Abstract
Household food insecurity and poor well-being have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Home food growing has been associated with improved food access and well-being, but it is unknown what role it plays during food supply crises and lockdown. It is also unclear how home food growing and social restrictions may affect opinions about growing food in urban areas (i.e., urban agriculture [UA]). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the UK national lockdown in March-April 2020 to measure home food growing, perceived food insecurity, well-being, and opinions of UA. The participants were 477 UK-based adults (369 female, mean age 39.57 years ± 13.36); 152 participants were engaged in home food growing prior to the pandemic. Responses were compared to data collected from a separate sample of participants before the pandemic (N = 583) to explore potential shifts in opinions about UA. Participants who engaged in home food growing had lower levels of food insecurity (U = 19894.50, z = -3.649, p<.001, r = -.167) and higher well-being (U = 19566.50, z = -3.666, p<.001, r = -.168) than those not engaged in home food growing. Perceived food insecurity partially mediated the relationship between home food growing and well-being; home food growing was associated with less food insecurity, which in turn was associated with better well-being. There were no differences in opinions of UA compared to the sample of participants from before the pandemic. Home food growing may have had a protective effect over perceived food security and well-being in the early stages the pandemic. Opinions of UA were positive and unchanged compared to data collected pre-pandemic. Policies that support home food growing and access to suitable growing spaces and resources may be beneficial for food system resilience and well-being.
Highlights
The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic triggered widespread lockdown restrictions to limit the movement of citizens and control the spread of the virus (Koo et al, 2020)
Across the different categories of grower status, participants were well matched for demographic characteristics, with the exception of age; participants who reported their grower status as i) already engaged in home food growing were significantly older than those who reported their status as iii) not planning grow their own fruits and vegetables to but would consider doing so (42.82 years ± 13.73 versus 37.17 years ± 13.13, respectively, p = .001)
Home food growing may have had a protective effect on levels of well-being and perceived experience of food insecurity at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown
Summary
The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic triggered widespread lockdown restrictions to limit the movement of citizens and control the spread of the virus (Koo et al, 2020). These are predicted to have negative and long-lasting consequences for mental health (Daly et al, 2020; Marroquín et al, 2020; Pierce et al, 2020; Rajkumar, 2020; Sani et al, 2020; Torales et al, 2020; Zhang & Ma, 2020). Evidence from the early stages of the pandemic indicates that the incidence of mental ill health and poor well-being have increased (Daly et al, 2020; Pierce et al, 2020). As the pandemic continues, there is an urgent need to improve understanding of its impact on mental health and related issues
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