| dc.description.abstract | Food insecurity is a pressing issue in Canada. Amongst the groups most affected by food insecurity are university students. The Government of Canada describes food insecurity as the inability to have an adequate diet, or the lack of food deemed necessary by societal standards (2020). While there are many groups which are food insecure our study is aimed towards food insecurity amongst Canadian university students, particularly those on the Dalhousie University Sexton campus. A main objective of this study was to learn if there was a desire for a community garden on the Sexton campus, and to assess the level of participation in a proposed community garden. Our study used an online survey to receive responses from participants on their perceptions of and interest in a community garden as well as their experiences with food insecurity. Posters were placed on Sexton campus from March 16th to March 31st, 2023, with a sample population target of 100 respondents. We received 50 responses, with limitations including a small population size and responses that were invalid for our study. We found that 1/3 of surveyed students self-identified as food insecure, and that 50% of respondents would participate in the proposed community garden if it was implemented. These results suggest a significant amount of interest and community engagement for potential community garden implementation. Further, we did not find ties between willingness to participate in community gardens and levels of food security. This may be due to lack of available time due to responsibilities carried by food insecure people. Our recommendations for further action are: to obtain more qualitative information through interviews, carry out research on a larger sample size, and access existing community gardens to assess the levels of engagement. | en_US |
