Care farming
Encyclopedia
Care farming is the therapeutic use of farming practices. Care farms utilise the whole or part of a farm, provide health, social or educational care services for one or a range of vulnerable groups of people and provide a supervised, structured programme of farming-related activities.
The purpose of care farming is to promote mental and physical health by giving people the opportunity to spend time working on the land. Care farms can provide supervised, structured programs of farming-related activities, including animal husbandry, crop and vegetable production and woodland management.
On a care farm, people, animals and the earth work together for mutual healing, attempting to alleviate the affects of nature deficit disorder
.
More recently , agricultural multifunctionality has given a boost to the development of care farming. Farmers are seeking new sources of income and a reinforced relation with society and their direct customers (license to produce).
Benjamin Rush
(1746-1813) is said to be one of the first medical scienticts referring to the positive effects of the practice of horticultural on the well-being of mentally diseased. Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence
and professor of (a.o.) medical theory at the University of Pennsylvania, published 5 books in a series of Medical Inquiries and Observations, the last being concerned with The Diseases of The Mind (1812). In this volume, the practice of horticulture is mentioned twice.
Care farms may be large scale or small scale, both in terms of agricultural production as well as in number of clients for the care services provided. In general however, there are less care farmers to be found in large scale, intensive, industrial agriculture
.
A significant number of care farms focus on organic farming
. One reason may be the need for extensive manual labour and direct contact with plants or farm animals in the organic farming processes. Another reason may be the focus on a local market, i.e. customers from around the farm interested in buying local and sustainable food.
Though participating in market-oriented agricultural productivity (providing agricultural produce for the market) may contribute to a client's healing process and/or sense of well-being (i.e. feeling useful for society), there are numerous care farms where the farm activities are subservient to the therapeutic process. Depending on what the focus of the farm is, the activities that are offered on the farm may depend on the type of clients the farm targets or the type of available agricultural processes on the farm.
Some care farms serve as animal sanctuaries
to provide homes for formerly abused animals.
More specifically there are various types and levels of care provided by care farms, ranging from a minumum of professional care to offering specific horticultural therapy or animal-assisted therapy
activities - sometimes a combination. In this case, offering a minimum of professional care mostly is a deliberate choice by the care farmer, who aims to focus on the capabilities of the people working at his farm, rather than on their disabilities or illness. This approach may also be reflected in the way clients are addressed, e.g. not as clients or patients, but as help-farmers.
In a number of cases, a combination of two target groups has proven to be of use to both groups of people, e.g. (former) drug addicts working alongside people with down syndrome
.
Target groups may include children, adolescents, adults and/or older people.
The purpose of care farming is to promote mental and physical health by giving people the opportunity to spend time working on the land. Care farms can provide supervised, structured programs of farming-related activities, including animal husbandry, crop and vegetable production and woodland management.
On a care farm, people, animals and the earth work together for mutual healing, attempting to alleviate the affects of nature deficit disorder
Nature deficit disorder
Nature Deficit Disorder, a term coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods, refers to the alleged trend that children are spending less time outdoors, resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems...
.
History
Various situations and developments in the past have lead people to discover the value of care farming and / or contributed to how care farming is practiced today.- Need for self sufficiency in case of outcasts or socially excluded (incl. assylums for mentally ill)
- Lack of proper, professional care facilities in rural areas (staying home on the farm)
- Anthroposophic communities and other idealistic, self-sufficient communities
More recently , agricultural multifunctionality has given a boost to the development of care farming. Farmers are seeking new sources of income and a reinforced relation with society and their direct customers (license to produce).
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
(1746-1813) is said to be one of the first medical scienticts referring to the positive effects of the practice of horticultural on the well-being of mentally diseased. Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
and professor of (a.o.) medical theory at the University of Pennsylvania, published 5 books in a series of Medical Inquiries and Observations, the last being concerned with The Diseases of The Mind (1812). In this volume, the practice of horticulture is mentioned twice.
It has been remarked, that the maniacs of the male sex in all hospitals, who assist in cutting wood, making fires, and digging in a garden, and the females who are employed in washing, ironing, and scrubbing floors, often recover, while persons, whose rank exempts them from performing such services, languish away their lives within the walls of the hospital.
Types of farms
Care farms may support various agricultural production processes and related activities. Farm types may range from dairy farms to poultry farms, from livestock keeping for meat production to manege / horse riding schools, from orchards and vineyards to market gardens.Care farms may be large scale or small scale, both in terms of agricultural production as well as in number of clients for the care services provided. In general however, there are less care farmers to be found in large scale, intensive, industrial agriculture
Industrial agriculture
Industrial farming is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops. The methods of industrial agriculture are technoscientific, economic, and political...
.
A significant number of care farms focus on organic farming
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
. One reason may be the need for extensive manual labour and direct contact with plants or farm animals in the organic farming processes. Another reason may be the focus on a local market, i.e. customers from around the farm interested in buying local and sustainable food.
Though participating in market-oriented agricultural productivity (providing agricultural produce for the market) may contribute to a client's healing process and/or sense of well-being (i.e. feeling useful for society), there are numerous care farms where the farm activities are subservient to the therapeutic process. Depending on what the focus of the farm is, the activities that are offered on the farm may depend on the type of clients the farm targets or the type of available agricultural processes on the farm.
Some care farms serve as animal sanctuaries
Animal sanctuary
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and be protected for the rest of their lives. Unlike animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek to place animals with individuals or groups, instead maintaining each animal until his or her natural death...
to provide homes for formerly abused animals.
Types of care
Generally, care farms offer opportunities for:- Day care
- Living and working
- Reintegration
- Temporary stay
More specifically there are various types and levels of care provided by care farms, ranging from a minumum of professional care to offering specific horticultural therapy or animal-assisted therapy
Animal-Assisted Therapy
Animal-assisted therapy is a relatively new field of study, although the human-animal bond has existed for thousands of years. AAT is a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment. The goal of AAT is to improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning...
activities - sometimes a combination. In this case, offering a minimum of professional care mostly is a deliberate choice by the care farmer, who aims to focus on the capabilities of the people working at his farm, rather than on their disabilities or illness. This approach may also be reflected in the way clients are addressed, e.g. not as clients or patients, but as help-farmers.
Target groups
Care farms may offer care to one or more different target groups, e.g.:- people with learning disabilities
- physically impaired
- people with mental health issues (e.g. autismAutismAutism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, down syndromeDown syndromeDown syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
, dementiaDementiaDementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
) - people with work-related stress and burn-out
- veterans (numerous examples in the United States of America)
- people with employability challenges
- refugees / assylum seekers
- (former) drugs or alcohol problems
- convicts / people currently in penitentiary
In a number of cases, a combination of two target groups has proven to be of use to both groups of people, e.g. (former) drug addicts working alongside people with down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
.
Target groups may include children, adolescents, adults and/or older people.
National care farming organisations and networks
- National Care Farming Initiative (United Kingdom)
- Care Farming Scotland (United Kingdom)
- Inn paa tunet (Norway)
- Agriculture & Care Federation (Netherlands)
- Support office for Green Care (Flanders, Belgium)
- Green Care Plattform (Austria)
- Green Care – Plattform für Akteure und Nutzende im Bereich Umwelt und Gesundheit (Schweiz)
Other care farming groups
Care farms (examples)
Further reading
- Green exercise (University of Essex)
- Supporting policies for Social Farming in Europe. Progressing Multifunctionality in Responsive Rural Areas
- Editors Francesco Di Iacovo, Deirdre O’Connor, 2009
- Editor Joost Dessein, 2007
- Editors Jan Hassink, Majken van Dijk, 2005
See also
- Animal-assisted therapyAnimal-Assisted TherapyAnimal-assisted therapy is a relatively new field of study, although the human-animal bond has existed for thousands of years. AAT is a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment. The goal of AAT is to improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning...
- Horticultural therapy
- Green exerciseGreen exerciseGreen exercise refers to physical exercise undertaken in relatively natural environments. Physical exercise is well known to provide health benefits. There is also good evidence that viewing and being in natural environments has calming and positive mood effects...
- EcopsychologyEcopsychologyEcopsychology connects psychology and ecology. Its political and practical goals are to show humans ways of healing alienation and to build a "sane" society and a sustainable culture. Theodore Roszak is credited with coining the term in his 1992 book, The Voice of the Earth...
- Prison farmPrison farmA prison farm is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are put to economical use in a 'farm' , usually for manual labour, largely in open air, such as in agriculture, logging, quarrying, etc...