Sellable Benefits Of Community Gardens
Community and urban gardens are increasingly popular throughout the country and are a great way to cultivate new customers and invest in the industry. By coordinating or supporting these projects, growers and retailers are connecting more deeply with their communities and introducing gardening to a new audience that previously may not have had the space, resources, knowledge or even interest to grow something of their own.
According to the 2011-2012 Community Gardening Organization Survey, conducted by the American Community Gardening Association and Rutgers University, participants in community gardens identified the following benefits they received. This list is a great tool for building interest with today’s greener, more urban, more local-focused consumers:
Benefits Of Community Gardens
Benefits of participating in a community garden | Percent of respondents listing these as primary or secondary benefits |
---|---|
Food production and access | 99.7% |
Nutrition/improved diet | 99.5% |
Social engagement /well-being | 99.5% |
Exercise/physical activity | 98.6% |
Individual personal satisfaction | 97.8% |
Education specifically about gardening | 96.7% |
Environmental benefits | 95.9% |
Intergenerational activities | 94.0% |
Education | 86.1% |
Inter-cultural communication | 85.1% |
Neighborhood revitalization | 78.7% |
Horticultural therapy | 68.1% |
Art | 55.7% |
Job training | 41.6% |
Income generation | 34.0% |
Other | 33.6% |