Gil Friend and David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance

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PLOWBOY: When are you going to do that?

FRIEND: I wish I could tell you. It's a matter of working through the bureaucracy and getting a final decision. But the bureaucrats approach us about this project instead of the other way around. . . so they're interested.

MORRIS: You know, it's easy to think of older people as senile because they sit around all day looking at the traffic going by. But basically they're people who are bored stiff and who have nothing else to occupy their time. A rooftop garden will not only give these older folks something interesting to do . . . it can also provide them with a significant percentage of their food and reduce their living cost. And the fact that it will be on top of a building with a skyline view of Washington will attract a lot of attention . . . and make it possible for us to talk to a lot more people about growing food in the city.

PLOWBOY: OK. So much for roofs. You've convinced me that they make ideal urban gardens. Are there any other places where city dwellers can raise a meaningful amount of the food they eat?

FRIEND: Well, there are backyards, and vacant lots . . . and basements.

PLOWBOY: Basements?

FRIEND: Certainly. Basements are the ideal place to grow sprouts . . . which are one of the most nutritious forms of food available. Seeds, beans, and nuts are highly concentrated storehouses of food, but they're usually rather difficult—if not impossible—for anybody but a horse or a cow to digest. The traditional ways of preparing them for human consumption is by grinding—such as is usually done with wheat or corn—or boiling . . . as in the case of rice.

But grinding exposes the nutrients within a seed to oxidation—which is destructive—and boiling also lowers nutritional value because, among other things, the B-vitamins are water soluble and vitamin C is sensitive to heat. Sprouts, on the other hand, are even better food than the seeds they come from, because some good things happen during the chemistry of sprouting.

PLOWBOY: Can you grow sprouts from any kind of seeds?

FRIEND: Nearly any kind. But don't try it with potatoes . . . potato sprouts are poisonous. Some kinds of sprouts taste a lot better than others, too. One of our staff members, Ruth Noel, has been developing a sprout growing operation in a basement. She's had most success—at least on a revenue producing level—with alfalfa seed, mung beans, and lentils.

PLOWBOY: You're making a profit from the operation?

FRIEND: It generates seven or eight thousand dollars a year . . . and that's figuring in all costs, including $2.50 an hour for our own labor. We grow about 180 pounds of sprouts a week. That's five tons a year.

PLOWBOY: Is there a lot of work involved in this sprouting business?

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