Faculty, Students

University of Puget Sound Student Studies the Social Impact of Community Gardens

Phoenix Stoker-Graham ’24 researched how community gardens can reduce food insecurity in Tacoma.

If you wander through the city of Tacoma, you’ll likely come across a small garden tucked into the corner of a neighborhood, on the edge of a park, or behind a church, overflowing with tomatoes, peas, and zucchini. These community gardens, tended by volunteers, aren’t just for show. They’re a critical piece of Pierce County’s food network and could be a powerful tool in reducing food insecurity.

Phoenix Stoker-Graham ’24 is a Puget Sound student majoring in international political economy with a minor in sociology and anthropology. He’s also a native of Tacoma and is interested in how food systems can keep the city’s most vulnerable residents from going hungry. So, he set out to learn how community gardens can use their limited resources to make the biggest impact.

“My primary focus was to understand how gardens share food,” Stoker-Graham says. “Worldwide, we have I have plenty of food to feed everyone, but a lot of food goes to waste. One of the things that I'm really passionate about is figuring out ways to eliminate that food waste and get that food that's being wasted to people who need it.”

Stoker-Graham surveyed garden coordinators and met with volunteers to understand how the fruits and vegetables grown in the gardens are distributed, where donations go, and how everything is tracked. They used the data they collected to identify efficiencies that gardeners can use to make sure that more of their produce gets to the people who need it most.

“Food security is one of the biggest unsolved problems of our society,” says Professor of International Political Economy Emelie Peine, who advised Stoker-Graham’s summer research project. “In terms of policy and thinking about solutions, this is a nut that we have been unable to crack. We know we can grow enough food to feed ourselves with the land that we have available, but we can't assume that more gardens equal more food security.”

Phoenix Stoker-Graham ’24 interviews community garden volunteers.

Phoenix Stoker-Graham ’24 interviewed volunteers and coordinators at some of Tacoma's 43 community gardens to understand how they impact local food security.

Stoker-Graham was one of nearly 100 undergraduate students who participated in Puget Sound’s long-running summer research program. The program provides students with the opportunity to conduct hands-on research under the guidance of knowledgeable faculty.

“I was impressed by how committed the people I spoke to were. Community gardens really do care about sharing food in Tacoma,” Stoker-Graham says. “[And] people are recognizing that we want more gardens in this area.”

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