Our Veggie Gardens Won't Feed us in a Real Crisis

http://www.counterpunch.org/2019/07/19/our-veggie-gardens-wont-feed-us-in-a-real-crisis/
Date Written:  2019-07-19
Publisher:  CounterPunch, United States
Year Published:  2019
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX23744

Small scale farming that can actually provide for people requires more knowledge and resources than people think.

Abstract: 
--

Excerpt:

I used to be a small-scale organic farmer so take it from me: totally feeding yourself from your own efforts is very, very challenging. Though some friends and I tried over multiple seasons, we never succeeded, or even came anywhere close.

First of all, consider what you eat. Yes, you. What do you eat at home? At work? When you go out? Okay, what percentage of that can be raised in the bioregion where you live? If you have trouble answering this question, don’t feel bad. I would guess that the proportion of the US population with practical agricultural knowledge is lower than in any other society in history....

When I think about the possibility of some kind of food supply crisis in the US, all I can do is shake my head. We do not have a safety net to catch us if we fall. If we want one, we needed to start working on it yesterday. Just putting in another raised bed in your backyard ain’t gonna do it. You can’t live off of spinach, cucumbers and green beans. (You can survive just on potatoes if you have to, but guaranteeing year round availability is tricky.)