Grow your own – 2024

Growing food to feel better, eat better and help the planet
by Evie Simpson

Most Australians grow food, or are interested in doing so. Younger people are most likely to express interest in growing, but often lack the space or skills required. This demonstrates the need for gardening programs and investment in community gardens.

The Australia Institute partnered with Grow It Local to conduct a national survey on food growing habits, attitudes towards food waste and concerns about food security.

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,008 Australians between 23 and 30 August 2024, asking a range of questions about growing food, food waste and food security.

Some 361,000 tonnes of food waste, equivalent to seven Sydney Harbour Bridges, are diverted from landfill each year by composting and worm farming in food-growing households.

Key Findings

  • Over four in ten (45%) Australians grow some of their own food, or around 9 million Australians.
  • The most common reasons to grow food were to access food that is healthy (69%) and to save money (60%).
  • The overwhelming majority (81%) of Australians who grow some of their own food do so in their own backyard; the next most popular locations were a verge garden (28%), the front yard (19%) and on a balcony (13%).
  • Two thirds of growers (67%) say that growing food makes them feel happy and relaxed, and half (51%) say that it makes them feel healthy.
  • The overwhelming majority (84%) of Australians who grow some of their own food grow vegetables, and over half (55%) grow fruit trees and herbs.
  • Almost two in three (64%) growers say that growing food has helped them understand and reinforce the role of composting and worm farming in diverting waste from landfill. Two in three (67%) growers also compost, use a worm farm, or use both. Extrapolating across Australia, this means that three million households grow food and compost or worm farm, diverting at least 361,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year, equivalent to seven Sydney Harbour Bridges.
  • Of those Australians who do not grow their own food, almost two thirds (64%) of are interested in doing so. Younger Australians are more likely to want to grow their own food, with almost four in five (78%) Australians aged 18–39 saying they are interested in growing their own food.
  • The most common factors stopping Australians from growing their own food is space, with more than three in five (61%) identifying lack of space as a barrier.

Full report

Full Polling Results

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