User:Shafataryan/Urban horticulture

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Benefits

World War I poster of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, encouraging the use of vacant urban areas for gardening

Horticulture by itself is a practical and applied science, which means it can have a significance in our everyday lives. As community gardens cannot actually compete with market-based land uses, it is essential to find other ways to understand their various benefits such as their contribution to social, human, and financial well-being. Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York City's Central Park observed that the trees, meadows, ponds and wildlife tranquilize the stresses of city life. According to various studies over the years, nature has a very positive impact over human health and even more so in an emotional and psychological sense. Trees, grass, and flower gardens, due to their presence as well as visibility, increase people's life satisfaction by reducing fatigue and irritation and restoring a sense of calm. In fact Honeyman tested the restorative value of nature scenes in urban settings and discovered that vegetation in an urban setting produced more mental restoration as opposed to areas without vegetation. In addition, areas with only nature did not have as much of a positive psychological impact as did the combination of urban areas and nature.

One of the obvious health benefits of gardening is the increased intake of fruits and vegetables. But the act of gardening itself, is also a major health benefit. Gardening is a low-impact exercise, which when added into daily activities, can help reduce weight, lower stress, and improve overall health. A recent study showed a reduced body mass index and lower weight in community gardeners compared with their non-gardening counterparts The study showed men who gardened had a body mass index 2.36 lower and were 62% less likely to be overweight than their neighbors, while women were 46% less likely to be overweight with a body mass index 1.88 lower than their neighbors. Access to urban gardens can improve health through nutritious, edible plantings, as well by getting people outside and promoting more activity in their environments.

Gardening programs in inner-city schools have become increasingly popular as a way to teach children not only about healthy eating habits, but also to encourage students to become active learners. Besides getting students outside and moving, and encouraging an active lifestyle, children also learn leadership, teamwork, communication and collaboration skills, in addition to critical and creative thinking skills. Gardening in schools will enable children to share with their families the health and nutrition benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Because weather and soil conditions are in a state of constant change, students learn to adapt their thinking and creatively problem solve, depending on the situations that arise. Students also learn to interact and communicate with a diverse population of people, from other students to adult volunteers. These programs benefit students' health and enable them to be active contributors in the world around them.

Gardens and other green spaces also increase social activity and help in creating a sense of place, apart from their various other purposes such as enhancing the community by mediating environmental factors. There is also a huge disparity in the availability of sources that provide nutritious and affordable foods especially around urban centers which have problems of poverty, lack of public transport and abandonment by supermarkets. Therefore, inner city community gardens can be a valuable source of nutrition at an affordable cost in the most easily accessible way.

In order to understand and thereby maximize the benefits of urban horticulture, it is essential to document the effects of horticulture activities and quantify the benefits so that governments and private industries can make the appropriate changes. Horticulturists have always been involved in the botanical and physical aspects of horticulture but an involvement in its social and emotional factors would be highly beneficial to communities, cities and to the field of horticulture and its profession. Based on this, in the 1970s, the International Society for Horticultural Science recognized this need for research on the functional use of plants in an urban setting along with the need of improved communication between scientists in this field of research and people who utilize plants. The Commission for Urban Horticulture was established in 1982 which deals with plants grown in urban areas, management techniques, the functional use of these plants as well the shortcomings of the current lack of knowledge regarding this field. The establishment of such a commission is an important indicator that this topic has reached a level of international recognition.

Economic benefits

There are many different economic benefits from gardening from saving money purchasing food and even on the utility bills. Developing countries can spend up to 60–80 percent of income on buying food alone. In Barbara Lake, Milfront Taciano and Gavin Michaels Journal of Psychology article "The Relative Influence of Psycho-Social Factors on Urban Gardening", they say that while people are saving money on buying food, having roof top gardens are also becoming popular. Having green roofs can reduce the cost of heating in the winter and help stay cool in the summer. Green roofs also can lower the cost of roof replacement. While green roofs are an addition to urban horticulture people are eating healthy while also improving the value of their property. Other benefits include increased employment from non-commercial jobs where producers include reductions on the cost of food.

Urban horticulture in Latin America

Starting in the 1980s, Latin American governments came to see urban agroecology and horticulture not only as an agricultural practice but as a revolutionary tool aimed at restructuring society along more equitable and sustainable lines. In some cases, urban horticulture fell under the larger umbrella of 'urban agriculture' and was utilized as a way for governments to push for better agricultural policies that helped citizens. In Latin America, institutional support for urban farming practices came through the social reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, where there was a significant push for sustainable and equitable agricultural practices as a response to the failures of the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution as well as globalism prompted South American governments to invest less in agriculture and incentivized higher expenditure on food imports, often due to international economic pressure. These policies hurt national food sovereignty and small-scale farmers, and further exacerbated existing socio-economic inequalities.