The Upshot
I’ve worked for some time toward a goal, on my little acre-minus of land here and in previous abodes, of being able to harvest fresh fruits and/or vegetables year-round, or as close to it as possible.
It always seemed a worthy pursuit in the past, because for a graying guy like me gardening provides exercise I wouldn’t get much of otherwise; and gardening helps one understand the inter-relationship of plants, critters and the elements; not to mention that home-grown produce and fruit provide a really healthy supplement to the diet.
Now, however, it appears that growing your own food may come very close to being a necessity.
Anyone who’s given it much thought probably concluded years ago that there are major inherent flaws in the U.S. system of agri-corp food processing and grocery store distribution.
Confirmation of those flaws hit home a year and a half ago, When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning after one person died and at least 49 others in 11 states got sick from a particularly impolite strain of E. coli bacteria. Suddenly, people would no more buy spinach for their salads than they would rat poison. I remember at the time that Fort Bend County environmental cops (and who knew there were such people?) busted a California truck driver who was caught dumping 100 or so boxes of spinach off a bridge near the San Barnard River.
A couple dozen people in Texas and 75 or more nationwide have gotten food poisoning – in the form of Salmonella Saintpaul. The feds and state health officials are pointing to Roma and those big, round, hard, tasteless ‘maters sold in the grocery stores. No one’s died yet, but tomato sales have tanked at Kroger and HEB lately because, well, people by and large don’t like projectile vomiting a whole lot more than dying. The government now advises that it’s best not to eat raw tomatoes unless you’re picking them from your own garden.
And these are just a couple of the more highly publicized breaches in our food delivery system. The FDA alone posts notices on a dozen or more every month – not to mention what goes unreported behind the curtain or under the radar.
So if you want to guarantee yourself fruit and veggies that are free from pesticide residue and e. Coli, and picked and distributed to your dinner plate fresh and ripe, you either have to grow your own or find a grower you can trust at a farmers’ market.
Which is reason enough to take up gardening, but not the only reason.
Another major flaw in our food distribution system has been exposed by the fact that world oil producers can’t keep up with world oil demanders, and gasoline prices are headed for the clouds. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know when I say prices for meat, milk, bread and eggs seem to be paralleling gas prices. That’s because trucks full of food run on petroleum products.
In my opinion gas prices are going to rise more quickly over the next few years than they have over the last 12 months, taking food prices right along with them. We’re all going to suffer financially as a result, but those who can afford the land and time needed to put in a garden – along with maybe some chickens and a milk goat – won’t suffer as much.
We’re lucky here in southeast Texas, because we’re blessed with long (albeit hot) growing seasons and mild winters. But you can grow your own food – a lot of food – even in the North, if you plan for it.
→ B.Dunn, Jun 04, 2008, 06 36 pm
