Recession and health get
Americans gardening
By Ed Stoddard
DALLAS (Reuters) - Alison Baum of
San Antonio, Texas hopes to save money and eat better by getting
her hands dirty.
She is joining the swelling ranks
of Americans who have started backyard fruit and vegetable
gardening, a trend rooted in a desire to cut costs as the recession
bites, fears about the safety of commercial food supplies and
popular views that organic food is better for you.
There is also a growing sense in
these tough economic times that food security starts at
home.
"This recession got me thinking
that if things turned out like the Great Depression then it would
be better to grow your own stuff and be in control. I've even
ordered baby chicks," the medical intern told Reuters in a
telephone interview.
"I've always thought it's
important to eat organically but it's really expensive. So I
thought it would be a good idea to start growing them myself and I
am pleasantly surprised. It's easier to put food on your table than
I realized," she said.
In her small yard she has put in
some fruit trees, herbs and some vegetables such as bell peppers
and parsnips.
Rising seed sales and one survey
point to the rapid growth of food gardening, which Americans spent
around $2.5 billion (1.7 billion pounds) on in 2008 according to
the National Gardening Association (NGA).
According to a nationwide Harris
Interactive survey conducted in January on behalf of the NGA, 43
million U.S. households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables,
berries, and herbs in 2009, a 19 percent gain from 36 million in
2008.
About a third of the respondents
who said they planned to pick up the hoe this year cited the
recession as one of their motivating factors. The main reasons were
for better tasting food and to save money on food bills.
Almost half said they wanted to
grow food they knew was safe. There have been a number of food
scares in the past year or so including a recent salmonella
outbreak involving peanuts and peanut butter.
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has
joined the trend, digging a plot on the south lawn of the White
House to help provide her children and visitors with fresh, healthy
food.
SEED SALES UP
Seed companies are reporting a
bumper season.
George Ball, chief executive of
privately held seed retailer and wholesaler Burpee, said vegetable
seed and transplant sales were up about 30 percent in March
compared to March 2008.
"The recession ... really pushed
people over the edge and it accounts for most if not all of our
growth. It is the phenomenal cost savings that it represents," he
said, citing research that showed every dollar spent on seeds and
fertilizer translated into $25 worth of produce from the
ground.
Not everyone agrees that the cost
savings are so great.
"You can't grow them as cheap as
you can buy them," said Dale Groom, a Dallas County horticulturist
with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, a state educational
agency. He cited initial costs such as equipment and time devoted
to the soil.
First-time and veteran gardeners
who spoke to Reuters cited a range of reasons from costs to the
environment to security.
Peyton Tamburo, an actress from
New York, moved to Arizona 10 years ago, opened a cafe and
delicatessen and took up gardening. She parlayed the hobby into a
business, and sells produce including organic basil in her cafe in
the small southern Arizona town of Bisbee.
With the recession, she feels that
what started for her as a hobby now gives her a sense of
security.
"I know that if everything goes to
hell in a hand basket, that I will be all right. You own a house,
land, and you'll be able to feed yourself," she said.
In a Dallas suburb, Julia Stanley
is taking her first crack at gardening this year on a community
plot.
She said she wanted to "have fresh
vegetables with no pesticides and chemicals on them." Her family
moved to the Dallas area three years ago from the Chicago inner
city where she had no opportunities to garden.
In a suburb of Washington, D.C.,
Ellen Gorman, who works for a small women's rights non-profit, said
environmental and health concerns prompted her to start her first
garden this year.
"My feeling is that there is a
connection between preserving the environment and sustainable
agriculture," said Gorman, who will be growing produce on a plot in
the yard of her boss who will share in the fruits of her
labour.
More people growing their own
organic food -- which generally refers to foodstuffs free of
pesticides and chemicals -- could be bad news for natural foods
retailers like Whole Foods which specialise in this area and have
been hit by the recession.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman;
Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Bisbee, Arizona)