We must start raising our own food!

 2 June 2011

The recent outbreak of a new E.coli bacteria that has killed at least 17 people and sickened another 1500 is another reason why we need to take "safe food" into our own hands as much as possible.  Why take the risks associated with untold numbers of people handling our food, and shipping across the ocean or even shipping across the country, when you can produce much of what you need in your own yard.

You may say that you can't grow everything that you currently eat, but I suggest that we all need to look at our dietary requirements and see what we can substitute for the items that we can't grow.  Have you considered eating sprouts?  How about wheatgrass? Microgreens?  All three of these products can be grown indoors, with minimum lighting requirements and they are not expensive.  In addition, they are super healthy food products and can be grown in less than a week for the most part (micro greens take a little longer).

For most of us, the biggest challange will be accepting a change in what we are eating.  The foods mentioned above are raw and that is the best type of food to eat.  Raw foods contain the most nutrients and minerals available to our bodies.  Unfortunately, we have gotten used to eating conveniently and not healthy.

I recently read somewhere that spinach kept at 39 degrees will lost most of its nutritional value in 8 days.  It will still be green and look good, but you won't derive any value from it for your body.  Another article talked about the reduction in minerals available to plants in typical industrial gardening today.  Most soils used commercially have up to 30% less nutrients available to the plants grown in them than they had 30-40 years ago.  Couple that with the reduced nutritional value of our foods just from time travel from the farm to the store and you have a situation where our food is giving us up to 50% of what it is supposed to provide.

Is there a reasonable solution?  Absolutely.  I just mentioned it.  Intensive gardening outdoors and sprouts, wheatgrass and micro greens indoors.  If you live in a colder climate, you can extend your growing season with a small greenhouse or by using hoops and plastic.  There are a myriad of ways to make this happen.  All you need is the desire to see it done.