Cultivating resilient communities: The role of home/community gardening in the Illawarra–Shoalhaven region of Australia

Abstract Growing food in private and community contexts within urban and peri‐urban settings can support a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable local food system. This study presents a situational analysis of the Illawarra–Shoalhaven region of Australia, examining the prevalence and characteristics of home and community gardening. Desktop research mapped community gardens registered with the region's four municipal councils. Surveys were conducted with community garden representatives ( n = 16) and home growers ( n = 149) to explore the inputs, outputs and distribution channels and to understand values, motivations and challenges of the growers. Descriptive statistics were generated for all reported measures and free text survey responses were analyzed using deductive thematic analysis. The study identified a diverse cohort of growers who were motivated by social, health and environmental values. Growers used predominantly conventional methods to cultivate private and shared gardens, resulting in the production of diverse fruit, vegetable and animal products to feed their household, or to trade/donate within their neighborhood. Both home and community gardeners found support in grassroots community organizations, though experienced a range of challenges including insufficient access to secure and sunny arable land/space for gardening, lack of time, skills and knowledge to garden, inadequate resources and equipment, as well as volunteer burnout. These challenges were perceived to disproportionately affect lower income households and busier households. Expanding the network of home and community gardens in the Illawarra–Shoalhaven can enhance a healthy, equitable, and sustainable local food system. However, long‐term success for civic food networks in this and other high‐income urbanized settings, requires both “bottom‐up” forces, such as residents’ self‐organization, and “top‐down” support through local/state government programs and policies.