golcar food survey 2012

Golcar Food Survey 2012

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What did we want to understand

How we did the survey - recap on the methodology and components

Who did we get completed questionnaires from

Some key findings

Local area knowledge

2

Contents



Estimate the number of residents who currently grow some of their own food

Measure the demand from residents for local food growing in the Golcar and Longwood area

Explore where residents currently grow or would like to grow their own food

Understand the barriers for residents, and the support they would need to grow their own food

Explore residents’ preferences on issues around buying locally grown food

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Survey Objectives



4

Sample Size and Coverage



A quarter of residents (26%) grow some of their own food

Of those who grow, 86% grow food in their home garden. This is 22% of all respondents.

Amongst ‘growers’, the majority (77%) grow ‘a little’ of their own food

5

How many currently Grow…

Table 4.1: Do you grow any of your own food?% All Male Female Under 35 35-64 65+

Yes 26% 26% 26% 25% 29% 25%No 74% 74% 74% 75% 71% 75%

Base: 449 respondents

Table 4.2: Where do you grow your own food? (multiple response) % of growers % of all respondentsIn your home garden 86% 22%In an allotment 14% 4%Somewhere else 12% 3%Base: 117 454

Table 4.3: How much do you grow? % of growers % of all respondentsMost of my own food 5% 1%Some of my own food 18% 5%A little of my own food 77% 20%Base: 117 454

1-in-5 grow ‘something’; 6% (1-in-16) are ‘more serious’ growers



A quarter of residents (26%) grow some of their own food

Of those who grow, 86% grow food in their home garden. This is 22% of all respondents.

Amongst ‘growers’, the majority (77%) grow ‘a little’ of their own food

6

How many currently Grow…

Table 4.1: Do you grow any of your own food?% All Male Female Under 35 35-64 65+

Yes 26% 26% 26% 25% 29% 25%No 74% 74% 74% 75% 71% 75%


Table 4.2: Where do you grow your own food? (multiple response) % of growers % of all respondentsIn your home garden 86% 22%In an allotment 14% 4%Somewhere else 12% 3%Base: 117 454

Table 4.3: How much do you grow? % of growers % of all respondentsMost of my own food 5% 1%Some of my own food 18% 5%A little of my own food 77% 20%Base: 117 454

Some comparisons to Newsome to give us a benchmark

28%

7%28%63%

1%8%18%



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Table 4.4: How much of your garden or allotment do you currently use for growing food?

All Male Female Under 35 35-64 65+

About a quarter 79% 82% 77% 92% 74% 74%

About a half 4% 0% 9% 0% 8% 4%

More than half but not all

6% 2% 7% 0% 9% 4%

All of it 11% 16% 7% 8% 9% 18%

Base: 111 respondents who grow in garden or allotment

About 1-in-10 of those who grow use ALL of their garden or allotment for food growing

Obvious difference here between gardens and allotments, between use for food and (for example) flower growing

4 out of 5 (79%) use only about a quarter of their garden/allotment for food growing. Obvious scope for encouraging increased food growing amongst those who currently grow



A third of growers said they sometimes grow more than they need

Of these 38 residents:

81% Give it away

68% Freeze it

49% Preserve it

31% Share / swap it with other gardeners

17% Compost it

12% Sell it

5% Throw it away

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What happens to any surplus…



Over half of residents who do not currently grow said they would like to grow their own food

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How many want to grow in the future…



These results give us an estimate of the demand for growing in the Golcar and Longwood area. 26% currently grow some of their own food 53% do not grow food but want to. That’s 38% of the whole sample included in the survey

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Time, land and growing skills were the key barriers to growing your own food or more of your own food…

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Barriers to growing…

Table 4.8: What stops you growing your own food or more of your own food?

All reasons

I don’t have the time 51%

I don’t have anywhere to grow food

38%

My age 16%

I have an illness or disability 13%

I’m not sure how to grow food 23%

I can’t afford the tools or equipment

15%

Other 14%




28% said they would be interested in being involved in a local food growing co-operative, either a lot (7%) or a little (21%). 32% as a worker, 29% as a supporter, 39% DK

10% knew of land locally that could be used for growing food

17% said they had part of their garden that was unused and could be used for growing food

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Available land…



56% thought it important to buy locally grown food

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Support for locally grown food…

Very important Fairly important Neither important nor unimportant

Fairly unimportant Very unimportant0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%How important is it to you to buy locally grown food?



Where to go next ?

A follow up was conducted with those who replied

Some work is already being done, community gardens preceded the questionnaire

The project which Rob will talk about had already begun.

There may be benefits to more sharing between existing projects



Questions and suggestions

golcar food survey 2012

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