The Community Garden Health Block

The goals of this community-based clinical trial are to examine the association between community garden participation and 1) fruit and vegetable intake (primary outcome) and 2) access to healthy food (secondary outcome) among adults aged 18-95 living in low resource communities. Gardens will be randomized to the intervention (n=4 gardens) or control group (delayed intervention, n=3 gardens). Participants will be assigned to one of seven community gardens to receive an 8-week intervention. During the intervention, participants will be asked to volunteer in the garden, participate in garden social activities, participate in healthy cooking demonstrations and educational sessions. Participants will receive educational materials as well. To assess the effects of the intervention, participants will receive a baseline, 8-week, and 6-month survey. Outcome measures will be compared between the intervention and control groups.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Community garden activities

Detailed Description

Food insecurity is a major cause of chronic diseases and is highest in the nation in Arkansas. Evidence shows that community gardens and healthy cooking demonstration can reduce food insecurity by 1) increasing access to healthy foods and 2) promoting healthy food consumption. Community garden participation is one factor that can influence healthy food consumption such as fruit and vegetable intake. The goals of this community-based clinical trial are to examine the association between community garden participation and 1) fruit and vegetable intake (primary outcome) and 2) access to healthy food (secondary outcome) among adults aged 18-95 living in low resource communities. Participants will be assigned to one of seven community gardens to receive an 8-week intervention. During the intervention participants will be asked to volunteer in the garden, participate in garden social activities, participate in healthy cooking demonstrations and educational sessions. Participants will receive educational materials as well. Four of the gardens will be randomized to the intervention group and three to the delayed intervention group. To assess the effects of the intervention, participants will receive a baseline, 8-week, and 6-month survey. Other measures that we will examine include food security; sociodemographics; physical activity; life satisfaction; perceived stress; neighborhood collective efficacy; self-efficacy; individual level social determinants of health; community engagement; and knowledge, attitudes, and satisfaction related to gardening and cooking.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 138
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH; Phone Number: 301-802-7735; Email: pfagan@uams.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Elizabeth Taylor, BA; Phone Number: 501-526-6689; Email: betaylor@uams.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arkansas
    • Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 72205
      • Recruiting
      • University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
      • Contact: Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH; Phone Number: 301-802-7735; Email: pfagan@uams.edu
      • Contact: Elizabeth Taylor, BA; Phone Number: 501-526-6689; Email: btaylor@uams.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Arkansas resident aged 18-95;
2. live in community within 1 mile radius of a participating garden;
3. speak English;
4. willingness to participate in the garden as a volunteer during the study intervention period;
5. not previously participated in the garden as a volunteer in past 6 months;
6. scores as food insecure on 1 of any of the food security measures (i.e. food did not last, could not eat balanced meal, cut the size or skip meals and frequency at which this happens, eat less than you think you should, were hungry but did not eat);
7. written informed consent;
8. working phone, home address, and email;

10) willingness to complete all survey assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Does not live within 1 mile radius of a participating garden.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Garden intervention; The gardens in the intervention group will receive an 8-week intervention that includes 1) educational materials, 2) healthy cooking demonstrations, food and transportation support and 3) garden social activities.	Behavioral: Community garden activities; The gardens in the intervention group will receive an 8-week intervention that includes 1) educational materials, 2) healthy cooking demonstrations, food and transportation support and 3) garden social activities. The control group will be asked to abstain from intervention activities. The control group will receive the delayed 8-week intervention one month after the intervention group.
Active Comparator: Delayed intervention; The control group will be asked to abstain from intervention activities during the 8 week period. The control group will receive the delayed 8-week intervention one month after the intervention group.	Behavioral: Community garden activities; The gardens in the intervention group will receive an 8-week intervention that includes 1) educational materials, 2) healthy cooking demonstrations, food and transportation support and 3) garden social activities. The control group will be asked to abstain from intervention activities. The control group will receive the delayed 8-week intervention one month after the intervention group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fruit and vegetable intake	We will use the five factor screener that is used to approximate intake of fruit juices, fruit, green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, tomato-based sauces, potatoes, and beans	From baseline to 8 weeks (end of intervention) and 6-months post intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Access to healthy foods	We will use the the Perceived Availability of the Healthy Food Scale. Participants will be asked to think of the neighborhood area (1 mile radius) and the extent to which they feel that the foods are of high quality, available, and are low fat.	From baseline to 8 weeks (end of intervention) and 6-months post intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Arkansas
• Collaborators: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center; Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH, UAMS

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 6, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 6, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 12, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 21, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 20, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: food security, community gardens, fruit/vegetable consumption
• Other Study ID Numbers: 297248; OT2HL156812 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: To facilitate data use, the research projects will use standard processing and documentation protocols adopted by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) for data formats and dictionaries as well as for variable names, descriptions, and labels. We will share all variable de-identified data following the publication of our final results.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data will be made available approximately 1 year after the completion of the study, which is approximately when the final results will be published. ICPSR stores data indefinitely.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The data are publicly available via ICPSR.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No