最新糖心Vlog

Research led by the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide has found in a case study of Adelaide properties, households would need to give up less than a quarter of their domestic lawn areas to grow enough vegetables to become self-sufficient.

In the study published in Sustainable Cities and Society, researchers calculated self-sufficiency by measuring the capacity of private vegetable gardens to supply the recommended daily vegetable intake of residents. Then using airborne photography (similar to Google Earth) of properties across three sites representative of Adelaide鈥檚 geographical spread, Aldinga in the south, Gawler (north) and Burnside (central), they modelled whether there would be enough lawn area to grow a sufficient vegetable supply.



The researchers found that 93 per cent of the residential blocks in the study could be self-sufficient for vegetable production.

PhD student Isobel Hume from the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide鈥檚 School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, says that by getting a birds-eye view with airborne photography, they were able to identify land area immediately available for vegetable production.

鈥淲e looked at lawn areas because they can more readily be transformed into vegetable gardens than spaces such as driveways, trees, and street verges, which were considered in previous research looking at self-sufficiency through urban agriculture,鈥� Ms Hume said.

We chose Adelaide for the case study to model self-sufficiency because with approximately 400 people per square kilometres, Adelaide is a low density city, it is situated on a productive agricultural landscape, and a high percentage of dwellings (75 percent) are free standing houses.

鈥淎dditionally, each of the sites we looked at in the study has a unique settlement history. For example, Gawler was South 最新糖心Vlog鈥檚 first regional settlement and was historically separate from Adelaide, but as the population has increased along with urban sprawl, it now marks the greater north Adelaide region.鈥�

The study also found that under high yields, just 23% of domestic lawn areas would be required to grow enough vegetables to meet the recommended daily vegetable intake.
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鈥淲e were surprised that this percentage is so low. So people really can have their lawn and eat too."PhD student Isobel Hume

The research acknowledges that other resources are required to achieve and maintain high yields of vegetable production, including water, time (labour) and nutrients, and further research is needed.

鈥淲e felt it important to focus on land availability first because if you don鈥檛 have the land it鈥檚 really a deal breaker even if the other resources are available,鈥� Ms Hume said.

Project leader and Professor of Soil Ecology, Tim Cavagnaro, said while there has always been lots of interest in urban agriculture (growing your own food), historically this focus is heighted in times of stress.

鈥淒uring World War II when the agricultural industry was struggling due to massive labour shortages and severe drought, people turned over their front and back yards to vegetable gardens, which became known as 鈥榲ictory gardens鈥�, with people selling off their excess vegetables to raise funds for the war effort,鈥� Professor Cavagnaro said.

鈥淚n terms of more recent stress, during COVID we saw increased interest in urban agriculture, with restrictions around going to the shops opening people鈥檚 eyes to the idea of growing their own food.鈥�
Professor Cavagnaro says in addition to allowing people to becoming more self-sufficient, urban agriculture also has a number of social and environmental benefits.

鈥淧eople may be less likely to waste food they have grown themselves, and a greater sense of community may be developed with people sharing or trading their excess with their neighbours,鈥� Professor Cavagnaro said.

鈥淭hen there are the benefits to help us adapt to climate change. Although not so bad here in SA, in some parts of the world, food travels a great distance before it is consumed, so urban agriculture is a way of reducing food miles. People may also learn to eat more seasonally, which could reduce demand for foods coming from interstate or overseas.鈥�

Professor Cavagnaro says that a threat to self-sufficiency through urban agriculture is changes to housing and land size, as we try to accommodate more people in our cities.

鈥淏igger houses on smaller blocks could impact the plausibility for self-sufficiency, so if we are going to factor urban agriculture into plans to help feed future generations it could be important from a city planning perspective to preserve some land for food production,鈥� Professor Cavagnaro said.
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