You hear it all the time nowadays about how human-impact is affecting the planet and how we need to cut-down on fuel and other resources. Some people do take this to heart and start trying to help where they can: switching off lights when unnecessary, walking or cycling to work, using public transport more often, etc. These people, whilst their efforts are good and they are doing a great job in helping to lower our impact on the environment, remain a minority and the majority of us don't change at all.
One thing that can be done to help reduce our affect on the environment would be to simply grow our own food which comes with many benefits for doing so. Obviously when I say simply grow your own food I mean the concept is simple, the actual work that is needed to produce your own fruit and vegetables can be quite hard work but that's something that usually comes with something beneficial.
1. Health
A great benefit that will come with growing your own fruit and veg will be in the form of the health benefits. What you are going to be growing is going to be healthy (I hope anyway) and so you will be getting these nutritional foods into your system which your body needs.
I won't talk to much into the healthiness of fruits and vegetables but instead refer you to two different posts you may be interested in: Benefits of Individual Vegetables (Part 1), and Benefits of Individual Fruits (Part 1).
Also a third post you may like: The Benefits of a Healthy Diet.
2. Keeps you Productive
When at home their is often a temptation to not do much and relax, and why not? I mean that's what homes are for - relaxing and getting some time to ourselves. However, being productive is a great way to pass time and can in itself be not only relaxing and enjoyable but also rewarding.
In fact it's good to keep ourselves productive and busy as we're designed to work, it's in our nature. Often people who have worked their whole life and then later on go into retirement find it boring as they have nothing to do (this isn't the case for everyone but it's something that a lot of people do feel, and maybe that's why a lot of the older generation like to spend their time gardening as it does keep them busy). You can set yourself personal goals too which is always good to do.
Here's a related post to this point: 21 Ways to Boost Productivity.
3. Saves Money
Another great benefit you will gain with growing your on food, which I'm sure that a lot of us will welcome, is the money-saving part. If you're going to grow your own fruit and veg then you will not have to pay for them at the shops and packets of seeds don't cost much at all. Of course when you first start out you will have to as you will need to wait for your plants to grow, and will have to go through a trial-and-error approach to how much of a certain thing you should grow etc, but after these things you will certainly start to notice a reduction in financial payouts towards food. Some people become almost self-sufficient once they have a system up and running.
You can also preserve food for use during other seasons and grow different variates of fruit and vegetables during the different seasons of the year.
4. Better Taste
This is often said about home-grown fruit and veg. The food will be straight from your garden (or allotment or somewhere) and will be what is really fresh. Fresh fruit and veg from the shops are fresh but won't be nearly as fresh as your home-grown stuff, they could have been sat there for a day or two and would have taken some time in getting delivered to the store too, all-in-all not being as fresh as yours.
The satisfaction that comes with growing your own food could also enhance the taste in your mind but the freshness will definitely make the taste better.
5. Exercise
Whilst it may not be on the same level as cross-country and other exercise of that nature, gardening can be quite the strenuous activity in itself. Of course the more you have to do the more hard work it will be but when you have to lift and dig and walk here and there, can after some time become quite the form of activity.
6. Satisfaction
As briefly mentioned in point # 4 growing your own fruit and veg will bring you a sense of satisfaction. It's great when you put in hard work and see the fruits of your labour (excuse the pun), not only does it inspire you to continue your work but it also is a very rewarding and satisfactory experience. From nursing them from small saplings to full-grown plants - this joy is a great feeling and will help with confidence of your own abilities.
7. Reduces food waste
People throw away hundreds of pounds-worth of food every year. The reason why growing your own fruit and veg will reduce the amount of food you throw-away will be because after weeks of loving-care that you have put into growing these plants you will be less inclined to throw them rather than ones bought from the supermarket in 10 minutes. You'll want to get full-use of all your plants and so wasting them will not be on your agenda.
You will still have food waste but less of it.
8. Composting
Any food that is of waste or is bad that you have grown can be put immediately into a compost bin. This will save you money on compost (if you're a keen gardener) which you can use in the future for helping future fruit and vegetables grow, a great way to recycle. This is another benefit which can come from the growing your own food and which can help with reducing your impact on the environment.
9. Pesticide-free food
Contamination of food from pesticides and other chemicals that many farms spray onto their food because of the mass-production of crops that they don't want to be touched by insects and various other things, will not be upon your home-grown food and is something that you will not need to worry about. You will know that your food is clean and safe to eat.
10. Family activity
Growing your own food can become a daily commitment and if you are looking for a family activity for you all to participate in - this could be it. It will be a great chance to talk to one another and the fresh air is great for your mood and health.
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