Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

Read the passage and select ALL correct options. Wrong selections lose points.

Community gardens have spread through cities partly because they solve several problems at once. For residents without a yard, a shared plot offers a place to grow vegetables, cutting grocery bills and improving access to fresh produce in neighbourhoods where supermarkets are scarce. The gardens also function as informal meeting spaces, and studies of several urban plots have linked regular participation to reduced reports of loneliness among older residents. Environmentally, converting a vacant lot into planted beds reduces stormwater runoff compared with bare or paved ground. However, most gardens depend on volunteer labour, and organisers report that interest often peaks in spring and drops sharply once the summer weeding workload arrives, leaving beds untended by late summer in poorly managed sites.