Photo: Bekky Bekks | Unsplash
Over years of working on community food projects, Catherine Howell noticed that as well as the biodiversity benefits of saving and sharing seeds, there seemed to be a positive impact on the growers. To test her hypothesis, Howell set up a pilot project. Fifteen people who were experiencing challenges with mental wellbeing took part, meeting throughout 2024. Participants produced a crop of their choice and harvested the seed. Each session began with a mental health check-in, and at the beginning and end of the course participants were asked to score their mental wellbeing. Despite facing challenges over the year, the average score had risen by 6%, with the biggest increases in those who had felt lowest initially. One participant’s score went from 2/5 to 4/5. Howell asked participants how much the positive change was attributable to growing seed, as opposed to being in the group or being outside. “They said: ‘It’s the seed that’s made the difference.’ It was the feeling of the creation of an abundance,” said Howell.
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