Overall, the most common reasons reported by the
coordinators for participation in community gardens
(Table 2) were access to fresh/better tasting food, to
enjoy nature, and because of health bene®ts, including
mental health. The data are suggestive of some dier-
ences between rural and urban programs. In urban
areas, the enjoyment of nature/open spaces, bene®ts to
mental health, and a food source for low-income
households were cited more frequently than in rural
areas, and the practice of traditional culture was more
commonly cited for rural areas. A lack of access to
land, which people were permitted to cultivate, was a
common theme mentioned by coordinators in both
urban and rural areas. The coordinator of a garden in
a retirement condominium community, described the
importance of their garden for helping residents tran-sition from a lifestyle of home ownership to the retire-
ment community, which involved a lack of personal
land.