Health Benefits of Growing Your Own Food
Izzy Rosado, Program Assistant, Project New Village
Our Grower’s Collective members are continuing to spend valuable time among their gardens, providing fresh, hyper-local produce to our Mobile Farmer’s Market. This network of Southeastern growers connects with one another to share best regenerative growing practices. Any growing experience is welcome; we especially encourage first-time gardeners interested in transforming their backyards into food-growing spaces. Project New Village can provide both technical and financial assistance.
Visit the market at any of our locations to check out macadamia nuts from Big Rock Ranch, fresh honey from Bee the Blessing, garlic from Sungrown Cumberland Estate, artichokes from Solwazi’s Farmacy, and more! Be sure to ask what produce was grown right here in the Southeastern communities and we’d like to thank you for helping to support our local growers!
In alignment with our upcoming Health and Healing event, we’d like to share a few of the health benefits that go along with growing your own food. The fundamental pillars of health can be broadly described in three categories – physical, mental/emotional, and social health.
Physical:
- Gardening activity provides great low-impact exercise
- Growing food encourages a healthier diet of fresh produce
Mental/Emotional:
- Time spent in garden is considered therapeutic and grounding
- Mental stimulation from learning new growing strategies and techniques
- Increased self-esteem from seeing fruits of your labor
Social:
- Building social capital by connecting with other gardeners and food growers
- Enjoyment found from sharing produce with your community
- Participating in community growing networks and fostering relationships with like-minded individuals
To get involved with the Grower’s Collective, please join our monthly meetings held every second Saturday at the Mt. Hope Community Garden from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Our next meeting will be August 10th; reach out to izzyrosado@projectnewvillage.org if you would like any further information. Thank you!
