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Staff and students interviewed repeatedly expressed how the program resulted in personal and interpersonal impacts and learning, particularly with reference to knowledge and skills. One

guidance counsellor noted how students feel good to be engaged in a garden program with very positive, tangible outcomes, and how positive that is for students’ mental health and sense of

achievement. The staff and teacher participants noted multiple times that students who typically have not experienced success in traditional academic settings are able to experience it in the School

Grown program. Interviewees noted that participation in the program increased student confidence, self-esteem, and ability to be positive. For example, the Senior Coordinator shared the story of a student who struggled to wear a t-shirt to work due to body image issues. After a few weeks of farming, this student arrived to work in a t-shirt and proudly shared with the Senior Coordinator that farming helped them to realize that they were strong and confident. Another student who was on the autism spectrum was able to overcome severe shyness in order to introduce themselves to others and to make several friends through the program. Students gained a sense of pride and accomplishment, as well as a sense of efficacy. Students noted increases in independence, and learning what kinds of work and experiences they enjoy and excel at. The following quotations illustrate some of these points:

Some of the students that I referred to the program are students who had multiple struggles and had not had an easy time and just the way that [Foodshare] embraced the students and the possibilities that were open for them- amazing. There is no therapy that could do as much as that garden did for several of those kids. ~ Natasha, Social Worker, Bendale BTI

[After School Grown] I always think that I’m a hard worker, because now I can look at the accomplishments that I’ve done like building the Eastdale garden with Brooke and Jordan…I say it’s made me stronger, have more confidence in myself and my friends and believe that I can always do any job. ~ Liam, School Grown graduate

[School Grown] made me a bit more confident in myself, like sometimes I think that I haven’t done anything but then I realize, wait, I have done something, there’s people that tell me I’ve done something and they were really proud of me and they look up to me and I look up to them and they respect me. It’s made me see that I shouldn’t keep putting myself down. And if they’re going to have faith in me, then I should have faith in myself. ~ Jordan, School Grown graduate

I respect other people more now because I’ve seen that everything that I do also reflects on other people. So if I were to be at work and be like oh, let’s go do this or that to somebody it will reflect on them and it might be something bad or it might be something good. And I want it to be something good. ~ Chris, School Grown graduate

It showed me that I can do whatever I put my mind to, because working in the garden on hot days…you could get really frustrated with people, and just everything around you, including if you’re having a bad day, but if you…stay positive, you just get through it. So I found that if I just stay positive I could get the job done. ~ Cali, School Grown graduate

It allows them to engage with community members with a sense of pride. For example, they’ll have people walking along the sidewalk while they’re working in the garden and the

community members will say ‘Hey, what are you growing, what are you doing?’ and the students will explain very proudly about what they’re growing or harvesting. ~ Wendy, Principal, Bendale BTI

I think [students gain]…a sense of satisfaction and the fact that it’s possible for them to have gardens…One of our students lives in community housing and he’s very involved in it

and…he’s started a garden outside… where he lives. So he’s taken seeds from here, and he’s composting at home now too. ~ Martha, Principal, Eastdale CI

Students also learned conflict resolution and teamwork, as well as related skills such as

accountability and responsibility, which are noted in the next section. Students had opportunities to develop self-determined personal goals and to work towards them with support from FoodShare staff that they perceived to be caring leaders, and that school staff perceived to be outstanding community role models for youth. As a result, students expressed feeling safe and cared for in the program.

I enjoyed that if you ever had a problem…you could just go talk to Katie or someone who was working…if you needed help with anything they were always there to help you. And they would always like show you what to do and like give you instructions on anything you

needed, they were always there for you…I guess just having people like that, it just helps you get through your days better, and you know that you’re comfortable and you’re safe where you are…That’s helped me out a lot because you actually have people to talk to and that are there for you and you can feel the difference between people that just don’t care and people that actually want to make sure that you’re doing what you need to do and that help you and give you the support you need. And then having people around you like everybody you work with that are supporting you, helping you out…if they need help they can ask you and you can

help them out…everyone was there to be friends, like be a team player...it was really good to have my first job like that.

~ Brooke, School Grown graduate

[FoodShare provides] positive role models for the kids. Because they’re not teachers, so they’re not disciplining kids, and they’re kind of cool, so [students] see adults that are younger, but a little bit older than them, that have neat jobs and treat them respectfully, but put demands on them…So it’s a great partnership for role models. ~ Martha, Principal, Eastdale CI

They [FoodShare] create an atmosphere of collaboration and taking care of each other so for example, there was a student who was really impacted by anxiety and just because they created such a community of safety, collaboration and it’s OK to be who you are and to bring with you all the aspects of who you are as a human being, it really was helpful to this kid to…get out of their shell and to be more open because they had that experience with people they could trust, and I think FoodShare does a wonderful job with that… the people who are involved in the project are always very skilled and they just have personalities that invite the best in people…they’re just so friendly and tolerant and understanding yet with clear

expectations, and I think our kids really respond well to that. ~ Natasha, Social Worker, Bendale BTI

The supervisors, they’re amazing, they’re easy to talk to, they’re fun, you can learn a lot from them…there’s a really good vibe working with the people, and you get paid, and it’s work experience. ~ Jordan, School Grown graduate

[It’s] a great program because there’s great staff that care about you and look out for you. If you need help with anything they’re there for you. You learn a lot of things from basically just being out in the field because you’re not just stuck inside, cramped, looking at a book, or in an office. ~ Chris, School Grown graduate

Two interesting impacts which will be further explored through the lens of food literacy and transformative learning are that a couple of students expressed feeling more open-minded and empathetic after their School Grown experience, including a field trip to Black Creek Community Farm:

Since Black Creek Farm’s around Jane and Finch it’s like a bad neighborhood, they kind of use [the farm] as like a positive motivator so people can view Jane and Finch in a more positive light and the same thing’s for Bendale, a lot of people think it’s a bad school, so I’d say…the program helped me be more open minded… I’d say that for that aha moment, maybe I just wish that other people had that moment, that like they saw what I saw, that maybe they shouldn’t think that it’s such a bad place…they shouldn’t believe everything they see, and they shouldn’t believe half of what they hear, they should hear it and just look into it for themselves. ~ Jordan, School Grown graduate

Students also expressed that a field trip to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Sunshine Garden that FoodShare operates helped them to relate to people with mental health struggles, and to see that gardening was a positive and effective way to cope.

Overall, the data shows that the School Grown program helped students to experience success, building confidence and a sense of efficacy. Students learned teamwork and conflict resolution from strong, positive role models in a safe and enjoyable environment and noted that the program, particularly their field trip experiences, helped them to be more empathetic and open minded about how different people and neighborhoods are perceived.