growing carrots for health and happiness
TRANSCRIPT
Growing carrots for health and happiness
Margi Lennartsson
Garden Organic
CCRI Policy Conference
22 January 2015
Promoting and supporting people to grow organically
Benefits of gardening and food growing
Environment Building Stronger Communities
Benefits of gardening and food growing
Health and wellbeing
Growing food for health, wellbeing and happiness
• Access to fruit and vegetables – improved diet • Learning and connecting with food • Increase levels of physical activity and fitness• Support recovery, rehabilitation and coping with physical and mental health challenges • Reduce stress • Improve social interaction and cohesion • Meaningful, worthwhile and fun activity - happiness and wellbeing
Sydenham Gardens
Growing Opportunities, Sandwell
Hoventon House Care Home
Community food growing in health settings
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire
May 2010 – April 2014•7 networks•609 volunteers trained •26,700 volunteer hours•82% volunteer retention•5,949 people regularly mentored •77,000 food growing conversations•4 new networks launched in 2014
Recruit, train and support volunteers
Support food growers
Evaluating outcomes and impacts
For the majority of respondents...
• the amount of food they grow (77% of households; 55% of volunteers)
• the range of food they grow (76% of households; 74% of volunteers)
• their knowledge of food growing (88% of households; 94% of volunteers)
...has increased since joining the programme
Food growing
Physical activity
For 19% of volunteers and 14% of householders the amount of fruit and veg they consume on average per day increased
Eating fruit and vegetables
• Households = 4.5 / 4.9 after 12 / 36 months
• Master Gardeners = 5.0 / 5.3 after 12 / 36 months
• UK = 4.1 (DoH/FSA 2012)
Households – 7% higher life satisfactionMaster Gardeners – 10% higher life satisfaction
Involvement increased life satisfaction for 77% of householders and 84% of Master Gardeners
Feeling part of a community
34% of households & 61% of volunteers feel more part of their local community since joining the programme
“I’ve never spoken to them before and people will go past and say ‘your sunflowers are amazing’ [...] I'd tell them to give it a go. We've been passing produce back and forth." Householder
Happiness and wellbeing
The Social Return on Investment
1. Identifying stakeholders - materially affected
2. Mapping the outcomes (‘theory of change’)
3. Evidencing outcomes and giving them a value (using proxies)
4. Calculating the ratio
SROI: Calculating the ratio
adjusting for e.g.•inflation•duration of the outcome•what would have happened anyway•what can be attributed directly to the project
SROI ratio £1 : £10.70 (£1 : £7.50 - £11.20)
Outcome group Outcomes in group % benefit
Health and wellbeing• Improved physical health• Improved mental health
38%
Community life and life satisfaction
• Increased life satisfaction• Increased trust and belonging• Increased community
participation
30%
Food eating and buying
• Increased food affordability• Reduced income leakage
through food expenditure28%
Skills base and employability
• Increased employability / financial security
• Increased competence, engagement and purpose
4%
Food recycling and composting
• Carbon reduction through sustainable behaviours 0.03%
Social returns
