title: Factors contributing to a school's decision to apply for the California Instructional School Garden Program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the applicant schools (AS) to non-applicant schools (NAS) residing in the same school districts for the California Instructional School Garden Program and identify barriers to the application process.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control, cross-sectional study design was used to compare resources and school environments. Pearson chi-square and logistic regression were conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Public schools throughout California participated (n = 1,662). The response rates for AS and NAS were 43.2% and 48.2%, respectively. Applicant schools had greater access to garden coordinators and parent/community volunteers dedicated to school gardens, and they had other sources of funds/grants to support school gardens compared to NAS (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Access to certain garden resources played a significant role in predicting whether schools would decide to participate in the California Instructional School Garden Program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Eric L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Hazzard
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Beall
authors.forename: Sheri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zidenberg-Cherr
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D051639:Gardening; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012574:Schools