Author: Sarah    Mullis

Major: Sociology

Graduation Year: 2016

Thesis Advisor: Melissa Ladenheim

Description of Publication: Senior food insecurity and social isolation are potentially two serious issues within Maine communities. The Orono Community Garden (OCG) is a local effort to combat both of these issues. The OCG relies on volunteer workers, who donate the food they produce to low-income seniors living in three neighboring housing complexes in Orono, Maine. This project uses participant observation, surveys, and personal interviews as the basis for a qualitative analysis, to assess how seniors’ food security is influenced due to the food from the OCG, the ways in which the OCG provides a sense of community and social integration for the seniors, and how the garden impacts volunteers who work there. This research contributes to our understanding of the roles and functions of a community gardens, as well as its impact on senior food security and social isolation.

Location of Publication:

• fogler
• reynolds

URL to Thesis: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/403