1. Good food = Diverse food

Food diversity refers to the inclusion of a range of food items in one’s diet, which ensures balanced nutrition and improved immunity. Depending on the space available for gardening, urban farmers grow a variety of vegetables, from tubers, squashes, and gourds, to leafy greens, herbs, and fruits. Many of them also venture into growing sugarcane, maize, millets, and pulses.

Ashwini Gajendran, an entrepreneur by profession, began her journey of growing food in 2015 with just a few vegetable plants. Now, her garden hosts at least 23 varieties of vegetables and fruits.

“ ...now I am growing everything. I have a whole range of plants. In fact, when I am confused about what to cook, I just go to the terrace and then decide the menu ”

- Aswini Gajendran

Prathima Adiga, a chef by profession, keeps a keen eye on food diversity on her plate. She lauds the diversity of plants in her garden. She imparts her knowledge to gardening amateurs and also helps resolve any issues they face.

“ I have grown over 70 varieties of tomatoes, saved all the seeds, and shared them with many people. ”

- Prathima Adiga

2. Good food = Safe food

Safe food has become a matter of concern in cities, owing to the excessive use of poisonous chemical inputs and pesticides. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, access to safe and nutritious food became a matter of primary concern. Hence, many urban residents prefer to grow their own food, especially vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots that are consumed raw.

“ [people] are slowly but surely becoming aware of the need for safe and good food. This realisation is driving more and more people to see what they can grow for their household consumption. In fact, during the pandemic, I got a number of visits and calls from the medical fraternity. They are the people who are fully knowledgeable about the ill effects of the food they eat. ”

- A retired engineer in Mysore

“ Sometimes, when my son picks up an apple or a guava from the market and bites into it, I stop him. I am scared, since I don’t know how these fruits are grown. I would rather have my son eat what I grow in my garden, since I know that it is more nutritious. ”

- A homemaker in Bengaluru.

3. Good food = Fresh food

Harvested produce takes approximately 2–4 days to reach consumers in cities. During the long transit and handling at multiple points, perishables like fruits and vegetables lose their freshness and sometimes start rotting. For urban farmers, these issues are not pressing because they have the option to harvest and consume their own produce whenever they wish.

“ Food systems die out if we harvest and keep them for a while. The core essence, the living force, in the food system is gone. If we eat fresh food, what happens on an immediate level is that you become healthier. For instance, I have noticed personally that the radish grown on the rooftop is richer and tastier than the produce found in the market. ”

- An aspiring urban farming entrepreneur

4. Good food = Nutritious food

The importance of a nutritious diet has been in active conversation and practice since the COVID-19 outbreak. For city dwellers, it is also difficult to monitor the nutritional content of food items procured from markets. Owing to this uncertainty, many urbanites engage in farming, with the aim to fulfil the daily nutritional requirement of their families.

“ Growing your own food is nourishing. When you nourish the soil with organic matter, the soil, in turn, nourishes the plant, and the plant, in turn, nourishes us. ”

- A health and environment conscious urban farmer in Bengaluru

All these meanings and attributes that urbanites associate with food are interlinked, in the sense that urban agriculture allows access to fresh, diverse, nutritious, and safe food. As cities continue to expand, population growth and limited resources tend to pressurise urban food systems. Hence, urban gardening is one of the means by which one can contribute to the larger goals of SDG2 on Zero Hunger and SDG3 on Good Health and Wellbeing.