Living in a First World nation like Canada or the United States, there is the general assumption that the majority of people are well fed. However, this is far from true. It turns out that 1 in 8 Canadian households experience food insecurity, which the Dieticians of Canada define as “the inadequate or insecure access to food because of financial constraints”. This could be due to decreasing income, increasing expenses, or even reliance on social assistance. Since the purchase of fresh vegetables and produce can cost an additional $550 CAD annually, low-income families often opt for cheaper, less healthy food alternatives. As a result of this, they are more susceptible to nutrient inadequacy, obesity, lower food intake, and poor mental health.
A study found that less than 10% of adults living in a food-secure household experienced a major depressive episode in the past year. Yet, this percentage skyrocketed to 40% for individuals who experienced severe food insecurity. Food insecure individuals are also more vulnerable to developing a wide range of chronic conditions: they are 3% more likely to get diabetes, 2% more likely to get heart disease, and 1.5 % more likely to develop hypertension. This inevitably leads to a greater need for prescription drugs, surgeries, and primary healthcare, which amounts to an annual healthcare cost of $3930 for food insecure adults, compared to the cost of $1608 for those who are food secure.
To address the issue of food insecurity, governments have traditionally invested in food banks, food vouchers, and in-school breakfast programs. Though these programs have served communities well, more innovative and effective approaches to prevent food insecurity require funding, such as community gardens. Community gardens provide individuals and families with separate, communal, or mixed gardening areas to grow fresh food, herbs, and plants of their choosing. These gardens act as a promising strategy to decrease food insecurity because of their ability to provide lower-income households with access to nutritious food.
Community gardens also improve gardeners’ physical health, with research suggesting that gardening can burn between 250 – 500 calories per hour. Gardener’s mental health can also be greatly improved through gardening, with evidence suggesting that those with small gardens experience 86 stress occasions a year, compared to the 65 stress occasions experienced by individuals with larger green gardens. These communal spaces also serve as beautiful community fixtures that positively contribute to the environment, especially in urban spaces that are often deprived of green space.
Urban settings that have adopted community gardens across North America include Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and New York City. To date, the Toronto Community Garden Network (TCGN) is home to 129 community gardens across the Greater Toronto Area. Not only does this network connect city-dwellers to community gardens, but it also informs them of upcoming gardening workshops where they can learn how to properly grow fresh produce. Advertised on the TCGN, “The Stop” is one of the most popular community gardening sites in the City of Toronto. In 2016 alone, the food centre grew over 8000 seedlings and produced more than 2000kg of fresh produce . Survey results from The Stop also showed that 80% of garden members made new friends in the community garden program and 90% felt that they belonged to a community.
The City of New York also has its own successful community garden network, which is dubbed ”Grow NYC”; it was established in 1987 and opened its 100th community garden in 2017. Grow NYC runs numerous programs, including Youthmarket (an urban farm stand operated by neighborhood teens), youth educations markets, farmer’s markets, and the Fresh Pantry Project, in which farmers donate fresh food to shelters, kitchens, and more. In 2017, Grow NYC saw 1000 families pickup fresh fruits and vegetables every week while the Greenmarket distributed 1.6 million pounds of fresh and healthy produce to undeserved communities.
Through these community garden networks, individuals and families not only have the opportunity to improve their health and wellbeing, they are also able to strengthen their ties to their fellow community members and contribute to the vitality of their city. This increase stewardship and ownership, as well breaks through the wall of isolation often built with urbanization. As neighbours come together, each learn about the other’s culture, life, and new recipes they can try for themselves. For these reasons, community gardens need to be preserved and expanded in urban spheres, especially where the most disadvantaged dwell.