Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic
At times of crisis, home gardening has often been sought out as a potential solution for threats to food security and as a measure to increase socio-psychological effects, such as public sense of self-efficacy, trust in the government and care for one’s wellbeing. The objective of this study was to...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Horticulturae |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/8/9/778 |
| _version_ | 1797487649770962944 |
|---|---|
| author | Maja Turnšek Siv-Lene Gangenes Skar Marit Piirman Ragnheiður I. Thorarinsdottir Martina Bavec Ranka Junge |
| author_facet | Maja Turnšek Siv-Lene Gangenes Skar Marit Piirman Ragnheiður I. Thorarinsdottir Martina Bavec Ranka Junge |
| author_sort | Maja Turnšek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | At times of crisis, home gardening has often been sought out as a potential solution for threats to food security and as a measure to increase socio-psychological effects, such as public sense of self-efficacy, trust in the government and care for one’s wellbeing. The objective of this study was to investigate if home gardening increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring/summer of 2020 and to provide socio-psychological insights into the explanatory factors of such an increase. An explanatory theoretical model of home gardening was proposed and tested to analyse whether home gardening is correlated to food security concerns, and if so, to what extent. A non-representative survey was conducted in five European countries (Slovenia, Norway, Estonia, Switzerland, and Iceland) using snowball sampling via social media networks, reaching 1144 participants. The results showed the pandemic did prove to be an important psychological push towards home gardening prompted by food security concerns. Measured as loose as introducing at least one new gardening activity during COVID-19, this study found an approximately 10% increase in home gardening during the first wave of COVID-19 in the sample population, which was skewed towards educated, female, middle-class Europeans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:51:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-837565a5006840d5955a888566c2d88c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-7524 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:51:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Horticulturae |
| spelling | doaj.art-837565a5006840d5955a888566c2d88c2023-11-23T16:33:29ZengMDPI AGHorticulturae2311-75242022-08-018977810.3390/horticulturae8090778Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 PandemicMaja Turnšek0Siv-Lene Gangenes Skar1Marit Piirman2Ragnheiður I. Thorarinsdottir3Martina Bavec4Ranka Junge5Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaDivision Food Production and Society, Department Horticulture, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomic Research (NIBIO), 4886 Grimstad, NorwayTourism Department, University of Tartu Pärnu College, 80012 Pärnu, EstoniaRector’s Office, Agricultural University of Iceland, 311 Hvanneyri, IcelandFaculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaInstitute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), 8820 Wädenswil, SwitzerlandAt times of crisis, home gardening has often been sought out as a potential solution for threats to food security and as a measure to increase socio-psychological effects, such as public sense of self-efficacy, trust in the government and care for one’s wellbeing. The objective of this study was to investigate if home gardening increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring/summer of 2020 and to provide socio-psychological insights into the explanatory factors of such an increase. An explanatory theoretical model of home gardening was proposed and tested to analyse whether home gardening is correlated to food security concerns, and if so, to what extent. A non-representative survey was conducted in five European countries (Slovenia, Norway, Estonia, Switzerland, and Iceland) using snowball sampling via social media networks, reaching 1144 participants. The results showed the pandemic did prove to be an important psychological push towards home gardening prompted by food security concerns. Measured as loose as introducing at least one new gardening activity during COVID-19, this study found an approximately 10% increase in home gardening during the first wave of COVID-19 in the sample population, which was skewed towards educated, female, middle-class Europeans.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/8/9/778food securityhome gardeningCOVID-19food security concernswellbeingbehavioural change |
| spellingShingle | Maja Turnšek Siv-Lene Gangenes Skar Marit Piirman Ragnheiður I. Thorarinsdottir Martina Bavec Ranka Junge Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic Horticulturae food security home gardening COVID-19 food security concerns wellbeing behavioural change |
| title | Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full | Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_short | Home Gardening and Food Security Concerns during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_sort | home gardening and food security concerns during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | food security home gardening COVID-19 food security concerns wellbeing behavioural change |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/8/9/778 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT majaturnsek homegardeningandfoodsecurityconcernsduringthecovid19pandemic AT sivlenegangenesskar homegardeningandfoodsecurityconcernsduringthecovid19pandemic AT maritpiirman homegardeningandfoodsecurityconcernsduringthecovid19pandemic AT ragnheiðurithorarinsdottir homegardeningandfoodsecurityconcernsduringthecovid19pandemic AT martinabavec homegardeningandfoodsecurityconcernsduringthecovid19pandemic AT rankajunge homegardeningandfoodsecurityconcernsduringthecovid19pandemic |