What are the benefits of growing your own food?

Updated: Nov 18, 2020

The number one benefit of growing your own food is that you know where your food is coming from! When you grow your own vegetables you know where they are coming from. You know that it’s not sitting on a truck being transported hundreds if not thousands of miles before it reaches your kitchen

Food safety

Growing your own food reduced the risk of food contamination
Norovirus, E-coli, Salmonella, and Listeria are the most common foodborne pathogens in Canada. According to the Government of Canada website, 1 in 8 Canadians get sick from food borne illnesses each year.
- Recalls on vegetables such as lettuce and spinach are becoming more and more common. You end up paying good money for something you can’t eat
- When you grow your own vegetables you eliminate the risk of contracting one of these potentially deadly pathogens

No chemicals

When you grow your own food, you have complete control over your growing environment
You do not have to use chemicals and pesticides in your backyard garden
There are many organic remedies that are safer for you, your family and the environment when it comes to dealing with pests or diseases in the garden
- Worst case you lose your crop, remove plants from the garden and plant something new

Have you ever heard of the “Dirty Dozen”? The “Dirty Dozen” is a list published and released each spring by The Environmental Working Group. It is a list of fruits and veggies that have been found to contain elevated levels of pesticides that have been used in commercial farming practices

Although the level of chemicals found is within safe guidelines it is still causing for concern
Strawberries, spinach, kale, tomatoes and potatoes all make the list
Oddly enough all the above mentioned can easily be growing on a home garden, what better way to ensure that your food is free of chemicals

Food is more nutritious and tastes better

There is no comparing the taste of store-bought tomatoes to that of fresh tomatoes. And when we say fresh, we mean fresh from the garden, not the sign in the grocery store proclaiming “fresh” tomatoes.
Vegetables that are left in the garden to ripen, and consumed within a few days of harvesting are higher in nutritional value and taste better than their supermarket alternatives
Most vegetables in a grocery store are harvested before they ripen so that they can be shipped to warehouses to then be distributed to stores where they may be placed on the shelf or kept in storage until needed. That's why that seemingly perfect produce you just purchased has already started to go bad
The nutritional value of produce declines as time passes
- Basically fresh-picked fruits and vegetables are higher in nutritional value and they taste better!

Saves money

Growing your own vegetables, if you stick to the basics and don’t go overboard on the fanciest gardening gadgets will save you money
The basic gardening startup is not too expensive when compared to the amount of good that can be produced
Gardens don’t have to be large to produce enough money to save money
- Grow vegetables that you like to eat a lot of
- For example, growing your own greens is one of the best ways to save money. Generally, you can plan to spend at least 5 dollars or a package of salad greens at your local store each time you make a purchase. A pack of seeds costs well under 5 dollars and will grow for a long period of time producing multiple harvests. You also aren't going to pay good money for something that you may end up throwing out because you can’t use it before it goes bad. Having an endless supply of salad greens allows you to pick only what you are going to use at each meal

"Gives you a better appreciation of gardening and food production. Growing your own food allows you to learn more about what you are eating"

Fun Outdoor exercise

Gardening provides you with the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine
Gardening provides low impact exercise such as weeding, digging, turning soil (by hand), planting and other garden tasks are great sources of exercise
Regular physical activity is proven to reduce stress, release tension and improve overall well-being
Gardening is a fun exercise because you not only get the satisfaction of moving your body but you also get fresh, healthy food out of it

Get your kids into too! Gardening is a calming therapy and great learning experience for kids.

Less food waste

In 2016 28% of all waste in Canadian landfills was organic waste. Organic waste makes up the second-largest group next to paper. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/solid-waste-diversion-disposal.html
2.6 million tonnes of food waste, let that sink in. That's a lot of food waste…
Growing your own food prevents you from wasting food because you are more inclined to use everything you grow in one way or another.
If you grow too much, you are likely to give it away to family or friends rather than throw it out because you grew it, your hard work needs to be enjoyed!
The vegetables that you grow but can't eat fresh you can preserve for later use through the winter months
Any trimming or vegetables that spoil can be used in home composts to keep it out of landfills