SERA50: Consumer Horticulture Southern Extension and Research Activity
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Active
SERA50: Consumer Horticulture Southern Extension and Research Activity
Duration: 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2029
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Consumer horticulture (CH) activities benefit individuals and society by producing food, providing environmental benefits, and are impactful to our lives by contributing to human health and well-being. Land-grant universities seek to educate consumers regarding the benefits and best practices of consumer horticulture activities, however budget constraints dictate that a large percentage of CH support is in county, regional, and state-level Extension positions with a relative scarcity of research or teaching faculty, in addition to limited resources to serve the large number of consumers. This Southern Extension and Research Activity (CH-SERA, aka SERA_Temp50) is proposed to address these limitations in research and teaching by focusing on applied research and teaching collaborations that synergize with extension outreach to generate increased funding and wider future research outcomes. The CH-SERA will serve as a collaborative hub for the development and implementation of integrated research, extension, and teaching activities to support CH and connect the academic elements of CH with the horticulture industry and public gardens community through collaborations with the National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture (NICH). The objective of this proposal are:
- Elevate research-based, CH information that address topics identified by industry partners and distribute this information through NICH.
- Secure research funds that support multistate efforts to identify consumer preferences and perceptions for products of the green industry and how to better education the public regarding CH benefits and practices.
- Develop and disseminate educational materials to inform secondary and early post-secondary students about the benefits of consumer horticulture to individual and societal well-being.
Statement of Issues and Justification
The need, as indicated by stakeholders.
Consumer horticulture (CH) includes the cultivation of interior and exterior ornamental plants, annual and perennial edible plants, as well as individual interaction with plants and landscapes in public gardens and other outdoor spaces. Consumer horticulture connects with commercial sectors through the viewpoint and purchasing behavior of horticulture consumers for plants, garden products, and services. Consumer horticulture connects people and plants across a spectrum of edible and ornamental built environments to support human, economic, and environmental benefits.
Consumer horticulture activities benefit individuals and society by producing food, supporting biodiversity, improving soil health and water quality in urban and residential areas, in addition to cycling nutrients, cooling microclimates, and even sequestering carbon (Carey et al., 2013; Lin et al., 2015; Lovell and Taylor, 2013; Wilde et al., 2015; Zhou, 2014). The impact of CH in our lives and residential spaces also reaches to the ecosystem level where the stability and health of surrounding environments depend on plants to hold soil, protect water and air quality and support pollinators. The benefits of CH on human health and well-being by providing improved nutrition, exercise, stress relief, and attention restoration are also well documented (Hall and Dickson, 2011; Kaplan 1995; Kuo and Sullivan 2001). Additionally, CH encourages socialization, leadership, and education through community gardening and the educational impact of public gardens.
The wide reach of CH in areas of biological and social sciences has created a diverse group of stakeholders. Stakeholders include the gardening public, the green industry, related non-profits and public gardens, public health practitioners, academicians, and a range of retail businesses which create and sell horticulture goods and services. Approximately 77% of U.S. households engage in lawn or garden activities spending more than $47.8 billion annually (GardenResearch.com, 2018). More recent trends indicate that lawn and garden activities increased during the early 2020s with 80% of U.S. households reporting gardening activities in 2022 (GardenResearch.com, 2023), perhaps in part due to an increase in available time during the COVID19 pandemic and increases in remote work assignments. Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen but there are some indications that interest in plant growing (gardening) activities are being maintained. The broad cross-section of the U.S. population that raises plants includes generation, race, ethnicity, education, income, gender, and geographical diversity and interest in plants (plantspeople) across younger generations has surged along with interest in non-traditional crops and systems. Data from the 2023 Gardening Insights Survey Report (Axiom Market Insights) indicated that more than 38% of U.S. households planned to spend more money on gardening projects in 2023 compared to 2022, with Millennials and Gen Z generations planning to spend more resources on gardening than older generations.
The importance of the work and consequences if it is not done.
Demand for information regarding home and community gardening increased during the pandemic, as well as demand for information regarding nutrition and human health as it relates to backyard and community gardening. Education programs highlighting topics, such as home gardening, organic gardening, container and raised bed gardening, community gardens, and edible landscaping, are still among the most popular talks and workshops being offered by county Extension offices and Extension Master Gardener programs (along with their partners) across the south. The high demand for suburban and rural housing during the pandemic has softened due to higher home mortgage rates and a decrease in remote employment. However, real estate continues to be a popular investment and demand for home landscaping information continues to remain high.
Survey work from the 2021 HRI grant (Appendix 1) confirmed that when looking for gardening information, individuals first turn to Google for answers. When they need further explanation and insight, they turn to a close family member or friend, as well as videos online. Some consumers will even consult with industry retailers for information. Neither Extension nor industry alone can serve the millions of consumers purchasing plants and related goods who are dependent on information, knowledge, and successful experiences to continue as plantspeople. Research data verified that the need is real for Extension/Industry outreach partnerships to provide science-based and accessible knowledge and experiences necessary for next-generation gardeners. Partnerships and collaborations are essential. The CH-SERA and its role in the National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture (NICH-www.consumerhort.com) supports partnerships and collaborations essential for continued industry growth.
Land-grant universities across the country are key in providing research, extension, and teaching personnel and expertise to engage and educate the vast, expanding, and diverse CH audience. These universities link plant and soil sciences, economics, nutrition, and health research with Extension education programs and over 86,000 Extension Master Gardener volunteers (EMGNC, 2019) to reach these wide audiences. Despite public interest, commercial value, and the potential human health and environmental benefits, university support for CH remains low for a vast and far-ranging content area that serves a majority of the population. Currently, land-grant universities invest a large percentage of CH support in county, regional, and state-level Extension positions with a relative scarcity of research or teaching faculty, in addition to limited resources to serve the large number of consumers.
The advantages for doing the work as a multistate effort.
Due to the limited faculty working in the area of CH research and teaching, the role and value of CH scientists in collaborative research and student instruction is largely unexplored (Bumgarner et al., 2020). Thus, the tasks of quantifying, describing, and enhancing the human health, environmental, and economic benefits of CH remain unrealized. However, the prevalence of Extension and outreach expertise in CH presents opportunities to conduct collaborative, applied research and current student instruction and build a foundation for future expansion in funding and faculty investments in the area of CH.
This Southern Extension and Research Activity (CH-SERA, aka SERA_Temp50) is proposed to address these limitations in research and teaching by focusing on applied research and teaching collaborations that synergize with extension outreach to generate increased funding and wider future research outcomes. The CH-SERA will serve as a collaborative hub for the development and implementation of integrated research, extension, and teaching activities to support CH and connect the academic elements of CH with the horticulture industry and public gardens community.
A previous outcome of the SCC-85 activities was the creation of six multi-state Extension publications documenting the economic, environmental, and health benefits of CH to both individuals and communities. The resulting nested ecological model and the six publications were used as the foundation for the freshman-level undergraduate course, “Connecting People and Plants” presently taught virtually with a service-learning component at the University of Georgia. The course has been taught two semesters, reaching a total of 42 students who are largely third and fourth-year students in majors outside of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), such as Economics, Psychology, Political Science, Accounting, Landscape Architecture, and International Affairs. The reach of this course supports the necessarily broad partnerships essential for CH success and could be adapted as a multi-state model for educating college students regarding the benefits of CH. One could envision a multi-state team that could function as:
- Enhancing the existing course, building out the six modules with additional research examples, media, and reading materials commensurate with course level
- Packaging individual lessons from the course for CH faculty to provide guest lectures in other courses where CH topics are relevant and could reach an expanded student base, such as Urban Economics
- Sharing guest lecture packets with other CH faculty across the country (which would also serve in CH-SERA participation recruitment)
Objectives
-
Extension objective: Elevate research-based, consumer horticulture information that address topics raised by the current NICH Industry/Advisory Team (or other stakeholder groups) that inform research-based solutions for delivery by the NICH Marketing/Advocacy Team.
Comments: Expected outcomes from this objective a. Develop “quarterly” (at least 2-3 per year) white-paper responses to stakeholder-raised issues to increase interface between popular press, social media, and the research-based resources provided by Extension b. Secure a Web-based drive, such as a Google Document, to facilitate white-paper development, stakeholder access and use, and to archive activity. Suggested audiences include, but are not limited to, individuals and outlets with broad consumer reach such as professional garden writers (GardenComm International), social media influencers, and industry representatives. Many of the members of this SERA are state Extension Master Gardener (EMG) Coordinators with connections to the EMG Coordinators National Committee. Through these connections, materials developed by this SERA will be made available to state and local EMG coordinators for use in Master Gardener and other state and local Cooperative Extension programming. c. Report white-paper information dispersal and use by stakeholders using surveys/testimonials. -
Research objective: Secure research funds that support multistate efforts to identify consumer preferences and perceptions for products of the green industry.
Comments: Expected outcomes from this objective a. Apply for multistate-focused grants. Potential funding sources include industry foundations and organizations and grants from allied sciences (i.e., psychology, medicine, health and well-being, etc.), collaborations with other researchers to include consumer horticulture research objectives with traditional research endeavors b. Disseminate research findings to NICH or other stakeholder groups, and at scientific conferences, and industry trade meetings c. Generate one or more peer-reviewed research papers corresponding to funded projects -
Teaching objective: Develop and disseminate educational materials to inform secondary and early post-secondary students about the benefits of consumer horticulture to individual and societal well-being.
Comments: Expected outcomes from this objective a. Engage graduate and undergraduate students in extension and research efforts. b. Package individual lessons about consumer horticulture benefits to be used as guest lectures in other courses. c. Share guest lecture packets with faculty across the country trough scientific conferences and educational meetings.
Procedures and Activities
The technical feasibility of the proposed activity.
The proposed CH-SERA group has been active for five years as the former SCC85: Consumer Horticulture Extension, Research, and Education Coordinating Committee and for two additional years after the SCC85 project expired. The accomplishments of this group are detailed in SCC85 reports and in Appendix 1 (attached). This multi-state group is ready to transition from a SCC to a SERA as evidenced by recent successful efforts in grantsmanship and publishing both extension and peer-reviewed manuscripts. To accomplish its goals, the SERA will work in conjunction with NICH. NICH is a nationwide collaborative of horticulture industry leaders working to build a platform to connect and share with consumers the benefits of plants, gardens, and landscapes while increasing the value and sustainability of the $196 billion horticulture industry (Bauske et al., 2015; Dorn et al., 2018; Hodges et al., 2015; NICH, 2020). Since its inception in 2012, the NICH effort has developed into a group of academicians, public gardens, non-profits, horticulture associations, and green industry members dedicated to furthering the field of CH. The NICH-SERA Synergy Infographic (attached) illustrates a recent proposal between NICH leadership and the proposers of the CH-SERA regarding how NICH will inform the SERA regarding current and future research, extension, and educational needs of the CH industry sectors, and how the CH-SERA will inform the industry’s marketing staff of reliable, research-based, nonbiased information that will instill buying and growing confidence in the industry’s clients. The core leadership for this synergy is in place and the CH-SERA looks forward to enlisting more members to assist with these task. A proof of concept for how the synergy would work is given in Appendix 2 (attached). In this example, the NICH industry/advisory team indicated that that horticulture consumers would benefit from an explanation of the ways the new USDA Hardiness Zone Map could be interpreted. Two members of the academic/reserach team (to eventually be populated by CH-SERA members) developed a white paper (Appendix 2) that will be formated for release by the marketing/advocacy team to partners such as GardenComm writers, the National Extesion Master Gardener network, and various state Land Grant Agricultural Communication services, for relesae in various outlets. Where information on suggested topics is lacking, the CH-SERA will engage in research to address the industry’s needs and publish results in both scientific and industry publications.
Expected Outcomes and Impacts
- Impacts Comments: Likely impacts from successfully completing the work. The long-term goal of this SERA is to develop collaboration among CH and allied researchers and extension specialists to support the development of applied research and teaching efforts that will be synergistic with current and future Extension and outreach activities in the CH field. Short-term impacts Rapid response to CH informational needs identified by industry through quarterly educational outreach packets (see Figure 1) that provide research-based solutions to plantspeople through social media materials, newsletter articles, and other deliverables. Increased synergy between NICH and the CH-SERA Collaborative ideas and funding to support industry outreach and education Industry input to inform the CH-SERA research, extension, and teaching goals/activities Long-term impacts Raised awareness of the benefits of CH to society resulting in increased human health Building sustainable collaborations and linkage between CH industry, Cooperative Extension, and land-grant academia (including 1890 land-grant institutions) increasing economic sustainability for all stakeholders Elevating reliability of Land-Grant information to be the go-to source for plantspeople information • Increased efficiency in addressing industry needs with mission-based research that is translated and communicated to plantspeople through industry and academic outlets Collaborative teaching that helps shape the next generation of green-industry professional
- Extensoin Outputs Comments: a. Develop “quarterly” (at least 2-3 per year) white-paper responses to stakeholder-raised issues b. Secure a Web-based drive, such as a Google Document, to facilitate white-paper development, stakeholder access and use, and to archive activity. c. Report white-paper information dispersal and use by stakeholders using surveys/testimonials.
- Research Outputs Comments: a. Apply for multistate-focused grants b. Disseminate research findings to NICH or other stakeholder groups, and at scientific conferences, and industry trade meetings c. Generate one or more peer-reviewed research papers corresponding to funded projects
- Teaching Outputs Comments: a. Engage graduate and undergraduate students in extension and research efforts. b. Package individual lessons about consumer horticulture benefits to be used as guest lectures in other courses. c. Share guest lecture packets with faculty across the country trough scientific conferences and educational meetings.
Projected Participation
View Appendix E: ParticipationEducational Plan
Organization/Governance
The CH-SERA will be governed by a Chair, a Chair-elect, and a Secretary. These officers seave two-year terms to provide continuity. Administrative guidance will be provided by an assigned Administrative Advisor and a NIFA Representative.
Literature Cited
Literature cited:
Axiomcom.com. 2023. 2023 Gardening Survey. <https://axiomcom.com/2023-gardening-survey/>.
Bauske, E., G. Bachman, L.K. Bradley, K. Jeannette, A. Stoven O’Connor, and P.J. Bennett. 2014. Consumer horticulture outreach: communication challenges and solutions. HortTechnology 24:266-269.
Bauske, E.M., G.R. Bachman, T. Bewick, L. Bradley, R. Durham, and M.H. Meyer. 2015. The case for a strategic plan for consumer horticulture research, education and extension. HortTechnology 25:477-479.
Bumgarner, N.R., S. Dorn, E. McGinnis, P. Bennett, E. Bauske, S. Krishnan, and L. Bradley. 2020. Consumer horticulture advancement: Identifying critical research areas and cultivating collaborations. HortTechnology 29:769-776.
Carey, R.O., G.J. Hochmuth, C.J. Martinez, T.H. Boyer, M.D. Dukes, G.S. Toor, and J.L. Cisar. 2013. Evaluating nutrient impacts in urban watersheds: challenges and research opportunities. Environmental Pollution 173:138-149.
Extension Master Gardener National Committee. 2019. Extension Master Gardener 2018 National Report. <https://mastergardener.extension.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/natl-report-2018-one-page.pdf>
Dorn, S., L. Bradley, D. Hamrick, J. Weisenhorn, P. Bennett, J. Callabro, B. Behe, E. Bauske, and N. Bumgarner. 2018. The National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture: Focusing on the critical role of communication and collaboration to further research, extension, and industry goals. HortTechnology 28:414-421.
GardenResearch.com. 2018. National Gardening Survey 2018. <https://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/files/2020/07/2018-National-Gardening-Survey.pdf>
GardenResearch.com. 2023. National Gardening Survey 2023. <https://gardenresearch.com/view/national-gardening-survey-2023-edition/>.
Hall, C.R. and M.W. Dickson. 2011. Economic, environmental, and health/well-being benefits associated with green industry products and services: a review. J. Environ. Hort. 29:96-103.
Hodges, A.W., C.R. Hall, M.A. Palma, and H. Khachatryan. 2015. Economic contributions of the green industry in the United States in 2013. HortTechnology 25:805-814.
Kaplan, S. 1995. The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15:169-182.
Kuo, F.E., and W.C. Sullivan. 2001. Aggression and violence in the inner city: Effects of environment via mental fatigue. Environment and Behavior, 33:543-571.
Lin, B.B., S.M. Philpott, and S. Jha. 2015. The future of urban agriculture and biodiversity-ecosystem services: challenges and next steps. Basic and Apl. Ecol. 16:189-201.
Lovell, S.T. and J.R. Taylor. 2013. Supplying urban ecosystem services through multifunctional green infrastructure in the United States. Landscape Ecol. 28:1447-1463.
National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture. 2020. Growing a healthy world through the art and science of plants, gardens, and landscapes. 13 Nov. 2020. <http://consumerhort.org>.
Wilde, H.D, K.J.K. Gandhi, and G. Colson. 2015. State of the science and challenges of breeding landscape plants with ecological function. 21 May 2015. <http://www.nature.com/articles/hortres201469>.
Zhou, Q. 2014. A review of sustainable urban drainages systems considering the climate change and urbanization impacts. Water 6:976-992.
