The Fruits of Labor: Home Food Procurement and Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

We examine the relationship of home food procurement (HFP) during COVID-19 to emotional eating and stress using a statewide representative survey (n = 600) in Vermont. Women and people with a job change since COVID-19 were more likely to experience higher stress and emotional eating. Engaging in HFP, especially gardening, is associated with less emotional eating. However, people who fished, hunted, or canned more since the pandemic began were more likely to eat for emotional reasons and experience higher stress. These results suggest that gardening, even during a pandemic, may contribute to stress reduction, more so than other nature-based food production activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental health
• COVID-19
• victory gardens
• home food procurement
• gardening
• hunting
• fishing
• foraging

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was made possible through grants provided by The University of Vermont College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Office of the Vice President of Research, as well as a COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund grant from the Gund Institute for Environment. The funders had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.