BEFORE2030 - A LIVABLE FUTURE For people, planet, and all life
ENCOURAGE ORGANIC EDIBLE GARDENING LIFESTYLE
Helps feed into the re-localized food system. The Victory Garden effort of the second-world-war was said to have supplied as much as 40% of vegetable produce for those involved. And I’m sure it increased appreciation for food growing that is sadly lacking today. (This disconnection is at an all-time high, and may be why modern society tolerates such high land pollution levels.) This gardening lifestyle, helps keep vital knowledge within the citizenry, and with the introduction of self-reliant education, becomes a lifestyle practice. You can cancel that subscription to the gym!
“Responding to climate change will entail massive socio-emotional and behavioral changes.” (Recent National Academies workshop document). In that vein I offer this quote: Dr. Benjamin Rush 1812: … “digging in a garden” was one of the activities that distinguished those male patients who recovered from their mania from those that did not.’ (From his book Medical Inquiries and Observations Upon Diseases of the Mind, page 226, professor of the Institute of Medicine and Clinical Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, and known for his role in the development of modern psychiatry.)
One hallmark of self-reliant education will be outdoor classrooms in public schools where contact with Nature reinforces this activity. This compliments home cooking and provisioning, while having mental and physical health benefits for all. Living with organic gardens will naturally put pressure on the current agricide food production model, and one would hope with the whole citizenry engaged in this, invention and best practices will flourish and be shared worldwide through word and mouth and electronic media. According to the National Gardening Association, “35% of U.S. households, or 42 million households total, grew vegetables, fruits, and other foods in 2021, an increase of 6 million from five years prior.” Clearly one third of us. It’s not hard to see that this concept for a livable future is probably the most advanced. No garden, no problem. There are initiatives called ‘garden share,’ where those with excess garden or physically unable to work their garden, share with others, (there’s an app for that), and of course, community gardens and/or allotments in most regions.
It’s very hard to grow all your own food, especially proteins. I’m very keen in my personal life about this. I probably grow about 40% of my carbohydrates annually, a small amount of protein from legumes: peas and beans. I certainly grow the majority of my specialized vegetables like greens, salads, herbs, and fruits, which contain the real specific nutrients like vitamins, phytochemicals, minerals and micro-nutrients. And living on the 40th parallel in the USA, which is the same as southern Italy or Sardinia, I am able to grow many plants, under cover, with no extra light or heat, through the winter. Let’s say I grow one third of my food needs. I’ve been vegetarian for 43 years as of this writing, 2023.
Estimating at $10.00 a day food costs that would be $3,650.00 for the year. One third saving would be say, $1,216.00. That’s not too shabby. And that’s just for one person. Saving money while getting exercise! Also, take into account all the unnecessary trips to the store by vehicle. I also bake my own bread 17 times a year, freezing excess loaves that taste just as great when defrosted. I also get to control those ingredients and enhance the loaves’ nutrition with dehydrated produce from my garden; my own little innovation. Locally, we currently have 500 very active members on a local food growing Facebook page.
Further info:
Eliot Coleman, Four-Season Harvest: Organic vegetables from your home garden all year long, 1999
John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables
Helps feed into the re-localized food system. The Victory Garden effort of the second-world-war was said to have supplied as much as 40% of vegetable produce for those involved. And I’m sure it increased appreciation for food growing that is sadly lacking today. (This disconnection is at an all-time high, and may be why modern society tolerates such high land pollution levels.) This gardening lifestyle, helps keep vital knowledge within the citizenry, and with the introduction of self-reliant education, becomes a lifestyle practice. You can cancel that subscription to the gym!
“Responding to climate change will entail massive socio-emotional and behavioral changes.” (Recent National Academies workshop document). In that vein I offer this quote: Dr. Benjamin Rush 1812: … “digging in a garden” was one of the activities that distinguished those male patients who recovered from their mania from those that did not.’ (From his book Medical Inquiries and Observations Upon Diseases of the Mind, page 226, professor of the Institute of Medicine and Clinical Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, and known for his role in the development of modern psychiatry.)
One hallmark of self-reliant education will be outdoor classrooms in public schools where contact with Nature reinforces this activity. This compliments home cooking and provisioning, while having mental and physical health benefits for all. Living with organic gardens will naturally put pressure on the current agricide food production model, and one would hope with the whole citizenry engaged in this, invention and best practices will flourish and be shared worldwide through word and mouth and electronic media. According to the National Gardening Association, “35% of U.S. households, or 42 million households total, grew vegetables, fruits, and other foods in 2021, an increase of 6 million from five years prior.” Clearly one third of us. It’s not hard to see that this concept for a livable future is probably the most advanced. No garden, no problem. There are initiatives called ‘garden share,’ where those with excess garden or physically unable to work their garden, share with others, (there’s an app for that), and of course, community gardens and/or allotments in most regions.
It’s very hard to grow all your own food, especially proteins. I’m very keen in my personal life about this. I probably grow about 40% of my carbohydrates annually, a small amount of protein from legumes: peas and beans. I certainly grow the majority of my specialized vegetables like greens, salads, herbs, and fruits, which contain the real specific nutrients like vitamins, phytochemicals, minerals and micro-nutrients. And living on the 40th parallel in the USA, which is the same as southern Italy or Sardinia, I am able to grow many plants, under cover, with no extra light or heat, through the winter. Let’s say I grow one third of my food needs. I’ve been vegetarian for 43 years as of this writing, 2023.
Estimating at $10.00 a day food costs that would be $3,650.00 for the year. One third saving would be say, $1,216.00. That’s not too shabby. And that’s just for one person. Saving money while getting exercise! Also, take into account all the unnecessary trips to the store by vehicle. I also bake my own bread 17 times a year, freezing excess loaves that taste just as great when defrosted. I also get to control those ingredients and enhance the loaves’ nutrition with dehydrated produce from my garden; my own little innovation. Locally, we currently have 500 very active members on a local food growing Facebook page.
Further info:
Eliot Coleman, Four-Season Harvest: Organic vegetables from your home garden all year long, 1999
John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables
