Gardening for food security

Last week, I attended a really interesting event hosted by Garden Organic.The purpose was to explore what steps need to be taken to encourage more home grown food production as part of our food security options for the future.

During World War II, approximately half of the nation’s fruit and vegetable production needs were grown in gardens and allotments. Nowadays, we import 60% of our fruit and vegetables with most of the rest being farmed in the UK. Our eating habits have become heavily reliant on intensive agriculture, imports and goods grown outside UK seasonal production. It’s a sobering thought to know that we are famously ‘Nine meals from anarchy’ in the UK (no oil= no petrol= no trucks= no supermarket deliveries= about three days until we run out of grub).

These days, 82% of all UK households have a garden. Interestingly there is a fairly even spread of garden ownership across age groups and social grades. However, 60% of these owners are not currently using their gardens for food production.

So, what effect would engaging this 60% have on our food security issues?

To begin with, it’s important to investigate whether it’s possible to create a sustainable food supply sourced from the UK alone. There are 60.6 million UK inhabitants, each estimated to eat 0.5 kg or 150 kcal of fruit and vegetables every day. To supply this population would require 450,000 ha of land.

The equivalent of 150,000 ha could come from gardens and allotments (calculated by the average household size being 2.4 people and 82% of households having a garden with an average area of 186m2). The remainder could come from 200,000 ha of commercial vegetable production on arable land and 100,000 ha of orchard land including agroforestry. So, it is possible for us to feed ourselves, but do we have the will and the expertise?

There is a keen desire from the gardening and growing industry to encourage more domestic production. There are also claims of considerable benefits, ranging from mental and physical wellbeing and cost savings, to improved biodiversity and the environmental benefits of growing locally and seasonally. In addition, those who garden and compost are more likely to display other environmentally conscious behaviours.

At the event, ideas started to bounce around about what research needed to be done to prove these claims. But it really started to get fascinating for me when we considered what would need to be done to convince the 60% of garden owners who don’t grow food to get out their spades and welly boots and start digging for food security.

There are already some great schemes out there such as the Land Share, Capital Growth 2012 and Food Up Front, but they all seem a long way off transforming your average BBQ and patio lover into a self-sufficient, seasonal-eating gardener.

On a practical level, potential gardeners may need training, advice and money to set-up their allotments, and garden centres need to stock the correct equipment for domestic production. Furthermore, there is a need to reach out and inspire people to think about and get involved in where their food comes from.

I’m interested to hear your thoughts. Is domestic production an effective way of encouraging us to reclaim control over the food that we eat? Do you think an increase in home growing is possible? What else needs to be considered? Would you do it? Do you know how?

Other interesting facts:

80% of the world’s beef supply is managed by only four providers.
According to Garden Organic studies, growing your own food only reduces your ecological footprint by 6% and only saves you around £336 a year. However, it does have a knock-on effect on other behaviours – gardeners tend to have an eco footprint a third lower than average.
The current depletion of honey bees – needed for pollination – has the agricultural world in a spin. But this isn’t a problem for home growers, as domestic gardens can be pollinated by lots of other insects that are still plentiful.