Social agriculture

Josep Vidal-Alaball

In this section, we talked about the benefits for the community and public health of things as diverse as including health in all government policies, having community health agents, implementing telemedicine services, or using neighbourhood pharmacies or drug stores and public markets to carry out social and community actions. On the same topic, I would like to relate another initiative aimed at enhancing the community’s capacities such as agriculture and social farms. Social farming is the practice of participating in family farms as a form of social support service. In return, farmers have the opportunity to increase their income by developing the provision of social services, thereby further exploiting their agricultural skills. Participants can go to the farm one to five days a week. Each social farm is unique and offers its program of activities and opportunities. Similarly, participants confirm the activities they want to participate in.

I met the family that owns the Dolan farm in South West Fermanagh, Ireland, a few months ago and they explained their social farm experience to me. This 150-year-old farm has always been owned by the Dolan family, currently consisting of Malachy Dolan, his wife, family physician Miriam Dolan, and their three children. The farm is not a farm specialized in treating people with mental and social problems, but rather continues to function as a traditional farm, but people who need support can benefit from participating in farm activities in a non-clinical environment as the owners told me: "We want to be one more community asset". Besides, this experience contributes to connecting farmers with local communities by opening their farms as part of the community's social support system.

The farm produces organic sheep and beef, but also on Fridays, the family offers a new reception service for users with special needs, derived from local social services that can help on the farm. Help consists of feeding the cattle, mowing the grass, minor repairs, and accompany them to the feed tray, or help the vet when visiting the farm livestock. The families of the participants in the experience explain that they expect Friday throughout the week. The Dolan are financially compensated for the commitment to provide the service, but they always say that the satisfaction they get in return is worth much more than the money. Currently, six more families offer this service in Northern Ireland.

The University of Wageningen, a small Dutch city, has studied the effects of social farms on participants showing that they are beneficial for young people with behavioural problems, people with mental health problems and addictions, as well as elderly people with dementia. In these population groups, it has been seen that activity on social farms reduces drug consumption, increases concentration and physical activity, and also contributes to improving diet. As an added value, interacting with the community also helps them and favours coexistence.