21st Century Homesteading: Why Grow Your Own Food?

(Page 4 of 6)

February/March 2007
By Harvey Ussery 
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The burning of fossil fuels is the major culprit in global climate change, but the massive release of CO2 into the atmosphere as a result of industrialized agriculture is another major, and growing, contributor. Furthermore, there’s no doubt that the way we eat has a great deal to do with the epidemic rates of disease we are suffering. Especially disturbing is the growing incidence among children of diet-related diseases, including what used to be called “adult-onset diabetes,” as well as skyrocketing rates of obesity in both children and adults, which in turn increase the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease and several types of cancer. The hidden costs of our “cheap” food can be very high indeed.

RELATED CONTENT

The high price of convenience. The one undisputed virtue of industrial food is its convenience. Today we are free not only from the effort and insecurity inherent in hunting, gathering or growing our own food, but also from the task of preparing it. But this convenience comes with a price: with it we experience a lack of awareness unprecedented in history. We don’t understand the nature of our food. We don’t know where it comes from, or the work required to grow it. We don’t realize that our abundant food supply depends on the availability of cheap fuels that might suddenly become much more expensive. Few of us understand what constitutes quality in food, and finally we miss many of the deep pleasures available through eating — and sharing with others — simple, wholesome and satisfying foods.

The Homestead Alternative

To return to the writing of Wendell Berry, I also agree with him when he says, “Eaters ... understand that eating takes place inescapably in the world, that it is inescapably an agricultural act, and how we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used.”

The advantages of producing our own food, or purchasing it from known local sources, exactly counter the disadvantages and flaws of the industrial food system:

Safe food. When we produce our own food, we know it is safe. When we buy our food face-to-face from local farmers, we have the opportunity to talk with them and ask questions. No longer does the safety of our food depend on a totally anonymous system based on minimum-wage, exploited, often uneducated workers.

High-quality food. Producing our own or buying it close to home is a recipe for the best, freshest ingredients possible. One likely result is that our eating will become simpler and more basic — food made from the best of primary ingredients is deeply satisfying and does not require a lot of fancy preparation.

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