Creating an Eco-Identity via Community Gardening Activities

Added by: Tara Huisman

Hoffman, August John, and Stephen Doody. 2015. “Build a Fruit Tree Orchard and They Will Come: Creating an Eco-Identity via Community Gardening Activities.” Community Development Journal 50 (1): 104–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsu023.

Theories of eco-identity, community development and community service gardening activities were addressed in the current study. The project explored how ecologically based gardening and fruit tree-planting activities helped to establish and define an eco-identity among diverse participants (student volunteers and community members, who were assigned a variety of projects in the development of the community garden and fruit tree orchard, i.e. cultivating, weeding and planting, to produce healthy foods to local food pantries and community centres). Participants were administered the Eco-Identity Community Service Questionnaire and interviewed regarding their overall experiences during the gardening activity.


August John Hoffman and Stephen Doody. 2015. Creating an Eco-Identity via Community Gardening Activities