I often wake up at night with mishmash of ideas swirling around in my mind. Most of the time they’re so farfetched I don’t dare share them with anyone for fear of being called an enthusiast. At other times my thoughts are so uncomplicated that I risk looking foolish for stating them. Today I’ll be brave. Here is my midnight awakening thought: If fresh, naturally-grown food is so good for us and we currently have a shortage, why don’t we just grow more of it? Simple, huh? In other words, if we believe that a sustainable, local-food system can cure so many of our current societal, economic and environmental woes why don’t we begin producing food in earnest next spring? Shucks, why not start today? So why not start today? At least four major obstacles stand in the way of rapid progress toward greater food accessibility. 1. Shortage of skilled farmers—we lack the skills to produce food for the masses using organic growing methods. 2. Extraordinarily high land prices—few people can afford to purchase or lease a farm for vegetable production. 3. Laziness—growing food is hard work and our society has been taught to shirk hard work. Sustainable growing methods demand that we use less fossil fuel inputs and employ more manual labour. 4. Public apathy—too few people value the importance of a local, decentralized food system. They either don’t recognize its importance or they simply don’t care. Worse, they say it can’t be done. Here are some ways we can try to overcome the barriers that stand in the way of becoming food independent. First, we need to start training farmers. And we don’t need multimillion dollar government funded facilities to do this (I’ve long ago given up on government to help us solve our food problems). If we’re advocating high-yield production on small-scale, low-input agricultural systems we need to educate around the same. Along these lines I firmly believe we need more training in the field and less in the classroom. Next, we need to connect wealthy landowners and investors with skilled, eager farmers to help shoulder the high costs of starting a market garden. We also need to build facilities directly connected to the gardens that allow for food storage, value-added food processing and marketing of the food to the public. Also, education and outreach is vital to stimulate public awareness around the issues of local food production. Finally, we need to recognize the immense rewards that are offered through growing our own food. Growing our own food gives a sense of autonomy, allows us to learn, create and explore new methods all while making a positive impact on our community. Intrinsic motivation improves performance and encourages hard work. I can’t help but conclude that there is no easy way to greater food security for our community. Simply put, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and a few blisters here and there. Sometimes it’ll bog us down; particularly on those rainy, dreary mornings (like today) when we step into our gum boots and make our way to the soggy fields for the morning harvest. But mostly, we’ll keep our spirits high knowing that if we’re going to make any impact at all, it’ll come through a lot more doing and a lot less talking. So let’s get to work.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 12:30:11 +0000
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