Table 4.
Emergent Themes from Responses to Pre-survey and Post-survey Questions: Pre: How do you think having a garden will help your family? Post: Do you think the garden helped the health of your family? If yes, how?
| Emergent Theme | Definition | Pre: # of Mentions | Sample Quotes* | Post: # of Mentions | Sample Quotes* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Health Benefits | Statements reflecting improvements to overall physical health including mention of nutritional benefits gained from eating fresh, chemical free vegetables, and mention of physical activity or exercise. | 24 | “We will eat fresh vegetables, be healthier, the vegetables wont have chemicals and we will save a lot of money.”; “To do exercise, share with the family, learn how to cultivate more vegetables.” | 29 | “Eating fresh, natural, and healthy”; “We did more exercise and we ate healthier.”; “we exercised more, we ate healthier, it was a way to pass time and keep busy.” |
| Economic Benefits | Statements mentioning how the availability of fresh vegetables has helped them to save money and/or time. Also comments regarding food security addressing the ability to keep fresh vegetables year round. | 21 | “Save money. Prevent Buying expensive vegetables”; “It will help save money. I wont have to go to the store.” | 11 | “When we had vegetables we would just go and cut them out side and eat them.”; “We saved money we ate good and I also could save some vegetables for the winter. I freezed some and also dried some.” |
| Mental Health& Well-Being | Statements mentioning a feeling of calm or relief from the assurance that the vegetables are chemical free, and any comments regarding gardening efforts as a pass time bringing relaxation, enjoyment, or stress reduction. | 8 | “To eat healthy. To entertain self, could be like therapy but also an obligation.”; “To relax, save money, fresh vegetables.”; “To save money, destress myself, pass time” | 11 | “I feel calmer knowing I am eating more naturally and the veggies don’t have chemicals.” |
| Family Health | Statements involving how gardening efforts contribute to a sense of togetherness felt within the family, allude to family traditions, or mention of the garden as a place to spend quality family time building relationships. | 3 | “So we can eat more vegetables and my son get involved.”; “The family will cultivate their own vegetables and the children will eat more vegetables because they cultivated them.” | 5 | “The kids enjoy watching the plants grow they try to help them grow bye trying to water them.”; “Yes it helped us a lot. We saved money and we also are showing our kids the love of the land who feeds us.” |
*
The number of mentions per emergent theme is not mutually exclusive; statements made by participants may be applicable to multiple themes.
†
Total number of participants providing responses for the Pre-survey and Post-survey questions vary independently (data do not represent responses from the same individual). Although some overlap occurs in respondents to pre- and post-test questions, this occurrence is infrequent.