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Kristin Cunningham

Professor Gussow

English Composition II

06 September 2015

The Dirt on Workplace Gardens

Imagine that instead of working hard all day to afford to put fresh, locally grown food on

the table at home one was able to bring back freshly harvested vegetables free. Imagine, further,

that the boss decided it was time for employees to go outside, get some sunshine, dig in the dirt,

and re-set the day just as work-related stress began to climb. With benefits such as these

provided, one could not help but feel as though they worked for an employer who cared about

their health and valued them as an employee. These scenarios are what employees who

participate in workplace garden offerings of employer-sponsored wellness programs encounter

on a regular basis. Mirabito and Berry report that 90% of employers with 200 or more employees

offer a workplace wellness program. (337) Workplace wellness described is “an organized

employer-sponsored program designed to engage and support employees – and sometimes their

families – in adopting and sustaining behaviors that reduce health risks, improve quality of life,

enhance personal effectiveness, and benefit the organization’s bottom line.” (338) Workplace

gardens should be fundamental to employer-sponsored wellness programs because workplace

gardens promote a healthy lifestyle, reduce stress, and foster employee retention.

Gardening at work can encourage and support healthy lifestyles. If the benefits of

community gardening transition to workplace gardens, engaged employees should experience

increased levels of physical activity and maintain healthier lifestyles. Washington State’s pilot

program to improve nutrition through community planning efforts revealed that over half of their

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community garden team reported an increased consumption of fruits and vegetables during their

participation in the pilot. Furthermore, all members participating in their second year responded

that their involvement in the garden contributed to a healthier lifestyle. (Johnson and Smith 1, 4)

Additionally, workplace gardens could create a “social norm” that also benefits co-workers who

do not participate in the workplace garden. Experts agree that “social norms” can help promote

nutrition and physical activity. (Strickland, Eyler, Purnell, Kinghorn, Herrick, and Evanoff 4)

The length of time employees spend at work can certainly support the notion that workplaces are

a social environment that could help promote nutrition and activity. (Tabak, Hipp, Marx, and

Brownson 1) In their research to determine the potential impact a workplace can have on the

overall health of employees, Tabak, Hipp, Marx, and Brownson studied interviews of employees

offered workplace wellness benefits and worked in four Missouri metropolitan areas. Their

study aimed to gain understanding of the influence a workplace can play in “diet” and “physical

activity behaviors” relating to obesity. Employees reported that when they saw their “co-workers

eating fruits and vegetables” they ate at least one vegetable per day and “seeing co-workers

being active” positively influenced their personal level of physical activity. (1) These studies,

among others, affirm that gardeners eat more fruits and vegetables, that gardening increases

physical activity and show that peer example can foster the development of healthy lifestyle

choices.

Workplace gardens could not only encourage a healthy lifestyle but could also lower

employee stress levels. Rita Berto, noted Environmental Psychologist with a specialization in Job

and Organizational Psychology, published a review regarding nature’s role in diminishing

psycho-physiological stress. Berto explains, “Experimental research has found evidence that

restoration from stress and from mental fatigue relates to exposure to nature.” (395) To this end,

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workplace gardens could contribute to healing the body as well as the mind. Berto states that

mental health services not only use horticulture and gardening as a tool to improve well-being,

but also to improve social behavior. Patients who participate in gardening or horticulture

activities show an increased number of positive interactions with associates and higher levels of

physical activity. (399) Berto asserts, “Active participation in nature has additionally been found

to reduce mental distress, enhance self-confidence and improve the physical health of the

participants.” (399) Additionally, Berto shares that when people focus on nature the “executive

system that regulates directed attention gets to rest,” thus blocking “pessimistic” thoughts, and

replacing “negative emotions” with “positive ones.” (396) Berto continues by explaining that

people may be friendlier, and less angry, after interacting with nature. (397) Nature has

tremendous restorative effects on the mind and body, whether one is actively working in a

garden or simply viewing nature scenes. (397) Wellness programs that offer workplace gardens

could not only see a reduction in the stress levels of employees who work in or view workplace

gardens but also experience an increase in the overall health and happiness of workers.

Successful workplace wellness programs that incorporate workplace gardens could not

only benefit from healthier and happier employees but also encourage employee retention. Berto

proposes that “at a workplace, a view of natural elements was found to buffer the negative

impact of job stress, intention to quit, and it had a positive effect on general wellbeing and

cognitive functioning”. (398) In the survey conducted by Mirabito and Berry, one respondent

stated “Our wellness program speaks to me that the leadership is sincerely interested in my

health at work. It is not to bump a metric like “the employees at [our company] are healthier than

other companies.” It’s their genuine intention.” (339) Workplace gardens also improve peer

relationships and foster a sense of community at work. (Berto 398) When employees are

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healthier, less stressed, and feel leadership is interested in their well-being, they are less likely to

leave their work community.

With the potential benefits gardening could provide to the overall health of employees,

decreased stress levels, and improved employee retention rates, one may wonder why workplace

gardens are not a more popular offering in workplace wellness programs. Could the same

barriers that affect the participation level of employees extend to workplace garden offerings?

Churchill, Gillespie, and Herbold studied the desirability of wellness programs and incentive

offerings for employees to determine offerings most preferred by employees and offerings that

yield the highest participation rates. (48) Research not only uncovered obstacles to measuring the

success of workplace wellness programs but also revealed barriers to employee participation in

wellness programs like a lack of interest in offerings. The deterrents cited were “lack of time,

low funding and perceived lack of support”. Strickland, Eyler, Purnell, Kinghorn, Herrick, and

Evanoff surveyed low-wage workers in St. Louis, Missouri from 2013-14 to see if their wellness

programs provided noticeable support for healthier lifestyles. (1) Respondents to their survey

explained obstacles to participation in employer-sponsored workplace wellness programs

relevant to unhealthy food offerings at work, proximity of offerings, cost of healthier foods,

demands on personal time, and the lack of energy required to be more physically active or

prepare healthy food. (3) The cumulative barriers to participation in wellness programs by both

sets of survey respondents share a single voice. Workplace gardens could overcome the

combined and categorically condensed employee-expressed obstacles to participation in wellness

programs offerings including: lack of interest in wellness program offerings, lack of time to

participate, perceived lack of support, unhealthy food offerings at work, and higher costs

associated with healthy eating.

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Workplace gardening offerings could easily address several of the stumbling blocks to

participation in wellness program offerings voiced by survey participants. The National

Gardening Association published a 5-year gardening report for the years 2008-13 that shows

interest in gardening is increasing as levels of involvement across all demographics show a

positive gain during each year of the study. (11) This increased level of participation, combined

with the fact that “more Americans care about what they eat, where the food comes from and

want to play a greater role in the garden to table process”, point to a “food revolution” in

America. (3) Statistics provided by this report show that 42 million (or 35%) of American

households participated in gardening in 2013 (5), and community gardening saw a 200%

increase in participation between the years of 2008-13. (9) The NGA further reports that from

2008-13 “the number of community gardens increased by 2 million”. (19) These staggering

figures suggest that workplace gardens could be the type of participatory programs workplace

wellness needs to establish a strong connection to the social health movement and provide the

interest necessary to break barriers to participation.

Workplace gardening naturally ties to the social health movement. Historically,

successful wellness programs tie into the social health movement and create a “culture of

wellness”. (Churchill, Gillespie, and Herbold 49) Mirabito and Berry discovered that successful

workplace wellness programs used messaging that spoke to the health movement, pulled in

social media, provided resources, and implemented physical and organizational support. (337)

The study by Strickland, Eyler, Purnell, Kinghorn, Herrick, and Evanoff concludes that

improvements in workplace wellness programs should adopt a “workplace participatory

programs” approach to utilizing “social norms” that contribute to healthy lifestyles. (5) While

ties to the health movement could increase interest in workplace gardens, opponents could argue

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interest alone may not be enough to entice employees to engage in workplace gardening.

Because successful campaigns for wellness programs typically draw on the health movement and

capitalize on the “social norm” (Mirabito and Berry 339) to create a “culture of wellness”,

(Churchill, Gillespie, and Herbold 49) workplace gardens could exceed traditional levels of

employee participation. Churchill, Gillespie, and Herbold’s conclusion states “To encourage

participation, a successful … program must fit the needs of the employee.” (49) Ultimately, it is

the employee’s opinion of how wellness program offerings speak to their actual or perceived

needs that will determine their participation. Healthier lunches and snacks harvested from a

workplace garden, as well as increased levels of physical activity achieved during the process,

could speak to the needs of employees who previously lacked time to participate in wellness

program offerings. Access to locally-grown, free fruits and vegetables to take home would help

mitigate the high cost of nutritious food choices while enabling workers to play an active part in

the garden to table process. Employees know they need to eat better and provide better food for

their families. Due to high levels of interest in gardening, combined with the social health

movement currently taking place in America, the likelihood that workplace gardens would speak

to the needs of employees is significant enough to expect the high levels of participation

necessary to see transformative change in the overall health of workers who are provided

workplace garden wellness program benefits.

Workplace gardens that enable healthy eating and snacking at work and provide free,

fresh produce for families of employees could help deliver healthy, happy, engaged employees in

the successful, modernized employer-sponsored wellness programs of tomorrow. Workplace

gardens encourage a healthy lifestyle by providing nutritious food, offer an opportunity to

engage with nature and encourage peer examples of healthy lifestyles. Employer-sponsored

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wellness programs that successfully incorporate workplace gardens can affect employee

retention by promoting social interaction and creating a sense of community at the workplace.

Americans know that eating healthy benefits their overall health and are more apt to remain at

their jobs longer if they feel their employer cares about their well-being. Due to high levels of

interest in gardening and the natural correlation to the social health movement, workplace

gardens could overcome traditional barriers to the success of wellness programs. The

overwhelming evidence that workplace gardens support a healthy lifestyle, reduce stress, and

ultimately contribute to employee retention indicates that workplace gardens should be

fundamental to employer-sponsored wellness programs.

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References

Berto, Rita. "The Role of Nature in Coping with Psycho-Physiological Stress: A Literature

Review on Restorativeness." MDPI. Jack L. Nasar, 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Aug. 2015.

Churchill, Sarah A., Haley Gillespie, and Nancie H. Herbold. "The Desirability of Wellness

Program and Incentive Offerings for Employees." Benefits Quarterly 30.1 (2014): 48-57.

ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 13 July 2015.

Johnson, Donna B., and Lynne T. Smith. "Testing the Recommendations of the Washington

State Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan: The Moses Lake Case Study." Preventing

Chronic Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2 Apr. 2006. Web. 12

Aug. 2015.

Mirabito, Ann B., and Leonard L. Berry. "You Say You Want a Revolution? Drawing on Social

Movement Theory to Motivate Transformative Change." Journal of Service Research 3rd

ser. 18.3 (2010): 336-50. 10 July 2015. Web. 23 July 2015.

National Gardening Association. “Garden to Table: A 5-Year Look at Food Gardening in

America.” Rep. Garden.org, 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 13 July 2015.

Strickland, Jaime R., Amy A. Eyler, Jason Q. Purnell, Anna M. Kinghorn, Cynthia Herrick, and

Bradley A. Evanoff. "Enhancing Workplace Wellness Efforts to Reduce Obesity: A

Qualitative Study of Low-Wage Workers in St Louis, Missouri, 2013–2014." Preventing

Chronic Disease Prev. Chronic Dis. 12.E67 (2015): 1-9. National Center for Chronic

Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Web. 19 July 2015.

Tabak, Rachel G., J. Aaron Hipp, Christine M. Marx, and Ross C. Brownson. "Workplace Social

and Organizational Environments and Healthy-Weight Behaviors: E0125424." PLoS One

10.4 (2015): n. pag. ProQuest Health & Medical Complete. Web. 18 July 2015.