Home gardening promotes the overall household food security and nutrition by giving family members direct access to a variety of crops that may be collected, cooked, and fed on a regular basis. Gardening may be practiced by even the most impoverished and landless individuals since it can be done with almost no financial resources.
Healthy food is difficult to come by for many Americans. More than 35 million Americans suffered food insecurity in 2019, according to Feeding America. This figure is projected to rise significantly as a result of the epidemic, which disrupted the food supply chain in ways that most Americans have never seen.
Many individuals pounced at the chance to plant a garden during the pandemic, and in areas where accessible space is restricted, imaginative solutions have evolved. A spare room, rooftop, shipping containers, or an empty warehouse may all be transformed into a profitable garden. There is no need for soil with hydroponics, and planters in vertical systems are stacked, needing a tiny area.
About home gardens
Home gardens may be found in both rural and urban locations, with the majority of them being small-scale subsistence farming systems. Modern agriculture may be traced back to subsistence production systems, which originated in tiny garden plots surrounding the family. These gardens have withstood the test of time and continue to play a vital part in the family's food and income. Home gardens are described in a variety of ways, each emphasizing a different component dependent on the environment, emphasis, and study aims.
The household garden is a small-scale production system that provides plant and animal consumption as well as utilitarian products that are not accessible, inexpensive, or easily available through retail marketplaces, field agriculture, hunting, gathering, fishing, and wage earning. Household gardens are often positioned near the home for security, convenience, and particular care. They occupy terrain that is unsuitable for field production and labor that is unsuitable for large home economic activity. Household gardens are distinguished by modest financial investment and simple technology, as well as environmentally appropriate and complimentary species.
Home gardening, in general, refers to the cultivation of a small plot of land surrounding the household or within walking distance of the family home. Home gardens are a mixed cropping system that includes vegetables, fruits, plantation crops, spices, herbs, decorative and medicinal plants, and livestock that may be used as a source of food and revenue.
Why is better household food supplies important?
Access to adequate nutritious and safe food to fulfill the dietary needs of all members of the family throughout the year is required for nutritional well-being. Better food supplies and nutritional well-being require more than simply growing adequate food locally. It also need adequate resources (including land and labor), tools, skills, and knowledge. Roads and market transportation are required so that items such as food and other necessities may be exchanged and family members can obtain jobs as well as access to other commercial and government services.
A "good home food supply" is described as having sufficient healthy and safe food to suit the dietary demands of all family members all year. Households can receive food supplies either through their own food production or through food purchases, however the latter is more common. Sufficient fertile land, access to loans and agricultural expertise, seeds and other inputs, excellent storage, and a sufficient number of family members who are fit and strong enough to work on the farm or in off-farm jobs are all elements that contribute to people having enough food.
What is the importance of home gardening?
Home gardening, in general, refers to the cultivation of a small plot of land surrounding the household or within walking distance of the family home. Home gardens are a mixed cropping system that includes vegetables, fruits, plantation crops, spices, herbs, decorative and medicinal plants, and livestock that may be used as a source of food and revenue.
Home gardens provided more food staples and secondary staples to resource-poor people than to those endowed with a decent quantity of assets and resources such as land and capital. Home gardens provide a low-cost source of nutrients for impoverished and marginalized families that cannot afford pricey animal products to meet their nutritional needs. Gardening allows households to have greater access to a variety of plant and animal food products, which leads to an overall increase in dietary consumption and increases the bioavailability and absorption of critical nutrients.
Evidence from throughout the world demonstrates that home gardens may be a diverse choice for addressing food poverty in a variety of challenging conditions, and as a result, they have received the support of several government and non-governmental groups. As a result, home garden output has expanded dramatically in the country, helping to reduce hunger and sickness caused by micronutrient deficiency.