Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

Ecotherapy is more about urban green space access and conservation of
biodiversity, however some of its by-products can include permaculture
and organic food production or the proliferation of wild plants for urban
gardens.
Allotment gardening
Allotments or ‘allotment gardens’ are small parcels of land which are
rented out to tenants for the main purpose of cultivating food. Fields of
allotments are a familiar sight in many European countries, for example, in
the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. They enable city dwellers with little
or no land around their houses to grow their own produce and also, very
importantly, to engage with others doing the same. Thus, they serve not
only the green but also the social agenda and in some cases are settings for
green care programmes.
Gardens and allotments used to be vital sources of food for the population
in several European countries. In the UK, for example, in the early 20th
century one and a half million hectares of allotments produced about
half of all fruit and vegetables consumed domestically (Pretty, 2002).
The prominence of allotments in urban landscapes appeared after the
industrial revolution and peaked during the two World Wars when people
were encouraged to grow food in the time of shortage which lasted into the
1950s.
Allotments achieved a unique place in the culture of urban life which
is eloquently described by Crouch and Ward (1997). However, their
popularity declined during the times of plenty in the 1960s and as a result
many sites were sold off by local authorities. Vacant allotment plots have
also been rented to community groups for use as community gardens and
for social and therapeutic horticulture. Hence they serve as settings for
green care.
Recently, the area under allotments in the UK has fallen to less than fifteen
thousand hectares (Pretty, 2002) but still three hundred thousand families
garden these allotments. One estimate in 1996 showed production in excess
of two hundred thousand tonnes of fresh produce each year, worth five
hundred and sixty million pounds (Garnett, 1996). However, the popularity
of allotment gardening has once again increased, particularly among young
people. This has been aided by low rental costs and in some places there are
long waiting lists
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