Abundance.
As I wondered at the plethora of apples we have in Vermont this year while checking out the enormous ancient apple tree at the bottom right of my field still bursting forth with succulent crisp apples, I thought about the food abundance we have, the inefficiencies we have on our landscapes, and the impact our insatiable consumption has on global food insecurity.
To support the inefficiency of our food waste, the land base in the US alone is 7 to 8 times greater than it needs to be (West, Gerber et al, 2014). Referring to the effect of our insatiability on the world’s climate and, in turn, its negative effect on arable land, weather patterns, and nutrition content of food, Meyers and Bernstein find that “Never before have the consumption patterns of those in wealthy countries of the world played such an important role in putting the health of the poor at greater risk,” (Meyers, Bernstein, 2011) We consume— or at least purchase, ingest a fraction, and throw the rest away—energy and land intensive food at a great rate.
We have the opportunity to turn a piece of this around in our own backyards. If we took the time, money, and acreage, no matter how small, spent greening our lawns and pruning our shrubs and applied it to a bit of vegetable or meat growing land, we could help to abate food shortages elsewhere.
Leading by example, and maybe shaming us, the Helen Keller Homestead food production project has implemented and is supporting a system of household vegetable gardens for families in Bangladesh, a country of far less means than ours (Paarlberg, 2013). If we, as citizens of a prosperous and developed country, grew and consumed food from our own backyards, would there be more food for others in less privileged countries? We might still waste our own food, but at least we'd free up land to grow food for countries in need. Certainly, it’s not as hard as growing potatoes on Mars. (See Matt damon as Mark Watney succeed in what is purportedly impossible in The Martian. Fun movie, if questionably accurate.)
To look at this selfishly, if we spent just some of the money, effort, and space that we do on our lawns on growing food for ourselves and our neighbors, what would the impact on us, a society riddled with obesity, depression, and addiction? We would be moving our bodies, connecting with the earth, communicating with our neighbors, eating locally grown and maybe organic food fresh out of the garden, and valuing it—for most anyone who grows food treasures the fruits from the labor! Vegetables, movement, and community are widely known to be critical to human health. Additionally, we could come close to zeroing out food transportation. A plus for climate change!
The math.
I grow enough vegetables for a family of four for July through December and do all the gardening work myself. Family and friends help with storage. If I just accounted for my labor it would be about 8 hours a week during the peak season (End of April through June, and September through October) and I am a fairly meticulous farmer so this labor number could be reduced. To be generous, let’s say 18 weeks at 8 hours, or 144 hrs. When the garden is settled in, July and August, I spend maybe two hours a week weeding and picking. 8 weeks at 2 hours equals 16 hours. I also have perennial food on my land: fruit trees, berry bushes, and asparagus. Oh, the wonders of asparagus! These take care but, not too much. Add a few hours on a few weekends for the care, spring and fall, and summer and fall picking, so add an hour a weekend throughout the 6 month season, 24 to 26 hours. 144 + 16 + 26 = 186 hours or four and a half weeks of labor. Not bad considering I’ve also moved my body a lot, enjoyed the sunshine, reduced grocery trips to a minimum, and pay little for organic, nutrient rich produce on my dinner (and breakfast and lunch) plate.
(There is an inverse relationship between higher yields and yield quality. Dr. Timothy Griffin points out that organic strawberries have a higher nutrient value because there is a lower yield. “It’s a matter of dilution,” Griffin says, (Lecture, 2015)).
But back to abundance and money. While the apple trees litter the dirt roads of Vermont and pile up in streams, I put my garden “to bed” for the winter. I always cover the mulched rows with straw. That requires taking the pickup to my local Agway or other farm and yard store and picking up straw grown in Canada for $10 per bale. Last fall, I had used my own leaves over a few of the rows and this spring I found a much more active worm life and lovely, crumbly, deep black soil. In contrast, under the straw it was rocky and gray. Few worms. Leaves are in my own backyard. Abundantly. I will use leaves this year and save $200. If given the chance, farmers do what costs them the least. And that may be abundance right in their own "back yards" And that may be abundance right in their own "back yards”—hometowns or nearby cities if, for example, food waste were composted.
In a lecture on chemical exposures in our food supply, Dr. Gary Adamkiewicz spoke about arsenic used in the 1980s showing up in the rice we eat today (Lecture, Oct 14, 2015). I wonder, of the technologies that interfere with natural processes that we are using today, what will be the long-term effects? Are the genetically engineered agricultural products employed today akin to the harmful pesticides from decades ago? Can we take the time to test the impact of technologies that change natural processes over multiple generations and meanwhile, use the slow technology of our minds and muscles to spending a few weekend hours growing our own?
It’s a big learning curve. It’s dirty. And sometimes the bugs bite in that tender spot where your shirt lifts up above your shorts. Sigh. But we are re-skilling in one of the five basic needs of human life: growing our own food. Not too shabby. And, when we grow too much to even store for winter months, we can share it with neighbors, give it to food banks, or toss it in the compost to create next year’s fertile soil. Nothing wasted.
Griffin T. Food production and agriculture. From Farm to Fork lecture. Harvard Extension School. October 7, 2015.
Garnett, T. Appleby MC, Balmford A, et al. Sustainable intensification in agriculture: premises and policies. Science; 341:33-34. 2013.
Paarlberg R. Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know. London: Oxford University Press, 2013.
West et al. Leverage points for improving global food security and the environment. Science 2012; DOI: 10.1126/science. 1246067.
Meyers SS, Bernstein A. The coming health crisis. The Scientist 2011; 25 (1);32-37.
Food And Water Watch. 2013. https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/monsanto-corporate-profile
Adamkiewicz G. Chemical exposures in our food supply: pesticides and beyond. From Farm to Fork lecture. Harvard Extension School. October 14, 2015.