Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program
CSREES' Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) Program funds projects and conducts outreach through competitive grants.
SARE projects are designed to improve agricultural systems from farm to consumer.
Youth Education
The Garden Mosaics Project
Educators seeking innovative ways to prompt farmers, ranchers, and other groups to adopt more sustainable production approaches might consider the participatory model.
This model was funded by CSREES Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) and tested to great effect by Cornell researchers who worked with groups of
gardeners in six Northeast communities. Their Garden Mosaics project engaged both adult gardeners and neighborhood youths who worked together on extension-led projects
with a truly local focus.
Under the guidance of Cornell-trained extension educators, kids in Baltimore, MD; Allentown and Philadelphia, PA; and New York City, Rochester, and Buffalo, NY, paired
with adult gardeners to document the history, makeup, planting practices, and soil quality of gardens in their communities. They tested research techniques, but children
born and raised in cities also learned more about gardening. And, in documenting garden histories and unusual plants, they picked up successful interviewing and
communication skills along with their green thumbs. Many of the youths—aged 6 to 9 —blossomed themselves. Some uninterested kids didn't choose the project and, at
the beginning, wouldn't look anyone in the eye. By the end, they acted like the experts at the county fair. (Project ENE99-049)
Cornell University-Garden Mosaics Program targets the South Bronx and builds on successful pilot implementation in Morrisania, the Bronx, and Harlem, Manhattan.
The goal of Garden Mosaics is to create an informal science educational program in community gardens, through which youth, educators, and adult gardeners conduct
investigations of food-growing practices drawn from a diversity of cultures and explore the scientific principles underlying these practices. In inner-city
communities where space is limited, community gardens make important contributions to urban agriculture. For additional information, see the Garden Mosaics on the
Cornell University Web site.
See the
The National Science Fondation on Garden Mosaics
Public Domain "U. S. Department of Agriculture."
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