Food self-provisioning motivations revisited: Czech home gardens and their food production

Abstract

This paper revisits the motivations and behaviours related to home food production in private home gardens. It aims to answer these research questions: (i) which activities are performed in the home garden?; (ii) if the garden fulfils the self-provisioning function, what are the motivations for food production?; (iii) does gardening and food self-provisioning impact a household’s environmental behaviour?; and (iv) does food self-provisioning relate to a household’s economic situation? The results show that production of vegetables and herbs is still the prevailing function of Czech home gardens. The motivations for this activity are better taste, healthier way of production and enjoyment of gardening as a hobby. These motivations remain mostly intact during societal transformations or economy fluctuations over recent decades, which declares the strength and tradition of home food production in Czechia. Economic motivation was not proved as an important motivation. There was evidence for some kinds of pro-environment behaviour, however, this is limited to rather inconspicuous, private actions.