Impact of Child Interaction With Food Preparation on Vegetable Preferences: A Farm-Based Education Approach

Objective To identify the impact of child involvement in vegetable preparation on vegetable preference and attitudes toward eating vegetables. Design Pre-post mixed-methods. Setting Food and Farming Camp at a nonprofit urban farm in Sunnyvale, California. Participants Camp participants aged 8–10 years (n = 34 girls, n = 12 boys), and aged 11–14 years (n = 19 girls, n = 4 boys). Interventions Involvement in vegetable preparation through harvesting, cutting, cooking, and seasoning before consumption. Interviews identified camper perception of vegetable preference and involvement in preparation. Main Outcome Measures Change in vegetable preference from baseline with and without involvement in vegetable preparation. Attitudes toward involvement in vegetable preparation. Analysis Adjustment of preferences to baseline followed by tests of hypotheses to identify differences with involvement. Thematic, qualitative coding to identify prevalent themes within interview responses. Results Younger campers preferred vegetables they prepared (P < 0.05), except for carrots. Campers were more likely to choose vegetables they prepared (P < 0.05). Campers of both age groups were curious to try their vegetable creations and described feelings of pride and responsibility related to preparing vegetables. Conclusions and Implications Involvement with food preparation, in particular in a garden-based setting, may provide an accessible method to improve child vegetable preference.