We live in an age where food has never been more plentiful. Pop down to your local supermarket, and you’ll be shown so many wonderful products from all over the world for such affordable prices. There’s no denying we live in a great time. However, this increase in retail convenience means that many of us have stopped growing our own food.
Nevertheless, it’s also never been easier to grow your own vegetables, no matter how much space you’re working with at home. Not sure whether it’s the right activity for you? Here are four reasons why you’re probably going to want to consider it.
- Most Nutritionally Valuable
When you grow your own food, the diet you’re giving yourself tends to be so much more diverse than if you’re just buying the same food from the supermarket over and over again. You put so much more effort into choosing what you have. When you’re eating this food you’ve grown, it can be far healthier for you because it hasn’t gone through the processes common with large-scale practices.
The food doesn’t also tend to stay on the shelf for a long time, nor sit in transport or a storeroom, ensuring it’s much fresher, and therefore has more value to your diet.
2. You Get Outside and Active
Getting outside and getting your hands dirty is one of the most beneficial things you can do in your life. So many of us spend so much of our time working in offices or sat in front of computers, and just generally not being very active. However, growing your own vegetables can be a great way to change that around and get moving.
There are endless studies that highlight the benefits that staying active can bring into your life, including increased levels of happiness, all the benefits that come with general physical activity, and things like relieving stress, anxiety, and reducing the symptoms of depression.
3. Helping the Environment
Since you’ve not invested in food which has come from a long way around, potentially from other countries, your food’s carbon footprint will be minimized entirely. This is because you’ll be cutting back on production emissions, the packaging used to store the food, and all the transport costs, meaning the planet will be better off in the long term.
4. Saving Money
While there’s no denying that vegetables are cheap to buy no matter where you’re getting them from, it’s still not as cheap as growing it yourself. Seeds are super affordable, and the fact you get so many plants for your money means you can save a fortune in the long term.
The only investment you’ll really need to make is time, but with so many other benefits so clear, we’re sure you’ll agree it is well worth spending your energy on growing your own food.
Summary
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why growing and eating your own food can be so beneficial, and this is really just the tip of the iceberg. It can be incredibly fulfilling to grow your own food, so why not try it out for yourself and see how you get on!
