I am sure it is fairly obvious by now, but I will say it anyway. For me, food is more than a hobby. It is more than sustenance. It is more than a major part of a person's culture. The way we treat food says a lot about who we are, as individuals and as a species. For the past few weeks, I have been spending an exponential amount of my free time considering how I relate to food now and how I want to relate to food in the future. I have based much of my thought and research on how my government relates to food and on how my government pushes its citizenry to relate to food by creating laws that support specific farming methods-like "monocropping" and genetically modified and engineered foods. Most of what I have learned has left me feeling really agitated. But, upon further internal investigation, I realized I, the consumer, am just as much to blame for the direction agriculture has taken.
I live in an apartment with no personal outdoor space. I am on a very limited food budget. I try to make good choices in buying mostly produce that was grown organically and in making sure I do not throw food away. But, I still shop at a grocery store and this means most of my food probably comes from Canada and Mexico. I love Farmer's Markets but cannot always get to them and cannot always afford the prices. Anyway, I digress. The gist of this paragraph is that I see a need to change the way I live so I can relate to the world around me in a way that I can be proud of.
In my search for a better way, I have come across the concept of permaculture. Permaculture is a method that was born in Australia and has become quite the popular form of agriculture in the UK. Permaculture basically pushes us to find a way to live in nature (even and especially in urban areas) instead of lording over nature.
Our constant interference is putting the ecosystems around us completely out of balance. In the U.S. we grow mostly soya beans and seed corn on farms that are 2,000 acres and over. This is literally killing the soil. The nutrients are being stripped and the soil is eroding. Having so many of the same plant in one large area is drawing in pests that harm those crops. This leads to the need to spray synthetic chemicals on the food and to genetically modify the foods to resist the pests. Then these chemicals are getting leached into the water table and traveling up the natural food chain. We have created a really big mess!
The best way to clean it up is to stop fighting nature and find a way to work with it. First, we need to make efficient use of the land. The best way to restore balance is to allow for biodiversity. Grow a large variety of crops including fruit and nut trees, grains, and annual vegetables all in the same area. Doing so will attract a variety of insects, which will attract a variety of birds, amphibians, rodents, and reptiles that will all eat each other. The population control will take care of itself. This eliminates the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Meanwhile, your garden produces a healthy crop that required minimal financial and physical input from you.
You may think you need a lot of land in a rural area to make a difference. But, this is absolutely not the case. The most efficient gardens are 1/4 of an acre to an acre in size (or smaller). It is easily possible to feed a family of 6 for an entire year on 1/4 acre of fertile land if you plant bio-diverse crops.
Not everyone will be interested in becoming a sustainable farmer in their spare time. Those who don't want to farm can still be part of the solution by purchasing from small-scale organic farmers and avoiding processed and GMO foods at the grocery store.
Conscious growing is just as important as conscious cooking and conscious eating. If we all want to be vibrant, healthy, energetic beings we need to change our ways and eat what God intended us to eat and grow it the way God intended it to grow. It is time to stop "running interference" and let nature take its course. We were always meant to be a part of it and if we start respecting and trusting nature again, it will take care of us for many, many years to come.
For more very helpful information on Permaculture and how to use this method in your own life I recommend these video lectures:
http://courses.ncsu.edu/hs432/common/podcasts/
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