Urban Agriculture for Senior Immigrants
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Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com Planting roots: Urban agriculture for senior immigrants Mary Beckiea Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta Eva Bogdan Project Officer, Community Futures Alberta Submitted 22 June 2010 / Accepted 26 October 2010/ Published online November 2010 Citation: Beckie, M. and Bogdan, E. (2010, November). Planting roots: Urban agriculture for senior immigrants. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 1(2): 77–89. doi:10.5304/jafscd.2010.012.004 Copyright © 2010 by New Leaf Associates, Inc. Abstract also contributing to the evolution of local food In 2007, a community-university pilot project was systems and more inclusive communities. launched in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to train and involve senior immigrants in Small Plot Keywords Intensive (SPIN)-Farming, a commercial approach senior immigrants, urban agriculture, SPIN- to urban agriculture. Immigrants represent a Farming, social enterprise, community-university significant proportion of the senior population in partnership urban Canada, but their adaptation and integration into Canadian society can be extremely challenging. Introduction and Background We hypothesized that involvement in commercial urban agriculture could help to address some of the Seniors, Immigrants and Urban Agriculture economic as well as social issues they face. The past half century has seen a major shift in the Evaluation of the project’s impacts in year one was world’s population from rural areas to urban based primarily on qualitative interviews with parti- centers, and increasing migration from Southern to cipants and community organizers following the Northern cities (UN-Habitat, 2004). In Canada, training and implementation phases. Although recent census data indicates that 6.2 million people, limited income was generated as a result of or 19.8% of the total population, are immigrants,1 modifications to the SPIN-Farming approach, this the highest proportion in 75 years (Statistics research suggests that involvement in commercial Canada, 2006). One quarter of the current immi- urban agriculture can contribute to the integration grant population is aged 65 and older, and 80% of of senior immigrants into Canadian society, while 1 According to Statistics Canada, an immigrant is defined as a person who is, or has been, a landed immigrant in Canada. A a corresponding author: Assistant Professor, Faculty of landed immigrant is a person who has been granted the right Extension, University of Alberta, 10230 Jasper Avenue, to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. It Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 4P6 Canada; should be noted that immigrant status is distinct from refugee [email protected] status. Volume 1, Issue 2 / Fall 2010 77 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com these seniors2 live in census metropolitan areas on individual and community health and well- (Statistics Canada, 2006). being. In a summary of results from two decades of research on urban agriculture, Canada’s Inter- The integration of senior immigrants into Canadian national Development Research Council (IDRC) life, and their overall health and well-being, is identifies several benefits of urban agriculture, influenced by a number of socio-economic and including improved access to fresh and nutritious environmental circumstances, such as economic food, reduced food costs, physical exercise, therapy security, social inclusion and exclusion, food and recreation, income generation, reduced food security, and housing (Durst, 2005). For recent miles,4 urban greening,5 and community capacity- senior immigrants, financial security can be a building (Mougeot, 2006). Increased social engage- pressing concern as eligibility for the Canada ment experienced through urban agriculture and pension plan is dependent upon having lived in direct marketing has been shown to positively Canada for 10 years or more (Durst, 2005; Service correlate with personal attention to health care and Canada, 2010). This and other variables identified wellness, and provides opportunities for relation- as social determinants of health3 are viewed as ship-building and information exchange (Bellows, having an equal if not more important impact on Brown, & Smit, 2003). an individual’s health than medical care and personal health behaviors (Raphael, 2004; Public A number of studies have investigated the role of Health Agency of Canada, 2010). gardening in the health and well-being of older adults. Milligan, Gatrell, and Bingley (2004) found Urban agriculture, whether focused on household that gardening offers isolated seniors a reason to consumption or commercial enterprise, has proven leave their households and engage in the wider to be an effective way for many minority groups to landscape. Furthermore, they report that com- become integrated into the socio-economic fabric munal gardening can create an inclusive space in of the cultures and countries to which they which seniors “benefit from gardening activity in a immigrate (Hannah & Oh, 2000; Mougeot, 2006, mutually supportive environment that combats Redwood, 2009; Valtonen, 2004). In Montreal, social isolation and contributes to the development Italian and Portuguese immigrants were instru- of their social networks” (2004, p. 1781). Working mental in establishing the first community gardens with soil and plants improves seniors’ mental during the 1970s, and the city’s community garden health and personal wellness by contributing to a program continues to have a strong multicultural sense of achievement, satisfaction, and aesthetic presence (Cosgrove, 2010; Mougeot, 2006). Several pleasure, and increased confidence and self-esteem other urban agriculture programs and projects (Brown, Allen, Dwozan, Mercer, & Warren, 2004; involving immigrants are currently underway across Milligan et al., 2004; Patel, 1991). Gardening has North America, such as the Field to Table Urban also been shown to induce relaxation, and reduce Agriculture project run by Food Share in Toronto fear, anger, and stress in older adults, which in turn (www.foodshare.net), Cob Connection in Chicago affects physical health (Milligan et al., 2004). (www.cobconnection.org), and Heifer Inter- national’s programs in various cities across the Despite significant evidence of the socio-economic United States (www.heifer.org). benefits of urban agriculture for immigrants, and On a broader social scale, there is increasing evi- 4 Food miles is a term that refers to the distance food is dence that urban agriculture has positive impacts transported from the site of production to the site of consumption. 5 Urban green space is a term that refers to public and private 2 The Canadian government defines seniors as individuals 65 spaces in urban areas that are primarily covered by vegetation. years of age and older. Increasing urban green spaces, referred to as urban greening, is 3 http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/determinants/index- seen to play a prominent role in enhancing the sustainability eng.php and livability of a city. 78 Volume 1, Issue 2 / Fall 2010 Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.AgDevJournal.com other studies reporting on the positive impacts of ordered through the SPIN website gardening on seniors’ health and well-being, the (www.spinfarming.com). Over the past five years, linking of senior immigrants with commercial Satzewich and Vandersteen have delivered several urban agriculture has not been previously reported. SPIN training workshops throughout North The research described in this paper is, to the best America. In addition to the SPIN-Farming manual, of our knowledge, the first investigation of this an economic analysis of the five-year SPIN kind. We set out to explore if involvement with initiative in Philadelphia is available on the SPIN Small Plot Intensive Farming (SPIN-Farming), a website (Urban Partners, 2007). Thus, as a well commercial approach to urban agriculture, could developed, tested, and accessible method, SPIN- contribute to immigrant seniors’ adaptation and Farming was identified as a plausible way to integration into urban life in Canada, and improve introduce senior immigrants in Edmonton to their overall health and well-being. commercial urban agriculture. SPIN-Farming Research Purpose, Methodology, Small Plot Intensive Farming, also known as SPIN- and Methods Farming, is a commercial approach to urban agri- Senior immigrants represent a vulnerable and culture developed by Wally Satzewich and Gail poorly understood, but significant, segment of Vandersteen, two market gardeners based in Canadian society (Durst, 2005). As many senior Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. This method immigrants living in Edmonton were known to integrates relay planting,6 to maximize harvest come from rural and farming backgrounds, it was volume as well as economic gain, and organic hypothesized that providing them with an oppor- farming methods,7 which reduce reliance on tunity to become involved in a commercial external inputs by eliminating the use of synthet- approach to urban agriculture could help to ically manufactured fertilizers and pesticides. address the economic, social, and health challenges SPIN-Farming requires moderate start-up costs they face. To test this hypothesis, we investigated and low operating and overhead costs, and has the impacts resulting from senior immigrants’