Tasmania: COVID-19 food insecurity sees backyard veggie patches and community gardens boom
Dr Kent said the survey also found 30 per cent of Tasmanian households had increased the amount of time they spent gardening during the pandemic.
By Manika Champ
ABC
Dec 14, 2020
Excerpt:
Susan West’s backyard in suburban northern Tasmania is only small, but it packs a punch.
It is filled with broad beans, tomatoes, silverbeet, peas, strawberries and a fig tree — and two chooks help clean up the excess waste.
“The chooks eat all the scraps from the garden and our table, and then they give us beautiful fresh eggs,” Ms West said.
Ms West started her garden about two years ago and is part of a growing trend of people growing their own fruit and vegetables.
“It’s cheaper than buying them and I think they taste nicer,” she said.
“The broad beans don’t make it to the [cooking] pot, I eat them as I’m carrying them inside.”
Since coronavirus hit Australia, the number of Tasmanians planting their own fruit and vegetables has grown rapidly, according to the University of Tasmania.
Many community groups are also creating more communal edible gardens to bring down the state’s high levels of food insecurity.
