One of my favorite things to recommend to clients who want a fun way to improve the quality of their diet is start gardening. When most people think of gardening, they think a big operation that requires a large back yard and a lot of physical labor. This is just FALSE.
Gardening can be as big or small as you would like. A great place to start is to buy some herbs. Throw them in you kitchen window and turn to them anytime that you would like some delicious and sale-free seasoning to your meals. Looking to level up from this, but still keep it small? Head to your hardware store and grab a seedling cherry tomato plant. This a an easy plant to grow on any size porch and the small tomatoes allow you to harvest frequently which is just more fun!
As I live in the city, I am forced to keep my garden small just from the lack of space, but I still manage to fit in a herb garden and 2 pots of lettuce (also a great place to start).
Growing any amount of your own food at home has so many proven benefits and it can be a great new activity to add to your life!
My favorite benefits of course is the impact being involved in gardening has on diet quality. Many research studies have shown that when children are involved in gardening that they have statistically significant increases in not only their fruit and vegetable intake, but also acceptance of new foods (1). Similar results have also been seen with communities involved in community gardens. A study completed in Flint, MI found that households with at least one community garden participant in their household consumed fruit and veg 1.4 more times per day on average than residents without a community garden participant household (2).
Gardening is also a great stress relieving activity (2). For many, the task of caring for the garden and seeing your garden grow can be relaxing and bring happiness. I know for myself, I enjoying being able to watch my garden grown and also sharing the fresh produce and herbs with my friends and family.
Another important benefit of growing your own food at home is that it allows you can have an inside look into how foods are produce. Today we will in an era of food abundance and most people do not think of how or where the food on our plants comes from. Seeing with your own eyes how much labor, time and resources go into growing just 1 head of lettuce can be a great reminder of what goes into getting our food to us.
There are so many benefits of gardening and I hope this post has inspired you to give it a try! Be sure to tag @danajfnutrition in your gardening pictures as I love to see you gardens (big or small!).
Special thanks to my intern Mia Sugarman so help with the research for this article!
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