christian Fellowship   
Union Baptist Church   
New Prospect Baptist Church  
Southern Baptist Church