In a SNAC study done in 2020, a total of 1946 students each received 14 STEM-based curriculum lessons in 2022 through dedicated SNAC Educators. Students were surveyed before the garden at North Georgetown Elementary was built in 2021, and surveyed again after 18months of programming in November of 2022 (a total of 20 classes were implemented for each student). In the survey, modeled from the Wisconsin Farm to School Vegetable Perception Test, students were asked if they recognized a vegetable and then if they liked that vegetable. We had 11% increase in positive perception and favorability on average for common vegetables grown in the SNAC Garden. Interestingly, we saw jumps of 15%-30% in positive perception of the vegetables that were used specifically in a STEM-based SNAC curriculum lesson.

Another study that supports our impacts is The TX Sprouts study in 2019, which targeted 16 elementary schools in and around Austin TX serving students from families which are predominately Hispanic, low-income, and have a high prevalence of overweight and obesity. They compared a high intervention (7 consecutive weeks with a garden coordinator and consistent access to a garden curriculum) to a low intervention program (teachers were given the garden but no coordinator), and found that the high intervention model resulted in a significant improvement in BMI, with 17% of the children no longer being classified as having overweight or obesity after the program. This study is in line with the program model of 6-8 weeks per season in the garden that the SNAC Garden Foundation has been supporting for 12+ years in Sussex County.

School gardens also provide an opportunity for enhanced science learning, particularly among elementary-aged children from low-income communities. Researchers found that these benefits accrue when supplementary materials—such as complementary lessons related to nutrition, plant science, horticulture, and youth development—accompany garden visits for the students.

One study found that students who were involved in a gardening program showed higher levels of self-understanding, interpersonal skills, and cooperative skills in the classroom as compared to students who did not participate in a gardening program. Feelings of comfort by working independently with other students to solve problems are conducive for building self-confidence, working with others, and cooperating during learning.

Gardening plays a role in helping the body reduce levels of cortisol, a hormone released in stressful situations. As a result, gardening can be an effective tool for managing anger, anxiety, and other negative emotions.

School gardens are laboratories where students apply what they have learned in the classroom and where a fragmented curriculum can become unified through hands-on experience that draws on math, science, and social science. They are places where students can explore the living environment and be challenged to consider: What is the web of life? How do organisms interact with each other and the physical environment? How do we get and use the food energy all living organisms need to survive and begin to understand the effect of human activities on the biosphere?