Outreach Award: Healthy Garden, Healthy You

Mental health and food insecurity are two of the greatest public health challenges facing our nation. Gardening provides access to fresh, healthy produce and can also improve mental health. We propose to combine health information with gardening tools for community members in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County Maryland, including a large number of racial and ethnic minority populations and individuals below the Federal Poverty Level. We will create virtual toolkits containing multimedia materials organized by audience and interest area and host a webinar to share information about the mental health benefits of gardening and how to protect human health in the garden. We will use resources available through the NLM, including PubMed and Coffee Break, to develop fact sheets and increase access to health information in urban communities. Community members will learn how to start their own garden, how to choose the safest water sources for their garden, and how gardening can improve their mental health.