This Master Thesis aimed to explore the benefits of home food gardening practice on health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in Santiago de Chile, and the barriers gardeners faced while growing food at home during this time. Santiago is a highly urbanized and dense city, in which urban agriculture practices can be especially meaningful. There has been a growing interest in food gardening during the last years and like in many other cities in the world, such gardening practice was strongly affected by the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic did have an impact on boosting home food gardening among families in Santiago, as well as in other parts of the globe. Almost half of the respondents, 48% of a questionnaire sample, started gardening during the pandemic. This is reflecting how the pandemic motivated people in producing food at home even if they did not have any previous experience. Gardeners were characterized by being people who had their first experience in this practice mostly in their adulthood, had a regular connection with public green spaces before the COVID-19 pandemic, and lived mostly in large households.
During the pandemic, gardeners strongly perceived being in touch with nature through home food gardening as the benefit with the highest level of agreement. Along with this, there was also a strong perception of feeling less stress through this practice. Socializing, contribution to diet and being occupied were benefits perceived with a similar level of agreement, and socializing was the only benefit people reported that was more relevant for those who started gardening during the pandemic compared to those who started earlier. Finally, contribution to income was the only benefit with the highest level of disagreement.
Respondents expressed how meaningful the practice of home food gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic was in relation to the several benefits they gained while gardening. This exposes the relevant role of home food gardening in a massive crises context as a practice that can improve mental health, physical health and well-being.
In general, the main barrier perceived by gardeners was related to lack or inadequate space for gardening, followed by having a limited knowledge on food gardening. When comparing the perceived barriers from respondents who started gardening before and during the pandemic, the Covid-19 pandemic made it more difficult for new gardeners in two main aspects. First, the lack or inadequate space, and more notably, having a limited knowledge of food gardening. This could be related to the several social distancing restrictions that did not allow new gardeners to interact with others, forcing people to garden in their private space and to learn on their own. For respondents who started gardening during the pandemic, time issues were less relevant than for those who started before, probably because during the pandemic people were called to stay at home, and thus, were able to spend more time in gardening.
This is the first study addressing the practice of home food gardening in Santiago de Chile, giving a first understanding on the main barriers that people faced during this time, and on the benefits people gained while gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research also highlights that the possibility to have space for gardening seems to be crucial to promote food production at home. Therefore, urban planners could use this opportunity of a crisis to start thinking about the best way to provide spaces to be used as food gardens by families and communities.
The work is now published in an international journal: Cerda, C., S. Guenat, M. Egerer and L. K. Fischer (2022). Home Food Gardening: Benefits and Barriers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Santiago, Chile. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6.
Betreuung: Prof. Dr. Leonie Fischer (ILPÖ), Prof. Dr. Monika Egerer (TU München)
Thesis Advisers: Rebeca Duque Estrada, Mathias Maierhofer
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Achim Menges
Second Supervisor: Prof. Jan Knippers