Why try to grow my own food?
I'm making an honest attempt at composting and gardening in the backyard. I know very little, and haven't done MUCH yet... but we (myself, family, and friends) have started.
Many reasons... in no particular order
1) To KNOW what I am eating. To know that I'm eating something chemical and preservative free.
2) To reduce pollution. Does it make sense that a peach has to travel on a ship and in a truck creating all sorts of pollution when it can be grown in the backyard? Does it make sense that that peach that travelled half-way around the world still may cost less than if I grow it in my backyard? Something's fishy...
3) To do my part to fight against the global capitalism of today. Growing my own food, or buying local... I am making my stamp against the corporatization of EVERYITHNG.
4) To do physical work.
A - As more and more value is placed on mental work in our society, this is my way of placing value on physical productive work. I have a theory - There is a certain amount of physical work that needs to be done in this world to provide us with our necessities (food, shelter, clothing, water, transportation, etc.). If x number of people do no physical work, then this increases the load on the rest who do physical work. Today, in the U.S., I would imagine that a very small percentage of the population does regular physical, productive work increasing the load on the rest of the world.
B - It's exercise. What's the point of being in shape? Or being strong? To me, the point is so I can WORK, so my body can carry out whatever activities I want it to.
5) To identify and participate in my relationship with nature. Everything comes from nature, and everything returns to it... yet we've become so alienated from it. As a result, we don't even realize how much we depend on it, and go on polluting it (global warming, etc.).
6) Valuable activity to share with friends and family. It definitely beats sitting around and shooting the shit, or watching TV.
Many reasons... in no particular order
1) To KNOW what I am eating. To know that I'm eating something chemical and preservative free.
2) To reduce pollution. Does it make sense that a peach has to travel on a ship and in a truck creating all sorts of pollution when it can be grown in the backyard? Does it make sense that that peach that travelled half-way around the world still may cost less than if I grow it in my backyard? Something's fishy...
3) To do my part to fight against the global capitalism of today. Growing my own food, or buying local... I am making my stamp against the corporatization of EVERYITHNG.
4) To do physical work.
A - As more and more value is placed on mental work in our society, this is my way of placing value on physical productive work. I have a theory - There is a certain amount of physical work that needs to be done in this world to provide us with our necessities (food, shelter, clothing, water, transportation, etc.). If x number of people do no physical work, then this increases the load on the rest who do physical work. Today, in the U.S., I would imagine that a very small percentage of the population does regular physical, productive work increasing the load on the rest of the world.
B - It's exercise. What's the point of being in shape? Or being strong? To me, the point is so I can WORK, so my body can carry out whatever activities I want it to.
5) To identify and participate in my relationship with nature. Everything comes from nature, and everything returns to it... yet we've become so alienated from it. As a result, we don't even realize how much we depend on it, and go on polluting it (global warming, etc.).
6) Valuable activity to share with friends and family. It definitely beats sitting around and shooting the shit, or watching TV.
posted by Raj Kanani | 11:43 AM
2 Comments:
I enjoyed this post. Obviously you can´t grow everything yourself, so have you looked into other trustful means to obtain your food? Just curious because I know it is an evolving process to be aware of everything you consume.
Also, I wonder how pure the soil is in our backyards. ;)
"Trustful means to obtaining food" -- The 'rule' here.. is to buy local and buy organic. Why don't people do this? 1) It is not readily available in large supermarkets. 2) It's more expensive. 3) If you buy local, you won't be able to eat 'bananas' year around.
So... it's not readily available probably because we haven't demanded it so far. Actually, as people are buying more organic food, I've seen that more organic food is available in supermarkets as well. However, 'locally grown' foods have not seemed to make it there yet (other than in Eureka the North-Coast Co-op!!)
Where can one buy local? Usually, farmer's markets are the way to go. There are various websites that list farmer's markets.
Organic and locally-grown foods are more expensive. Now, someone really has to look into why this is so. I'm not sure... but I have an inkling it has something to do with big corporations, lower wages in developing countries, and the subsidy and tariff policy of the government.
HOWEVER, in American society today, we spend such a small portion of our income on our food... compared to the rest of the world, and compared to any other time in history. YET, we spend so much more on electronics, cell phones, home improvement, new cars, etc... if we altered our priorities slightly, the 'financial hit' would be minimal.
If one is to ONLY buy local, then one would also have to eat SEASONALLY. Bananas wouldn't be available during the entire year. Seasonal eating is something that is done by most of the world, and throughout history... so, I don't think it's harmful. Why eat seasonally --> http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/minisites/seasonalfood/why.htm
AND... you're right.. not sure how pure the backyard soil is. I was told that I should take a sample and send it in for a 'soil test'.. which costs about 10 bucks. So, I think I'm going to do that. =)
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