Survey: People Turned to Gardening for Stress Relief, Food Access During Pandemic
More Green Spaces and Urban Farming Opportunities Could Be Helpful in Future Disasters
By Emily C. Dooley
UC Davis
Mar 17, 2022
Excerpt:
“Not only did gardeners describe a sense of control and security that came from food production, but they also expressed heightened experiences of joy, beauty and freedom in garden spaces,” said the report, which broke up responses by region or states.
In California, for instance, 33% of gardeners said their plots generated about 25% of their produce needs. Some gardeners with access to large spots to garden also grew food for their community.
Gardening during the pandemic offered a way to socialize safely.
“People found new connections in the garden,” said Lucy Diekmann, an urban agriculture and food systems advisor with UCANR who helped write the report. “It became a shared hobby as opposed to an individual one.”
Responses were fairly similar across all locations, even though the surveys hit in the summer and winter depending on location. “We see remarkable similarities in terms of what people are saying and the way they are interacting with their gardens,” she said.
