There’s little chance of growing 100 percent of anyone’s daily calories in a suburban yard. It’s true for us, and our near fifth of an acre is a pretty good size as far as yards go. It’s true for most people. Beyond lot size, there are also light and soil quality concerns, not to mention the butchering that would be part of any non-vegetarian or -vegan diet — and slaughter is not neighbor or zoning friendly, mostly. There’s also a skills issue when you talk 100 percent.
This leaves the question of the other percent. We’re shooting for 15 percent from our yard, so for us the other percent is a big 85. What do we do about that? The answer to this question is as important as any decision we make about what grows or how it grows on our property. If we satisfy this big giant number of calories irresponsibly, or without the ideals that we apply to our own home growing in mind — then what’s it all about? We could easily overshadow the global benefits of our super local effort by satisfying the rest of our calories at McDonald’s or stocking our freezer with CAFO meats from 1,000 miles away or filling our bellies with international fruits and vegetables. And we’d be missing our own point, which is a decidedly unattractive quality in a person.
So, what do we do? Support local farmers who share our ideals and the markets that sell their work. And the restaurants that cook with their foods.
We’ve been enjoying a nearby farmer’s market these past few months, and we intend to make it a regular part of our week. There is something fundamental in shopping a place where all the food’s not pretty. In San Diego there are dozens of farmer’s markets we’ve yet to try, but want to, particularly one that we’ve heard specializes in meats in cheeses. We’re also planning on buying into a CSA with a few friends, which will support growers and give us access to local, seasonal produce — and challenge us to cook with ingredients we’re not used to. Each of these options eliminates costly intermediaries between food and people, in the same way that growing at home does, and requires a more thoughtful relationship with what’s being eaten, how it’s being grown, and who’s growing it.
In terms of related New Year’s resolutions, I’m resolved to do better with the foods I buy, particularly concerning their place of origin. I’ve been doing well the past few months in buying organic produce and range-fed meats (and in making meats a side rather than a main dish), and I’ve been shopping and supporting a market that shares some of my philosophy, but I could do better with figuring out how local the food is. Distance takes some of the responsibility out of responsibly raised.
I’m also resolved to add a little foraging to the menu. And by a little, I mean one act of foraging. I’m keeping my effort minimal because this is way beyond my skill level and comfort zone. But, I’m inspired by the author of Fat of the Land, which is by far the best food blog I’ve read. And, foraging is a pretty ecologically sound way to go in terms of consumption. What will I forage? I have no idea. I guess we’ll see.
With the other percent in mind, I’ve added two widgets to the blog (see sidebar at right). One maps out all the farmer’s markets in your area (and there are probably more than you are aware of, with different specialties; this was true for me). The other helps you find local and responsibly raised foods at a number of different places, including restaurants. These will be permanent additions and will hopefully help anyone who is interested find a route to better eats — a supplement to the home-raised bit of calories, no matter what percent that adds up to.
You make some good points to think about.
Staying local seems to be important. If someone is not raising any food of their own, then at least buying local seems to be the second best choice.
Canning seems like a good idea also. That is, if you are growing surplus from your garden. Do you have any plans of canning in the future? Tomatoes seem to be the best candidate as the first item to start canning.
I think in the future, people will start banning together to grow things to share. A Farmer’s market sells things, but sharing could be a good thing also. One person might be good at growing tomatoes and another good at growing green beans. A swap would be beneficial in that case. The Internet will play a key role in that in the future, perhaps.
Bartering is what I am talking about in reality. I think that is going to grow in popularity. The Internet can help facilitate that.
You have talked about sharing seeds in your blog. That is something that sounds like a very good thing to do also.
Definitely buying local is key, whether you grow any of your own or not.
I am definitely planning on canning — if I ever have a surplus. I might end up with a surplus of beets by the time the winter growing wraps up, but we’ll see.
I envision communities coming together to share seeds and expertise, linking all the yards in the area in a kind of collective, then sharing the crops when they come up. This would be an ideal way to go beyond the capacity of a single yard.
Thanks for the widgets! Farmers markets are great. John and i usually got to the one in Hillcrest, but I didn’t know different markets specialized in different things. That’s really interesting.
Maybe you could forage for some cactus fruits. Some of those are probably edible. San Diego certainly has enough cactus.