Colorado Springs is experiencing a population explosion. As a result, many locals are concerned with the city’s ability to accommodate this growth. One overlooked issue in the city’s expansion is the health of its inhabitants, particularly for the new residents not accustomed to Colorado’s dry climate and relatively limited availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. Popularizing urban gardening could address both climate shock and fresh food availability. Colorado Springs is an ideal candidate for indoor urban gardening. The region would greatly benefit from the practice.
Colorado has a low level of humidity when compared to the rest of the nation. While low humidity does not present obvious and immediate medical concerns, it still has measurable negative effects on people’s health and well-being. A study showed a strong correlation between low humidity and instances of respiratory infections and increased severity of allergic and asthmatic reactions. Conversely, the study showed that higher relative humidity directly correlated to a decrease in respiratory infection.
Colorado is the fifth-least humid state in the country, so there exist reasonable concerns about the dangers to people’s respiratory systems, particularly during crises such as Covid-19. A separate study on infection rates of children in Colorado showed that “the majority of HCoV infection occurred during winter months, and over 62% were in previously healthy children.” Clearly, the effects of low humidity are detrimental to people’s health. Since Colorado is an exceptionally arid state, its inhabitants should remain mindful of this.
Airborne moisture is not the only water that is in short supply in the state of Colorado. The shortage of ground water is currently a state-wide issue. The effects of widespread drought go far beyond brown, un-watered lawns. They affect the economy of the state. Just last year, “dry, hot weather produce[d] one of Colorado’s smallest wheat crops in 10 years.” This directly affects the amount of livestock Colorado ranchers are able to sustain, which is alarming. In 2019 (the year that directly preceded the record-breaking drought) fresh beef was Colorado’s second-largest export, bringing $574 million to the state. It is also worth noting that frozen beef became the fifth-largest export that year, bringing another $376 million to the state.
The entire state of Colorado is either considered under drought (grade D2–the higher the grade, the worse the drought) or “abnormally dry conditions” (grade D0). Colorado Springs is drier than the average of the rest of the state, with El Paso County considered anywhere between Moderate Drought (grade D1) and Severe Drought (grade D2). With a growing population, the Colorado Springs community must reduce its water consumption. Not doing so will only make water less available to wheat farmers and ranchers who are already suffering water-shortages in “all corners of the state.” Unless the water shortage is properly addressed, Colorado’s economy will soon begin to suffer major losses in two out of its five largest exports.
Additionally, Colorado’s climate and increasingly severe drought conditions both contribute to a distinct lack of fresh fruit and vegetable availability in the state. With the exception of a few small patches, most of Colorado is ranked low on the USDA Hardiness Zone Map, which determines where plants will grow best. Ranking low on this scale indicates a great level of difficulty in growing certain essential foods. In Colorado’s case, this difficulty exists due to the state’s high elevation that causes low humidity, extreme weather, and extra-intense sunlight. As a result, Colorado must send its money out-of-state to import these foods, and 70% of these imports are contaminated with residues of “potentially harmful chemical pesticides.”
The finding that only 10% of Americans eat enough fruits and vegetables may not seem so negative when considered in the context of adulterants being so prominent in produce. This is ultimately just substituting poisoning for malnourishment. Obviously, neither is ideal given that those who are vitamin deficient have poorer outcomes if they contract a respiratory virus, such as Covid-19. Colorado is in a particularly hard spot. It does not have the climate or water to grow its own produce en masse, while its inhabitants are particularly susceptible to the symptoms of high-risk illnesses that seemingly target people with vitamin deficiencies that could have been combated with a proper diet.
Indoor urban gardening addresses the issues people in Colorado Springs face in regard to low humidity, particularly during winter months. Although most people know that plants exhume oxygen, many do not consider the humidity that they transpire as well. An Agricultural University of Norway study found that the combination of oxygen and humidity that plants in interior spaces provide decreased “the incidence of dry skin, colds, sore throats, and dry coughs.” This natural regulation would aid in increasing indoor humidity, without powering a humidifier, by simply putting a plant near a window and maintaining a temperature comfortable for humans. Some studies even indicate caring for plants has a significant effect on “a wide range of health outcomes, such as reductions in depression, anxiety, and body mass index, as well as increases in life satisfaction, quality of life, and sense of community.” The health and happiness of the people in Colorado Springs will only improve as more plants enter Colorado homes.
Indoor plants also produce nutritional foods. A 2016 study of urban gardeners in San Jose, California found that people who ate from their gardens “met the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for recommended daily servings of vegetables for adults to promote optimal health.” This is incredibly important when considering the health implications of a vitamin-deficiency during a coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the produce becoming more available and fresher by avoiding processing and transportation times, home gardeners would find themselves entirely in control of what sort of adulterants their crops would be exposed to while they grow. This would lead to cleaner produce that would be free of pesticides, which are shown to contribute to depression and prolonged irritability. Coloradans can avoid malnourishment and pesticide poisoning by taking just a part of their food supply into their own hands.
Indoor plants are water-efficient, especially when grown through hydroponic systems. Hydroponic crops use up to 10 times less water than crops watered with traditional methods. This could prove significant on a large enough scale, particularly in a state whose best water availability is still considered “abnormally dry conditions.” Colorado Springs would particularly benefit from hydroponic urban gardening because the nature of such systems dictate that plants can be grown inside, making them less susceptible to the harsh outdoor conditions and entirely avoiding issues of Colorado’s “frequently poor soil conditions” that make it challenging to grow many plants.
Hydroponic gardening can be a simple process. One can begin growing food with powerless hydroponic gardening for about $100 by using the Kratky method. Such a system also takes up little space, even indoors, and the time commitment is minimal as the method is completely passive. Promotion of any form of urban gardening will have to overcome misconceptions about the relative effort required, compared to the reward of success. Most people would likely not be able to afford enough space for a garden that would completely sustain them, and imported foods would remain a part of the Colorado Springs residents’ diet. But on a large enough scale, the Colorado Springs community could see increased water preservation and economic growth, increased self-reliance, and healthier, happier people. It matters little whether or not people opt to pursue hydroponic or traditional gardening as both promise great benefits.
Given the struggles that already plague the state, subsidizing Coloradans’ diets with home-grown foods would help improve general health and aid in strengthening both local and state economies. Urban gardening is a fun, practical solution. All that remains is the implementation of an effort to make it more accessible for everyday people who wish to make small but noble contributions to their communities.
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My name is Eric Lyon, and I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in Colorado Springs. After 12 years in the hospitality industry in Napa, California, I decided to shift to a field of study that would allow me more time to spend with my family and on personal interests. I have a beautiful wife who supports me in everything I set out to do and a headstrong son who, despite not being able to read yet, insists he sits on my lap each time I write a paper.
