Framing Food Access: Do Community Gardens Inadvertently Reproduce Inequality?

Alternative food programs have been proposed as solutions to food insecurity and diet-related health issues. However, some of the most popular programs-farmers markets and community-supported agriculture-overwhelmingly serve White and upper-middle-class individuals, exacerbating food security and health disparities. One explanation for the mismatch is the way in which alternative food programs are framed: Language used to encourage participation may reflect priorities of upper-middle-class and White populations who create and run these programs while lacking resonance with food-insecure populations. This literature, however, lacks consideration of how lower-cost, more participatory programs-community gardens-are framed. We therefore explore the framing of community gardens through a quantitative content analysis of the descriptions, missions, and goals provided by community garden managers across Minnesota ( N = 411).