Is food an important element of care farming?

During a recent online course I found myself trying to answer a question - Is food an important element of care farming? I was unsure if the person meant food production on farms, such as growing crops, fruits and vegetables, or preparing and sharing food as part of a care farming day.

My first thought was no, because the academic care farming literature describes how the three key elements for the client experiencing care farming are: having supportive social interactions, being in an outdoor environment, and having purposeful work to do on any type of farm. But then I thought, hey, maybe food is an important element after all if I considered growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing food as pieces of the care farming day or experience.

Green care as we would it recognise today, began in Medieval Europe. Restorative Monastic gardens were often established in the grounds nearby and purposefully designed to support and care of the sick and infirm. Such gardens offered a chance for people, including the monks themselves, to spend time in nature, perhaps in solitude or with other people, and carry out meaningful work such as growing fruit and vegetables or tending to the livestock. These gardens physically fed the patients and the monks while also nourishing the body, mind and spirit. 

In Europe, farms and gardens have existed in partnership with hospitals and other communities such as prisons, for hundreds of years. But in the UK, a gradual move to separate hospitals from farms and gardens began in 1948. Despite published reports from the late 1800's through to the early 1900's describing the many positive benefits for patients, as the end of the 1940s drew near, the government of the day decided that no new hospitals would be built with attached gardens. Over time, increasing numbers of hospitals that had such facilities saw their land, including the gardens and farms, repurposed. Researchers have differing views on the drivers for this change but it seems likely that the National Health Service was seen as a progressive and modern organisation and farms and gardens were perhaps seen as unscientific and old fashioned.  Of course, it could also be the case that there was a feeling that it would not have been appropriate for modern hospitals to be seen to be using patients as unpaid farm and garden labour.

But what of modern care farms and those that do not offer a growing space? From spending time on many care farms I have noticed that snack or lunch time seems to be one of one of the most popular times of the day, where clients and staff gather together socially over a meal. Some care farms have taken this further by encouraging clients to try cooking and baking as part of their activities and then proudly sharing the results with everyone. Such activities will often make use the fruit or vegetables, eggs etc actually grown or produced on the farm. I suppose that this is a prime example of 'farm to fork' principles in action - growing or rearing produce as part of the activities on the farm and then benefiting directly from the fruits of the labour. 

I wonder if this be considered as a way to include food topics and activities in to care farming sessions? I don't know what other people may think, but I am beginning to see food as a key component of care farming and it perhaps always has been since those early days in the monastic gardens. What do you think?