Green Roof Gardening and Food Security

There's a lot of talk in the news about food security.  The World Health Organization (WHO) defines food security as existing "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy body and active life."

Sadly, food scarcity is more familiar in our world today.  Even with enough food on the planet to feed every person, 1 in 8 people worldwide suffer from malnutrition, according to The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.  

Urban poverty is a leading cause of hunger in North America.  A 2011 study published by the Journal of Urban Health finds that many low-income families living in subsidized or market-value housing will sacrifice food security to pay rent; food often becomes an after-thought after other bills are met that provide shelter and lights.  The research aimed to discover if people who received housing "breaks" were less likely to feel the effects of hunger and food security.  Focused in Canada, researchers employed what is known as The Household Food Security Survey Model that quantified data from a 12-month period to determine the food security ratios of 473 families after paying their monthly rent and projecting fluctuating utlity costs.

Here's what they found: a staggering 65.5% of the population surveyed had experienced food insecurity at least once in the year they were studied.  The variance between those living in subsidized and those living in market housing was negligible when averaged.  Families living in market housing were only about 6% less likely to experience food insecurity.  The study also discovered the number of people living in homes that were in a state of disrepair and in need of maintenance.  Even though the people living in the homes were renters, if a repair was eminent, food insecurity loomed.  While specific reasons for this were not given, it's a stereotypical image of slumlords that comes to mind when considering why the families living in such homes would rather sacrifice their nutrition and keep a roof over their heads than call a landlord to report corrosive plumbing and be threatened with eviction or increased rent to cover damages.

Families who hit financial snags are far more likely to borrow money to pay bills than they are to borrow money to eat.  Many then get stuck in a cycle of paying back a loan and find themselves without funds for proper nutrition at the end of each month.

Urban agriculture may be a solution.  A group of families can pool together small amounts of money from each for start-up costs for gardening.  Fresh produce is a healthier alternative to sugary processed food that is often the best option for low-income families forced to shop by price tag over nutritional value.  Grocery stores are over-run with foods that are manufactured cheaply using a wide variety of chemicals and preservatives to make them last from the factory to the sales floor.

In a paper entitled "Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture" members of the Community Food Security Coalition's North American Initiative on Urban Agriculture discuss the health benefits associated with becoming more knowledgeable about how food is grown and how the activity gives members of urban areas the ability to interact with their neighbors, create green space for environmental benefits and provide food for themselves.  The paper cites numerous areas where gardens can be made, including rooftops.  A 32-ft square area of gardening can provide the yearly vegetable intake needed for a family if it is built in prime gardening season and well cared for.

Research cited in the article indicates that when people are more intimate with food by producing it themselves, their overall intake of processed and fatty foods decline, while intake of fresh fruits and vegetables exceeds the daily minimum recommended servings.  This is most significant when taking into consideration the special dietary needs of children and senior citizens that are most likely to be affected by the adverse reactions to chemicals in processed food.

According to the paper, for every $1 spent on planting food, the yield is $6 worth of edible vegetation.  Over a 5 year period, 1900 garden plots on 30 community lots in Newark, New Jersey, yielded almost $4 million in viable produce that went directly into the communities bellies.

Picking food directly from your yard or roof also means that you are consuming all of the nutrients the food has to offer, instead of food that has lost anywhere from 30-50% of it's nutritional value from being plucked from the root and transported across the country for commercial markets.  The freshness of the food increases its overall nutritional density and makes every calorie count at 100% value, thereby decreasing the amount of food that needs to be eaten to achieve maximum nutrients.

We've all heard the phrase "buy local" and we understand it, but we're often left without a range of options.  Urban agriculture puts food in easily accessible locations for families, particularly when they join the movement and learn to grow for themselves.  Excess crops bring neighbors together for trade and monetary benefits.  It also leads to friendships and community when neighbors help each other garden and preserve fresh food for cold-weather consumption.  Food security becomes less about what can be purchased cheaply and more about community growth and efforts, wherein people look out for each other as everyone benefits when everyone participates.

Besides the nutritional value and food security gardening offers, there are other health benefits.  Gardening is something that can be done at any age and encourages people to get outside and exercise.  Research shows that gardening boosts ones self-esteem, self-reliance and personal satisfaction.  Mental health benefits from community interaction are also well-documented, according to the above referenced paper's findings.  People are social creatures, and in urban habitats where people often have too much to do in too little time, slowing down for a moment to greet a neighbor or help them work a row raises awareness that you're not alone in your concrete landscape, lowering depression and increasing social skills and self-esteem.

There are environmental benefits to gardening that most urban gardeners do not think of when they first start to garden.  Their concern is food for themselves and their loved ones, but in creating green space, they are also unknown eco-warriors and stewards of their environment and the generations to come.