Church, A, Mitchell, R, Ravenscroft, N and Stapleton, L M (2015) ‘Growing your own’: a multi-level modelling approach to understanding personal food growing trends and motivations in Europe. Ecological Economics, 110. pp. 71-80. ISSN 0921-8009

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Abstract

Growing food for personal and family consumption is a significant global activity, but one that has received
insufficient academic attention, particularly in developed countries. This paper uses data from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) to address three areas of particular concern: the prevalence of growing your own food and how this has changed over time; the individual and household context in which growing takes place; and whether those who grow their own food are happier than those who do not. Results showed that there
was a marked increase in growing your own food in Europe, in the period 2003–2007. This increase is largely
associated with poorer households and thus, possibly, economic hardship. In the UK however the increase in
growing your own food is predominantly associated with older middle class households. Across Europe, whether
causal or not, those who grew their own were happier than those who did not. The paper therefore concludes
that claims about the gentrification of growing your own may be premature. Despite contrary evidence from
the UK, the dominant motive across Europe appears to be primarily economic — to reduce household expenditure
whilst ensuring a supply of fresh food.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Business, Management and Economics > SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) > G0001 Geography (General)
Depositing User:	Lee Stapleton
Date Deposited:	12 Jan 2015 13:29
Last Modified:	07 Mar 2017 14:47
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52043

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