Is it time for us to become a nation of sustainable gardeners?
The Enrich the Earth campaign, developed by Sizzle, has been running for around 15 months.
For me, it has been a crash-course in learning about an entirely new sector. I have had the privilege to learn from a wide range of experts. I have sat through conferences trying to figure out a whole new set of acronyms and make sense of complex jargon. In the North-East, I have seen the wide-ranging benefits that Community Gardens deliver to their localities and heard about the daily challenges they face to survive and operate sustainably.
Through this insight, my view of gardening and growing has changed. My previous view was that it was a wholesome activity delivering some environmental and health benefits. After all, there are an estimated 28 million gardeners in the UK,with residential gardens taking up 5% of the land – an area the size of Aberdeenshire. The horticultural sector employs 50,000 people and garden tourism alone has an annual value of £2.9 billion. Surely this love of gardening proves there is a deep understanding of growing and connection with nature for a significant proportion of the population.
But when I have dug deeper behind the headlines, I have realised that the picture is not quite as rosy. There is little or no horticulture in many children’s education. A 2019 survey of 1,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 showed that 82% could not identify an oak tree, 50% could not identify a bluebell and 42% did not recognise a dandelion.
The amount of fresh fruit and vegetables entering households from free sources like gardens and allotments is decreasing down to 1% in 2022 from 3% in 2020. Land used for allotments in the UK has declined 60% from its peak in the 1950s. The loss is eight times higher in deprived communities.
The horticultural sector lacks diversity regarding ethnic diversity, women, disabled people and those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. These barriers to accessing horticulture as an industry also extend to access to nature and green spaces: almost 10 million people in the UK do not have access to a garden or public green space. These barriers to gardening are exacerbated by a lack of accessible support and information; a recent House of Lords report highlighted that amateur gardeners are not being provided with enough support to move away from reliance on pesticides and herbicides.
This lack of engagement has negative environmental consequences. For instance, biodiversity is being threatened by the paving over of green spaces and the proliferation of artificial grass. These trends also increase the likelihood of localised flash flooding and urban heating.
Talking to businesses, I have realised that the sector is at a pivotal moment facing a significant range of challenges. Extreme weather is disrupting growing seasons, costs of raw materials are increasing, legislation is disrupting supplies and the need to transition to a low carbon model that enhances biodiversity is becoming more acute.
My view is that there has never been a better time for the sector to have a major reset and create a new model that could play a significant and positive role in the transition to a more sustainable economy. This will create fertile ground for accessible, interconnected initiatives to promote biodiversity, natural carbon capture, urban greening and boosting food security.
A successful transition would deliver a range of benefits. For example, only 17% of fruit and 55% of vegetables currently consumed in the UK are grown in this country. Boosting these numbers would enhance food security and boost the national economy.
Will the needed change happen, or will the sector carry on facing increasing struggles? My view is that it requires some disruption and a jolt. Horticulture is viewed as a Cinderella sector by DEFRA so is not facing intense government scrutiny: there is little co-ordinated public pressure for change, and it is an inherently conservative sector. This hinders innovation and risk taking.
Based on this insight, we are considering what future role Enrich the Earth could play to act as a catalyst for a more sustainable sector. Our current thinking suggests that there are four areas where disruption could prove positive. These are:
Creating more accessible, positive and compelling information for gardeners, helping them to grow plants more sustainably. This would enable them to adapt their growing to a changing climate, reduce reliance on pesticides and herbicides, boost biodiversity, support UK growers and cut the use of plastic.
Making sustainable growing more accessible to the whole of society by supporting Community Gardens, creating a supportive legislative framework and making more land available for growing. This increased accessibility would yield significant benefits. In Sheffield, allotment land feeds approximately 3% of the population on a five a day diet. If just 10% of land in the city was shifted into productivity, through allotments or community gardens, about 15% of Sheffield’s population could be fed its five fruit and vegetable a day diet.
Developing new products and services, making it easier for growers to make sustainable choices and understand how best to utilise the new materials available.
Running disruptive small-scale trials, testing new approaches and pushing at existing boundaries.
Our thinking is at an early stage, and we are currently testing our ideas with potential funders and those already active in this space. We would be intrigued to hear your views so please do get in touch by emailing trewin@sizzle.org.uk.