Community-based gardening programs are well-documented for their positive impacts in addressing multiple dimensions of sustainable development, including improved food security, human and social capital, and environmental restoration. Yet research and resources on these programs are largely urban-centric with little focus given to rural people and places. Therefore, this ongoing dissertation study has employed a sequential exploratory mixed methods approach to examine the efforts of community-based gardening programs in Central Appalachia, a largely rural region that has experienced its own plethora of social and environmental justice issues that have historically impeded sustainable development efforts. In collaboration with the Berea College-based Grow Appalachia initiative, this study uses key informant interviews, field observations, and population surveys of both program coordinators and participants to explore how community-based gardening programs support or deter grassroots-level sustainable development initiatives to improve food security and economic vitality. Through the lens of an environmental justice framework, this presentation will share preliminary results on the human and environmental health challenges perceived and experienced by Grow Appalachia staff, site coordinators, and gardeners, from compromised water supplies, to mudslides, to rampant chronic disease. This presentation will also consider the innovative strategies employed by the participants to overcome these barriers for the sake of increasing safe, healthy food consumption among their families and neighbors and strengthening their local economies.