Growing your own vegetables and fruits offers numerous unique health and wellness benefits, and homegrown foods should be at least a part of everyone’s diet. Learning to can, dry, or preserve your summer or fall harvest will allow you to feed yourself even when the growing season is over. Then there’s the concern of monocropping, or growing only one type of crop in a large area of land. Growing your own food allows you to avoid all of the negative repercussions that come along with monocultures, while protecting your health and the environment’s health. ‘ On the other hand, food items brought in supermarkets and grocery stores may be exposed to toxic chemicals that may be harmful to one’s health. 4. According to a 2014 report by the National Gardening Association , 35 percent of American households are growing food at home or in a community garden. The last and maybe most important reason for some is growing your own food can shrink your grocery bill. Despite fossil fuels containing large amounts of energy,  they are rarely found in a pure, untouched state. There’s no need there. List of Growing Your Own Food Benefits: 1. The fuller the jar is, the greater the environmental impact, and the more components involved in producing your food and bringing your food to your plate. Lastly, being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Six Benefits of Growing Your Own Food 1. Raising your own food may help cut the cost of the grocery bill. Involvement in gardening helps to improve cardiac health and immune system response, decrease heart rate and stress, improve fine and gross motor skills, flexibility and body strength. Getting regular exercise can relieve stress, anxiety and depression, while boosting energy. Get connected with Healthy UNH!HEALTHY.UNH@UNH.EDU, Copyright © 2021  •  TTY Users: 7-1-1 or 800-735-2964 (Relay NH)USNH Privacy Policies  •  USNH Terms of Use  •  ADA Acknowledgement. The physical activity required in gardening has proven to promote physical health. In fact, it can be the driving force behind making better choices about what you put on your food, and will also help you take an interest in the origins of your food. This can also be a fun, family task to take on to make an environmental impact together and to teach your children the importance of going green. Growing food in the backyard garden could mean a healthier produce in terms of the fertilizers and pesticides used. By spending a few dollars on seeds, plants, and supplies in the spring, you will produce vegetables that will yield pounds of produce in summer. Garden grown fruits and vegetables provide a wealth of health benefits, all of which the body needs. Being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high quality content. Husky Rescued from Storm Drain in California! When you take into account the typical energy cost of transporting food to your local grocer, it is estimated that an average distance of 1,500 miles is traveled before the food is consumed. Check out this recipe for my easy Vegetarian Chili! Health is the first and foremost topic we need to explore. You can purchase organic seeds and over time, save your own. Why go to the trouble of growing your own food when it’s so easily available from supermarkets? Fresh, garden foods not only contain almost every essential vitamin and mineral but also the vital enzymes the body uses to prompt a host of chemical processes, such as those involved in cell metabolism and nutrient absorption. There is the taste pleasure of sampling the fruits of your labor, fresh off the plant, as you work. Fruits and vegetables in the grocery store are picked before ripening, so they can make the long journey via truck. Please email me at melissa(at)melissaknorris(dot)com with questions or comments. ), Zoochosis and the Many Ways We Have Failed Zoo Animals, Monkey Kept in Crate for 7 Years Has the Best Reaction to His New Sanctuary Home (VIDEO), Plastic Toxins Are Leaching Into Your Food And Water – Here’s How To Avoid Them, Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Bites [Vegan], Wake Up to These 15 Quick and Easy Vegan Breakfasts on Christmas Morning. Growing your own food would help reduce the reliance on this transportation that is harming the environment. It may seem a strange question to ask on a website dedicated to gardening but sometimes it’s useful to take a step back and ask why we invest so much time and energy. In addition to the tangible benefits of growing your own vegetables and fruits is the intangible benefit of a better quality of life. Bringing it back to the empty jar analogy, the heaviest jar, or the jar with the largest carbon footprint, is the jar filled with the components needed for conventional methods of consuming food. One of best benefits of growing your own fruits and vegetables is that it connects you to your food more because you know where your food comes from. Grow Your Own Food: The Top Health Benefits of Growing a Vegetable Garden Cultivating and nourishing your vegetable garden can undoubtedly do a lot than providing fresh vegetables. But it also benefits the earth. Rather than dropping 100s of dollars and month at the market on foods that don’t truly nourish you, spend time in the garden, outdoor, exercising, learning to raise your own food. Seriously, watch your snap peas, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, or anything they can easily grab off the vine. It is the new global battlefield. Building a vegetable garden is also a great way to teach your children about the importance of utilizing whatever bounty the earth has provided to its fullest and avoiding waste! Growing your own food and supporting small-scale, local organic and ecological farming are important practices of authenticity and ecological living. To learn more about the benefits of what we like to call “eating the rainbow,” check this out. When you grow your own vegetables, you can control the conditions and stop worrying about the safety of your food. If you have children, encourage them to join in, too. Growing your own food allows you to enjoy delicious, inexpensive, convenient produce that is good for you and the environment. First off, children whose parents have a garden more than double their overall fruit and vegetable consumption. Environmental Impact. As you avoid some of the negative sides to shopping for food – including a heavy dependence on fossil fuels, carcinogenic pesticides and fertilizers, and monocultures – growing your own food can give you something you may not have considered: exercise. I'd love to have a readers show where I answer your questions. We are using organic fertilizers. Just ask the 42 million American households who already are growing their own fruits, herbs and vegetables. Growing your own food can be a tasty way to cut costs on your monthly grocery bill. We also know that, if not more than... 2. When you are growing your own food, you are less likely to take fruits and vegetables for granted. Growing your own food garden contributes to your food security by providing direct access to food that can be harvested, prepared and fed to your family daily during the growing season. Please consider supporting us by donating! 10 Rich and Creamy Plant-Based Risotto Recipes, ‘Someone Heard I Went Plant-Based’ Says Kim Kardashian as She Instagrams Beyond Meat Products, Microplastics Found in Placentas of Pregnant Women, Petition: Shut Down Lab Where Monkeys are Electrically Shocked on Their Genitals. If you live in a part of the world that becomes cold and snowy during the winter, check out this post on inexpensive ways to grow food in the winter! If you cannot afford to buy organic food, you won’t have to put your money towards industries that rely on practices that pollute and harm the environment’s health (and human health). You decide what kinds of fertilizers and pesticides come in contact with your food. ‘ In backyard gardening, one can ensure that no harmful chemicals are used in growing the food. Gardening is a great way to absorb vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin. Fuss Fish is by far our biggest garden pest. More often than not, fossil fuels are refined and purified into a usable form, leaving excess waste material that requires disposal. To learn about 10 vegetables that you can grow all year round, click here. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Recently I have noticed a campus-wide discussion examining the pros and cons of the sale of energy... Sarah’s Easy Vegetarian Chili  By growing your own vegetables, you are also helping to preserve the environment. In fact, the latest EPA information on U.S. pesticide usage, from 2007, reports that over one billion tons of pesticides are used in the U.S. every year. Learn how your comment data is processed. There are many ways in which food may become contaminated, whether at the farm, the manufacturer or the transportation center. Five reasons to grow your own food include: When growing your own food, your diet is more diverse and healthy, packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. If you are growing your own food, you can decide what goes on, or what doesn’t go on, your produce. In order to help your crops flourish, you have the chance to learn about the weather and other environmental factors that may not have been relevant for you to be aware of before. Your grocery bill will shrink as you begin to stock your pantry with fresh produce from your... Reduce your environmental impact.. Backyard gardening helps the planet in many ways. The easiest way to imagine how growing your own food reduces your carbon footprint and benefits the planet is to think of food production and distribution in terms of an empty jar. Why is this bad? If you garden you know its stress-relieving qualities and health benefits from exercise. Planting, weeding, watering, and caring for your plants will provide you with a workout that is meaningful. It can also be argued that growing your own food yields better-tasting food with a higher nutritional value. Vitamin D is crucial in order to maintain healthy bones and teeth, and it can also protect against certain diseases. By growing your own food, even if you just start with a few crops, you are contributing to a healthier you and a healthier planet. Of the many public health and environmental risks associated with burning fossil fuels, the most serious, in terms of its potentially irreversible consequences, is a phenomenon we have all become familiar with – climate change. These farming practices reduce biodiversity, rely heavily on pesticides and commercial fertilizers, involve heavily mechanized farming practices, incorporate genetically engineered seeds, and result in a loss of soil nutrients. Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies   This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. More Nutritious. Introduction and Need. Get your favorite articles delivered right to your inbox! This is a huge benefit for consumers who recognize the benefits of organic foods, but are wary of paying an added cost at the grocery market (Raab & Grobe, 2005). Psychological and Counseling Services (PACS), Sexual Harassment & Rape Prevention Program (SHARPP), Are My Doctors and Other Healthcare Providers in Network, Maintaining Preventive Care During Covid-19, Back to the Basics: Cooking With Your Family, 5 Reasons Why an Employee Meal Plan Is a Healthy Choice, Hamel Recreation Center Exercise on Demand. You can make sure to create an organic … Growing your own food has many health benefits: It helps you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. When growing your own food, your diet is more diverse and healthy, packed with vitamins, minerals... 2. Vegetable gardens allow families to produce their own food organically. The benefits of growing your own food are endless. The Health Benefits of Growing Your Own Food March 13, 2019 Food Although the day may very well come when the members of our society are forced to grow their own food, there are so many health benefits to this practice that it makes sense to … You can save a lot of money by growing your own vegetables and fruits. Check out our most recent cooking video! 1. Health Benefits of Growing Your Own Food. Gardening is a fun way to get outside for some fresh air and physical activity. You know the seed types you selected and where they came from. Gardening can help you save money, improve your health, and even invigorate and revitalize one’s mood. For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the, Deck the Halls With These 30 Vegan Main Dishes for Christmas, How to Choose a Ripe Winter Squash (and Avoid the Bad Ones in the Bunch! Growing your own produce is a simple solution to numerous health, environmental, and economic problems. We’ve all had that friend with the organic garden and after trying one of their vegetables had the “Wow! Additionally, growing your own food diversifies your palate and exposes your diet to healthier foods – especially if you choose to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables. Mars Introduces Vegan Topic and Bounty Candy Bars! As Noble Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai states, “Climate change is life or death. Truly organic – only by growing your own produce will you be able to control exactly what goes into the soil and on the food for it to grow. Now the EPA considers 60 percent of all herbicides, 90 percent of all fungicides, and 30 percent of all insecticides carcinogenic. Certain foods, such as wheatgrass, are particularly simple to grow but are packed with nutrients. This gives you a higher appreciation for the earth, your body, and your responsibility for taking care of them both. The majority of produce sold in grocery stores go through a long process of being harvested, shipped and distributed to stores. Think growing your own food is a walk in the park? In fact, it is estimated that we currently put nearly 10 kilo calories of fossil fuel energy into our food system for every one kilo-calorie of energy we get as food. Growing your own produce lets you control what ends up on your family’s table. Growing your own food is a great way to save money, eat healthily and live more sustainably. However, growing your own food can have a huge impact on your life. For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter! It is being presented as if it is the problem of the developed world. Control your crops. You decide what... 2. Another factor to take into account is the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers on conventionally grown crops. These micro-organisms are not affected. Plus, when you grow your own, you eliminate “food miles.” This benefits you because, again, the food is fresher. Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Starting to grow our own food is therefore best. Here are 5 of the most important benefits of “growing your own health food:” This common farming practice used in the United States, and in other countries, relies on government support for commodity crop production (including wheat, corn, and soy) through the use of government subsidies. #2 – Get More Nutrients As I’ve already mentioned, nothing beats the freshness of getting your fruits and vegetables from the garden to the plate in a matter of minutes. You are also likely to preserve or use up your supply before it spoils. And since you’re able to harvest and consume your produce at peak ripeness, it tastes better and offers greater nutrition than what you typically find in stores. The 5 main benefits of growing your own food; The nutritional factor; The different type of plants/seeds; Grow your own food even if you don't have much space; I look forward to sharing with you. John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ shares with you his top 9 reasons why you should be growing your food instead of buying it. The Benefits of Growing Your Own Food Save money on groceries.. Additionally, growing your own food diversifies your palate and exposes your diet to healthier foods – especially if you choose to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables. Whether you are growing a single tomato plant or have a large backyard garden, it is beneficial to your health, as well as the environments. Emma the 40-Year Old Elephant Who was Force-Fed Alcohol has Been Rescued! If you learn how to preserve your harvest, you will be able to stock your Pantry and feed your family even when the growing season is over. Learn how growing your own food can improve your physical and mental health, as well as the health of the environment. You’re aware of any challenges that came along the way. This large-scale, long-distance transportation of food relies heavily on the energy from burning fossil fuels. But we are using conventional methods by growing our own meat. Allowed HTML tags:
    1. . Happy gardening! The Benefits of Growing Your Own Food. Makes You Healthier: I wrote recently about the 21 benefits to having an allotment and growing your own. But it’s the developed world that has precipitated global warming.”. Please support us! 10. Saving Local Species: We can save a lot of wild and local biodiversity by increasing our own vegetables. Buying food that is locally grown from your farmer’s market or local grocer is a great way to minimize your environmental impact, but growing your own food takes it to the next level. Eating food grown right in your own backyard offers vitamins for good health, an opportunity for a small business, and the satisfaction of doing your part for an improved environment. Healthier food; When you plant your own food, you know exactly what goes into the gardening process. The benefits of growing your own food with your kids could fill numerous books. I extolled the virtues and great experiences you gain as a result of growing your own food. Also, by growing your own food, you are not using chemicals or pesticides that can harm environment. There are lots of benefits to growing your own food, especially when getting kids involved, which I’ll share below. 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Here are 9 powerful benefits of growing your own food: The food is whole, unprocessed, and—if organically produced—is free from toxic residues. You are not only producing fresh food but also enjoying physical, mental and environmental benefits. Sign up for daily news from OneGreenPlanet. The disposal and handling of this toxic waste take a large toll on the health of the environment, the health of wildlife, and the health of surrounding communities. This is 22 percent of the estimated 5.2 billion pounds of pesticides used worldwide. Because... 3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Vegan Fudge [Vegan]. Instead, they help in increasing their population. Saves a Lot of Money: In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of many pesticides that were not yet extensively researched and were later linked to cancer and other diseases. Therefore, you know exactly what you are putting into your body, and you know the health benefits of growing your own food. Once distributed, the produce can end up staying in storage or on the shelf for an extended period of time before being purchased, losing nutritional value. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Long-distance transportation of produce relies heavily on fossil fuels. Can we suggest you spend a huge amount of money on vegetables? Food in its rawest, freshest form is not only the tastiest way to enjoy it, but also the most nutritional. Growing your own food, especially for the first time, opens up a great learning opportunity. That tastes so delicious and fresh!” reaction. What I failed to mention is that it’s … If you buy non-hybrid, heirloom species, you can save the seeds from the best producers, dry them, and use them for the next growing season. Chance to continue providing you with high-quality content burning fossil fuels containing large of! Benefits, all of which the body needs accounted for 80 percent of all insecticides.. 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benefits of growing your own food 2021