IntroductionAllotment gardening is a popular pastime which anecdotally contributes to health and wellbeing, although the extent of supportive research evidence is unclear. This systematic review ...investigates the question: Does allotment gardening contribute to health and wellbeing?
MethodA systematic search was conducted, including the terms ‘allotment’, ‘garden’, ‘health’ and ‘wellbeing’. Abstracts of identified papers were compared with inclusion criteria, and 10 papers were finally selected. Critical appraisal and data extraction were conducted simultaneously. Qualitative research papers predominated and were analysed thematically. Resultant themes were compared and integrated with the findings of quantitative research papers.
FindingsThematic analysis of the qualitative and quantitative papers’ findings revealed five distinct health and wellbeing themes. Allotment gardening provides a stress-relieving refuge, contributes to a healthier lifestyle, creates social opportunities, provides valued contact with nature, and enables self-development.
ConclusionThis review suggests that allotment gardening does indeed impact health and wellbeing. It is therefore recommended as occupational therapy for people with health problems, and as a health promoting occupation for the general population. Research particularly focused on the impact of group and therapeutic allotment gardening, so further investigations are recommended to explore the health promoting influences of everyday allotment gardening for individuals.
This paper explores the concept of prosumption in the world of food. Prosumption is a combination of production and consumption: food prosumers are people who actively produce food for ...self‐consumption. Besides reflecting on sociological conceptualisations of prosumption, this exploratory study uses an online survey (N = 835) and semi‐structured interviews (N = 12) to examine prosumption empirically. Respondents, living in Almere, the Netherlands, have mostly personal and pragmatic reasons, such as the enjoyment of gardening and the pleasure of producing food, to engage in some form of prosumption. Respondents are hardly motivated by profound concerns about sustainability or a wish to create a ‘radical’ alternative food system. We argue, therefore, that a more pragmatic approach to the concept of prosumption in the field of food is more appropriate than sociological interpretations linking prosumption to such grand themes as power, capitalism and activism.
The study aims to gain an insight into current trends in the use of four selected allotment gardens (rodzinne ogrody działkowe – RODs) in Warsaw (Poland): ROD ‘Pratulińska’, ROD ‘Obrońców Pokoju’, ...ROD ‘Kolejarz’ and ROD ‘Zelmot’. The main method used in the research was a survey of plot holders (structured interviews, n = 210). The findings suggest that holders are mainly older, retired people, but the number of younger plot holders has been increasing in recent years. Most live on huge estates in close proximity to the allotment gardens. The main motivations for having a plot are relaxation, gardening as a hobby and connection with the natural environment. Food production itself was not mentioned as a prior motivation. The meaning of having a plot corresponds with motivations. Some plot holders emphasize having their own, private place (a kind of second home, refuge, respite from city life). Most of the respondents have positive opinions regarding opening allotment gardens to local communities, although they are not very eager to participate in integrational events and activities organized by the Polish Association of Allotment Gardens (PZD) or others. The findings are in line with global trends presented in research exploring allotment garden recreational space in Poland and abroad.
Family Allotment Gardens (AG) are a place of rest and recreation for residents of mainly large cities. The COVID-19 pandemic, which started in China in January 2020, launched a major crisis affecting ...various types of human activity, including tourism and hospitality, and limited travel opportunities. For many people, especially the poorer and professionally inactive ones (including retirees and pensioners), activities on plots of Family Allotment Gardens have become the only form of active recreation. On November 5, 2020, on the official website of the international organization Office International du Coin de Terre et des Jardins Familiaux, operating since 1926, representing national organizations and associations of gardeners from 14 European countries, the following information was published: “The pandemic has confirmed it: allotment gardens are more important than ever”. This article is an attempt to verify this thesis by answering the question: If and to what extent did the COVID-19 pandemic influence the behavior and recreation of allotment garden users? This was verified by a questionnaire survey conducted among users of two gardens located in the western part of the suburban area of Łódź. The analysis showed that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the behavior and rest of allotment garden users; however, the impact in the case of the studied gardens was not as large as could be expected.
Allotment gardening as element of green infrastructure and integral part of urban agriculture supports the city’s sustainable development and builds urban resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic provided ...an opportunity to revisit allotment gardening in a situation of unprecedented health crisis. Therefore, this study aims to recognise the importance of allotment gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poznań (Poland), a city with a ‘famine of plots’ observed for years. A survey was conducted among allotment holders who had acquired plots during the course of the pandemic and in-depth interviews were conducted with the president of the Polish Allotment Federation of Poznań and the managers of the allotment gardens wherein we had identified the highest proportion of new allotment holders. Information was collected during field research, also using available statistical data. The methods used included desk research and a case study, interviews and a survey. The results of the study show that the pandemic caused a renaissance in allotment gardening. The increased interest in allotments triggered an increase in their price, thus further restricting access. A generational change in the allotment community was also noted, with young people appearing on allotments. However, the survey showed no change in the use of allotments: recreation is still their dominant function, with allotment holders focusing on cleaning and renovation work. For new allotment holders, the plot was a green refuge in times of isolation, a place for contact with nature, loved ones and family, and a safe space for relaxation. Our research indicates that allotment holders also appreciated its positive impact on their physical and mental health.. Moreover, the study indicates that despite the long-standing shortage of allotments in the city, only restorative allotment gardens are being created.
Urban allotment gardens (AGs) provide a unique combination of productive and recreational spaces for the inhabitants of European cities. Although the reasons behind the decision to have a plot, as ...well as the mode of use and gardening practices, are well recognised in the literature, these issues are mainly considered in relation to particular case studies within a single country. The regional diversity of European allotment gardens is still poorly understood, however. This knowledge gap became an incentive for us to carry out the present study. The research was conducted in seven countries: Austria, Estonia, Germany, France, Portugal, Poland and the UK. Surveys were used to assess the motivations of users regarding plot uses and gardening practices. Information was also collected during desk research and study visits, making use of available statistical data. Allotment gardens in Europe are currently very diverse, and vary depending on the historical, legal, economic and social conditions of a given country, and also as determined by geographical location. Three main types of plots were distinguished, for: cultivation, recreation–cultivation, and cultivation–recreation. The recreational use of AGs has replaced their use for food production in countries with a long history of urban gardening. The only exception is the UK. In some countries, the production of food on an AG plot is still its main function; however, the motivations for this are related to better quality and taste (the UK), as well as the economic benefits of self-grown fruits and vegetables (Portugal, Estonia). Among the wide range of motivations for urban gardening in Europe, there is increasing emphasis on active recreation, contact with nature and quality food supply.
If allotment gardening remained until recently a relatively under-researched aspect of leisure history, it has become, in the last few years, the object of considerably more detailed attention. The ...present paper attempts to present a synthesis of this work which has considerably enriched our understanding of this form of leisure. Not only does the history of allotment gardening in Great Britain challenge traditional dichotomies between work and leisure, but it also shows how gardening was embedded in a complex web of meanings and political relations. While allotments used to be described as a rather depoliticised and consensual form of recreation, recent historical work indeed shows that its effects were rather more complex and at times empowering than was assumed.
Practice-oriented, socio-material investigations have surfaced the emergent nature of professional knowing and the significance of things for organising such knowing. However, in these accounts, one ...significant organising actor is largely overlooked: time. This paper foregrounds time, exploring how different temporalities orchestrate knowing in practice. The empirical study for this article is not of professional practice, but the work of allotment gardening and it is, in part, this attending to everyday practice which unsettles routinised ways of seeing and allows unnoticed actors such as time to emerge. The use of Actor-Network Theory sensibilities further disrupts habitual ways of seeing, as the practice of gardeners on an English allotment site is shown to be distributed over a multitude of socio-im/material actors, mobilising five temporal regimes which order learning. This article theorises that such temporal patterning is particularly enabling for learning and indicates that attending to temporality extends the parameters for understanding learning beyond the case of the everyday, to professional knowing and learning more generally.
The idea of a collective garden and its effect to Lithuanian built environment is described in the article. Collective gardens in Soviet times became an area to compensate the suppressed need for ...private property and also it was the place for informal, even corrupt practices. After the shift towards new political system collective gardens are facing intense transformation and it continues to be the “grey zone” where informal practices flourish. The presumption made in the article is that the appearance of collective gardens in Lithuania was heavily influenced by the cultural and economic reality of the Soviet Union. These conditions were crucial for formation of specific living environment in which informal urbanism appears. Kolektyviniai sodai buvo terpė, kurioje jau sovietmečiu pasireiškė nuslopintas privačios nuosavybės poreikis. Pasikeitus politinei šalies santvarkai, pasikeitė miestų planavimo principai, tačiau kolektyviniai sodai išliko „pilkąja zona“ kurioje ir toliau reiškėsi netipiniai urbanizacijos procesai. Tekste keliama prielaida, kad šis reiškinys yra Sovietų Sąjungai būdingų kultūrinių, politinių ir socialinių procesų rezultatas, o šio eksperimento palikimas Lietuvoje suformavo specifinę gyvenamąją terpę, kurioje vyrauja neformalaus urbanizmo praktikos. Straipsnyje glaustai atskleidžiamos kolektyvinio sodo idėjos atsiradimo aplinkybės, šios idėjos santykis su realia projektavimo ir statybos praktika Lietuvoje, bei minėto proceso įtaka šių dienų gyvenamajai aplinkai.
This article introduces the issue of the planning of allotment gardening in the case of Ljubljana, Slovenia, as a self-supplying activity by which fresh vegetables are cultivated. Allotment gardening ...is an activity that involves just a small percentage of Ljubljana's population, those enthusiasts seeing this activity as more of a recreation and relaxation than a way of earning money. The city authorities are already anticipating that allotments will be eliminated from locations deemed unsuitable, holders then being offered alternatives in more appropriate locations. The appropriateness of these planned locations for allotments was evaluated in respect of whether key exclusion and attractiveness measures were complied with. We also determined the partial suitability of selected locations.
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