{"id":6040,"date":"2014-06-23T06:28:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T06:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=6040"},"modified":"2014-06-23T06:28:23","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T06:28:23","slug":"the-wider-benefits-of-food-growing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2014\/06\/23\/the-wider-benefits-of-food-growing\/","title":{"rendered":"The wider benefits of food growing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is the talk I gave last Friday at the launch of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foodgrowingschools.org\">Food Growing Schools<\/a>: London, a Big Lottery-funded initiative by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gardenorganic.org.uk\">Garden Organic<\/a>, supported by the Mayor. \u00a0I was asked to talk for 10 minutes about the wider benefits of food growing. \u00a0Here's what I said ...<\/p>\n<p>We were once described, wrongly, as a nation of shopkeepers; more like, we\u2019re a nation of gardeners. \u00a090% of us have gardens. \u00a0And our\u00a0gardens \u2013 and other people\u2019s \u2013 are hugely important to us, and to who we are. \u00a0George Orwell called us a nation of flower lovers \u2013 which is true, but not quite the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>ONS surveys confirm this interest in gardening, and that it increases with age. \u00a0More than 60% of the over 45s now garden. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ageuk.org.uk\/latest-news\/archive\/age-uk-reveals-the-little-things-giving-people-the-most-pleasure-in-later-life\/\">According to Age UK<\/a>, almost 40% of pensioners say that gardening is what gives them most pleasure in life. \u00a0And it\u2019s the only form of exercise which more people do as they get older. \u00a0Gardening transcends culture, class, religeon, ethnicity and age. \u00a0It takes place in window boxes, back gardens, allotments, urban parks &amp; country estates. It's benefits are wide-ranging and extensive<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good for physical health \u2013 if you\u2019re careful<\/li>\n<li>Good for mental health and a sense of proportion \u2013 except for worrying about pests<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gardens are not just about growing. \u00a0They are also places to be, to relax, to socialize and so employment is not just plant-related. \u00a0It\u2019s about design and manufacture. \u00a0But, crucially, gardens are about good food.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, half of gardeners said they intended to grow their own fruit and vegetables with 12%\u00a0of\u00a0these were said to be \u2018first timers\u2019. \u00a0And allotments are important again. \u00a0There are now about 300,000 of them and they produce around 240,000 tons of food a year. \u00a0The waiting list is around 90,000. \u00a0There\u2019s a huge economic value in all this. \u00a0The Horticultural Trades Association says garden spending exceeds \u00a35 billion, with over 60% of adults buying things for their gardens. \u00a0The real economic and social value is much higher, however, and we have to think well beyond back gardens.<\/p>\n<p>If we want to make the case for food growing we\u2019d say that it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>improves health and well-being<\/li>\n<li>is motivating and educative<\/li>\n<li>is good for local jobs<\/li>\n<li>brings people together, and that it<\/li>\n<li>lessens the impact of climate change<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These points emerge from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rhs.org.uk\/communities\/community-blogs\/britain-in-bloom\">RHS\u2019s <em>Britain in Bloom<\/em><\/a> and <em>It\u2019s Your Neighbourhood<\/em> schemes where food growing features strongly. \u00a0In these, millions of volunteer hours transform communities and people\u2019s lives. \u00a0This results, for example, in \u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Stronger communities with better communication and increased neighbourliness<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Reduced crime and anti-social behaviour because people feel better about where they live<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Improved health and well-being where people get exercise, and have better diets with fresh food<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Greater skills and confidence through teamwork and shared gardening<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Stronger local economies because these are places where people want to be which brings investment<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Improved physical surroundings which people take greater care of<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Enhanced natural environments where biodiversity increases; natural capital is restored, and resource pressures lessen<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s a similar story from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmgarden.org.uk\">Federation<\/a> of City Farms and Community Gardens which says the contribution of growing to the well-being of individuals and communities include:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>reconnecting people with nature<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>promoting local action on global environmental issues<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>using less carbon<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>providing routes back into education and employment<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>networking that strengthen communities, and promotes inclusion<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>positive impacts on the local economy through spending and employment<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These are tremendous stories although a survey of 2000 people in April cast doubt on all this good news. \u00a0There was the usual gloomy stuff \u2013<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>three quarters couldn\u2019t pick out a geranium from a pansy.<\/li>\n<li>60% didn\u2019t recognise a tulip<\/li>\n<li>40% reported that looking at their gardens made them depressed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There may well be something in this, but scepticism is due as the poll was paid for by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.karcher.co.uk\/uk\/Home.htm\">Karcher<\/a> who were launching a new product range to make gardening easier. \u00a0One good thing about the survey was that it didn't blame schools. \u00a0This was clearly a missed opportunity as schools usually get the blame at times of moral decline or national crisis.<\/p>\n<p>But all of what I\u2019ve said shows the value of food growing in schools. \u00a0The research carried out for the FGIS task force found strong evidence that food growing leads to improved student nutrition, attainment and knowledge, and so it was good to see 40% of parents saying their child\u2019s school had communicated with them about school gardening over the last year. \u00a0If curriculum is a selection from culture, then food growing deserves inclusion. \u00a0But we\u2019ve had to learn this again, although we knew it a hundred years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>I ended with a short extract from this book: <em>Educational School Gardening and Handwork<\/em> which was written in 1913 by GWS Brewer who was the Inspector of Educational School Gardening in Somerset. \u00a0Sadly, there are no more Mr Brewers. \u00a0In 1913, school gardening was gendered. \u00a0It was just for boys. \u00a0The girls were in the cookery classroom \u2013 though mysteriously they were allowed to grow herbs. \u00a0So, we have learned something in the past 100 years. \u00a0This remarkable book advocates a\u00a0pedagogy that's up to date. \u00a0I thought of sending it to Mr Gove.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the talk I gave last Friday at the launch of Food Growing Schools: London, a Big Lottery-funded initiative by Garden Organic, supported by the Mayor. \u00a0I was asked to talk for 10 minutes about the wider benefits of...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-talks-and-presentations"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}