Sarah Marriott outlines a new dimension to growing your own fruit and veg
Is urban or rural life better for your health? When it comes to diet, people living in towns and cities often eat more healthily than people in rural areas, according to researchers into the first North-West Community Food Programme
"Ironically, people in the country areas were eating less fruit and vegetables than those in Sligo town, because people in town have better access to cheaper fruit and veg in supermarkets," says Dr Perry Share, head of humanities at Sligo Institute of Technology, who co-ordinated the project evaluation.
This ground-breaking Community Food Programme set out to teach people in Sligo town and in Rossinver, Co Leitrim, how to grow and cook organic food in order to improve their heart health.
Initiated in 2004 by the North Western Health Board (NWHB) and the Organic Centre in Co Leitrim as part of the Government's Cardiovascular Strategy, it is the first of its kind in Ireland.
This year, the scheme has received funding to expand into other parts of the region.
"We know that eating more fruit and vegetables can significantly reduce the incidence of heart disease, stroke and certain cancers," says Dr Prannie Rhatigan of the NWHB. "The idea behind this programme is to encourage people on low incomes to increase their intake of fruit and vegetables."
When the novice gardeners first saw their weed-filled, overgrown plots, they had little idea of the "how to" of growing, says gardener Aisling O'Connor. "They were interested in health and nutrition but didn't have much knowledge about gardening.
"This course has destroyed the mystique about gardening. They've learnt how to sow, plant and harvest vegetables and know how to improve soil fertility and rotate crops," says O'Connor.
"They seem to like gardening as a leisure activity and enjoy being in touch with nature - it's 'time out' from their busy lives."
After a couple of months of hard work, by mid-summer the plots were bursting with healthy looking beans, potatoes, beans, mangetout, courgettes and beetroot as well as soft fruit and herbs.
One sign of success is that the new gardeners visited the plot outside 'class'.
Sligowoman Ita Charles has become a keen gardener and popped in to check on the community plot at St Michael's Family Life Centre regularly during the growing season, for some "therapeutic" weeding.
Although Charles believes it's important to eat well and buys organic vegetables for her family, she had little idea about growing food before the course.
"I like the activity of gardening and I like to see the progression each time I visit," she says.
Another city dweller often brought a bucket of kitchen waste for the compost bin while others contributed newspapers which were used to keep down weeds.
"People starting the course were enthusiastic and keen to talk about food," says Dr Share.
"Some had never eaten a courgette or a Jerusalem artichoke, never mind grown one - but most had a strong interest in food issues and felt unease about food safety, the environment, the difficulties of small farmers and the power that supermarkets have over what they eat.
"The group in Rossinver had clear ideas about wanting to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables while those in Sligo were more dubious because they already eat more.
"A lot of these projects - city farms or allotments - in other countries are urban but the Irish situation seems to be different. People in country areas seem to need them more," he says.
After the success of their first harvest, most of the new gardeners say they are eating and cooking more fresh food and are now more likely to buy organic produce in shops.
However, as with all preventative health measures, the project's success in reducing heart disease is hard to quantify.
"It's not a quick fix," says Dr Rhatigan.
"The idea is to change people's eating habits over time and reduce the amount of heart disease and cancer in the long term," he says.