In Canada and elsewhere, community gardens, urban walled gardens and land share are increasingly part of the grow-your-own (GYO) movement and edible landscapes of the city. Often community activist and volunteer-led, a community garden is a site with potential durable effects on local public health. Relevant research papers that can be accessed, read and cited when making a business case presentation or written document have been summarised below.
Improved Access to Food and Better Nutrition
Community gardens facilitate growing your own vegetables and fruit. Irrespective of whether the food produce is harvested and prepared in the homes of the volunteers or cooked in a local community cafe, a community garden will contribute to improved nutrition among the gardeners and their families by providing culturally appropriate and accessible food (Patel 1991; Irvine, Johnson and Peters 1999; Dickinson, Duma, Paulsen, Rilveria, Twiss and Weinman 2003, Wakefield, Yeudall, Taron, Reynolds, Skinner, 2007).
Increased Physical Activity and Improved Mental Health
As a green gym, the lifting and handling of growing medium compost and the repetitive movements of sowing, planting and harvesting offer exercising opportunities that are as high or low impact as the gardeners desire. Gardeners reported that participating in a community garden relieves stress and pressures in their daily living (Armstrong 2000; Dickinson et al. 2003, Wakefield et al. 2007).
Improved Security and Safety in Local Communities
Participation in a community garden has also been found to reduce social isolation, particularly by older members of a community. Community gardens can become a site of community engagement (Schmelzkopf 1995; Ferris, Norman and Sempik 2001).
Opportunities for Community Development and Increased Social Capital
Voluntary or unpaid work and horticultural education or horticultural therapy education can be supported by the opening of a new community garden. In turn, job skills training and education can develop younger people and jobseekers in the local community (Fusco 2001; Schmelzkopf 2002; Holland 2004) and through the development of social ties and increased appreciation of social diversity, led to increased social capital (Hancock 2001; Doyle and Krasny 2003).
Improved Local Ecology and Sustainability
Together, the potential health benefits that a community garden offers leads to improved long-term health if investment is assured (Hancock 2001, Schmelzkopf 2002) and the challenge of insecure tenure is addressed (Wakefield et al. 2007)
References and Resources:
Armstrong, D. (2000) A survey of community gardens in upstate New York: implications for health promotion and community development. Health and Place, 6, 319-327.
Dickinson, JU., Duma, S., Paulsen, H., Rilveria, L., Twiss, J., and Weinman, T. (2003) Community gardens: lessons learned from California healthy cities and communitities. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1435-1438.
Doyle, R. and Krasny, M.E. (2003) Participatory rural appraisal as an approach to environmental education in urban community gardens. Environmental Education Research, 9, 91-115.
Hancock, T. (2001) People, partnerships and human progress: building community capital. Health Promotion International. 16, 275-280
Holland, L. (2004) Diversity and connections in community gardens: a contribution to local sustainability. Local Environment, 9, 285-305
Irvine, S., Johnson, L., and Peters K. (1999) Community gardens and sustainable land use planning: a case-study of the Alex Wilson Community Garden. Local Environment, 4, 33-46
Patel, I.C (1991) Gardening's socieeconomic impacts: community gardening in an urban setting. Journal of Extension, 29, 7-8
Schmelzkopf, K. (2002) Incommensurability, land use, and the right to space: community gardens in New York City, Urban Geography, 23, 323-343.
Wakefield, S., Yeudall, F., Taron, C., Reynolds, J., Skinner, A. (2007) Growing urban health: Community gardening in South-East Toronto, Health Promotion International, 22, 2, 92-101.
Susan Morris - Susan Morris, Scottish food and drink business manager, organic gardener, author and editor
