Graduation Year
2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
Anthropology
Major Professor
Nancy Romero-Daza, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Rebecca Zarger, Ph.D.
Committee Member
David Himmelgreen, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Boo Kwa, Ph.D.
Keywords
Applied anthropology, Globalization, Homegardens, Maya, Nutrition
Abstract
A district-wide school garden project has been initiated in the Toledo District of Southern Belize in response to reported high rates of poverty and undernutrition. This paper will discuss research conducted in the summer of 2007 with Q'eqchi' Maya in the Toledo District to determine the effect of school gardens on household diet and gardening, the composition of the household diet, and the makeup of homegardens. Food frequency questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted in two rural villages, one with a school garden program and one without. Various members of NGOs working on school garden projects in the district were also interviewed about the functionality and purpose of the projects. Results discussed herein include the limited effects of the school garden program, the role that both homegardens and school gardens play in household diet and nutrition, the diverse array of fruit trees utilized by the Q'eqchi, and a description and inventory of a typical Q'eqchi' homegarden in Belize.
Scholar Commons Citation
Reeser, Douglas Carl, "Gardens at Home, Gardens at School: Diet and Food Crop Diversity in Two Q'eqchi' Communities in Southern Belize" (2008). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/470
