Fields in Trust report, “Revaluing Parks and Green Spaces” aims to change perceptions by establishing a baseline for the value that parks and green spaces contribute to health and wellbeing rather than simply being judged by what they cost to maintain. The £34 billion of wellbeing benefits are a result of people enjoying greater life satisfaction including both improved physical and mental health, directly as a result of regularly using parks and green spaces.
Sustain is looking into how the public benefits of food growing on public greenspace can be valued and is searching for good examples such as Wish Park in Hove where local residents turned an area of mown grass into a community food growing space. The vegetable garden has energised the park and is a conversation starter revealing there are a lot of lonely people who benefit from visiting a more interesting park. The Friends of Wish Park have noticed personal benefits, not only to their own health but also to park visitors. Elderly people who live in the flats nearby and do not have a garden anymore can sit on the bench and remember their own gardens. Email more examples to gillian@sustainweb.org
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
