Cultivate Health Initiative: Growing the Wisconsin School Garden Network

At a Glance

This project, Cultivate Health Initiative, aimed to build capacity for garden-based education programs through professional development and technical assistance for educators and community leaders. School-based garden interventions have the potential to promote healthy eating behaviors and impact obesity in children. The initiative successfully advanced garden-based education by aligning stakeholders, establishing a strong communications infrastructure, surpassing professional goals and prioritizing resource development and dissemination. Cultivate Health Initiative’s lasting impact was evident in its widespread reach, stakeholder engagement and policy influence, fostering a thriving ecosystem for garden-based education across the state.

The Challenge

Research demonstrates that school-based garden interventions have the potential to effectively promote healthy eating behaviors and impact obesity in children. School gardens are year-round integrated educational programs that include all-season activities such as garden and crop planning, seed orders, indoor gardening, season extension and greenhouse growing. Gardening is a powerful way to promote regular consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and increase positive health outcomes among a diverse population of children across the state of Wisconsin.

Project Goals

The overarching goal of the Cultivate Health Initiative was to build the capacity for sustainable garden-based education programs at schools, early childhood education centers, afterschool sites and community sites through robust professional development and technical assistance for educators and community leaders. This goal was addressed through four specific aims:

1. Strategic alignment of diverse stakeholders across Wisconsin through developing buy-in, processing feedback and setting shared goals and short-, mid- and long-term priorities.
2. Build a robust communications infrastructure and broad sense of ownership for the Wisconsin school garden network.
3. Expand and deepen professional development and technical assistance across the state.
4. Strategic resource development and dissemination with a focus on addressing health equity in our activities, including providing access to all students (e.g. different physical abilities, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, languages).

Results

The Cultivate Health Initiative made significant strides in promoting garden-based education in Wisconsin. First, it strategically aligned stakeholders by appointing regional coordinators, organizing annual meetings and actively engaging legislators and school board members. This facilitated a shared vision and commitment across diverse sectors. Second, the initiative built a robust communications infrastructure, leveraging the Wisconsin School Garden Network (WSGN) website, a widely subscribed monthly newsletter, and active social media platforms. Notably, Wisconsin School Garden Day became a widely celebrated annual event, engaging thousands of students in garden-based activities.

The initiative surpassed its goal related to expanding and deepening professional development with over 113 targeted training sessions and direct technical assistance to 294 educational garden program sites. Equity was prioritized in training and an internal database was developed to inform decisions that prioritize health equity. Lastly, the Cultivate Health Initiative excelled in strategic resource development and dissemination, distributing educational materials, toolkits and curriculum guides. The lasting impact of the initiative is evident in its widespread reach, stakeholder engagement and policy influence, contributing to a thriving ecosystem for garden-based education across the state.