Why you should grow your own garden and live a SS life.

[Aidenbaby]

I was talking with one of my neighbors down the street about how most of my garden plantings are food plants, even in my front yard. Remember, I live in suburbia in a "starter" community. I told him that we may just have more brussel sprouts than we can eat (almost ALL of my seeds have sprouted and almost all are doing REALLY well). He asked what I would do with the extras. I told him, "probably share them with my neighbors". You should have seen the look of surprise on his face. To me, taking care of your neighbors is like taking care of your younger siblings (I'm the oldest) and that means that you DO look out for the little old lady down the street (I have one 2 houses down). IT's one thing if a person is starving because they won't get out and work; it's entirely another if they are starving when they are trying to better their lives.

 

[BeccaOH]

I think there are myriad problems present in just sending food, medical care and/or money to foreign countries to "help" the populace there. We can feed them for a day or we can teach them how to grow crops, animal husbandry, hygiene, how to obtain clean water, etc. , etc. And the list goes on.

And the problem with this is, until they can learn to create stable governments, the poor people will always be subjugated by the dictatorships present in these lands. We can never change this. We can give it our best shot, but we never will. End of story.

I'm not saying it is futile to help these countries and I'm sure to a child or mother who is the beneficiary of these food supplies, those meals provided are important.

In America, regardless of people's circumstances, there is a plentiful food supply. If your child was really, actually starving there are church food kitchens, Salvation Army, Welfare system, even the next door neighbor that would feed you and your child. Children starving in America is due to neglect and poor education, mental illness or drug addiction or a combination of all these things. Two women living in a trailer full of kids are eligible for welfare unless they are making too much to be eligible. Its hard for this type of family structure to make too much, believe me.

Yes, I know there are children who wind up in foster care who have went hungry and are malnourished. And then they went into foster care. I don't believe it was from a lack of available food sources, but parental neglect and abuse or a lack of community caring.

I don't think there is foster care in these other countries. I don't think they have a McDonalds on every corner that throws out food to scavenge. Heck, a person could make some pretty nourishing meals from killing and eating all the fat dogs in America!

The problem with America is not poverty, but misplaced values. When people can afford to buy raw meat to feed their dogs but the little old lady next door cannot afford anything but cat food for her meal, we have a problem that is not about an impoverished country as a whole. Its about the loss of community, of family values, of any values for that matter. There is never any excuse for any one person to go hungry in a country as wealthy as ours.

I'd love to see people caring about their fellow man right here in our country but I see it less and less.

If it makes a rich person feel good to write a check and send some substandard, GM foods to the hungry in another country that is fine with me. If some stupid government program wants to buy corn to help farmers and give it to some hungry folks, I say why not? If our taxes pay for it, so what? They would find some other way to spend our money foolishly, so what the heck?

It behooves each of us to concentrate on taking care of what's in our own backyard, both personal and across America.

Is growing GM foods a good thing and necessary to feed the growing population? Nope. Not if there is enough excess to feed multiple countries. Is GM corn the only source for biofuels? Nope. Sugar beets provides more with less land than does corn growing. Also uses less nitrogen than does corn.

And that is why one should grow their own food and live as SS as one can. So you don't have to go hungry and neither does your neighbor.

I concentrate on being the best I can for my family, teaching them to care about their fellow man, growing the healthiest foods I can and sharing them with those who can no longer grow foods. Its really the best I can do. I can't feed Africa, but I can feed me, mine and my community.

Very well said, Bee.

 

[modern_pioneer]

Heck, a person could make some pretty nourishing meals from killing and eating all the fat dogs in America!

Why is our goverment paying farmers not to produce for this nation? I know when the program first started it was to promote the huge farms out west that were producing 100s of tons of meat a day.

With the condition of the global market today, with the recent surge in food prices on the climb, you would think that the goverment would supply farmers to grow more food. Look at tomatoe prices, $2.99 a pound...

Even grain products, folks with dual incomes have cut back on ceral, breads, and snacks.

What a great point to bring up our own starving people, a lot of interesting points have been made and makes me think.

Understanding homeless and starving people here at home seems to be very complex, as there are so many different issues to deal with. However, I don't see anything complex about growing our own wheat for gluten rather than buying it from China. Keep that money in the hands of our farmers so they can grow their farms and keep up with technology.

 

[me&thegals]

I think there are myriad problems present in just sending food, medical care and/or money to foreign countries to "help" the populace there. We can feed them for a day or we can teach them how to grow crops, animal husbandry, hygiene, how to obtain clean water, etc. , etc. And the list goes on.

And the problem with this is, until they can learn to create stable governments, the poor people will always be subjugated by the dictatorships present in these lands. We can never change this. We can give it our best shot, but we never will. End of story.

I'm not saying it is futile to help these countries and I'm sure to a child or mother who is the beneficiary of these food supplies, those meals provided are important.

In America, regardless of people's circumstances, there is a plentiful food supply. If your child was really, actually starving there are church food kitchens, Salvation Army, Welfare system, even the next door neighbor that would feed you and your child. Children starving in America is due to neglect and poor education, mental illness or drug addiction or a combination of all these things. Two women living in a trailer full of kids are eligible for welfare unless they are making too much to be eligible. Its hard for this type of family structure to make too much, believe me.

Yes, I know there are children who wind up in foster care who have went hungry and are malnourished. And then they went into foster care. I don't believe it was from a lack of available food sources, but parental neglect and abuse or a lack of community caring.

I don't think there is foster care in these other countries. I don't think they have a McDonalds on every corner that throws out food to scavenge. Heck, a person could make some pretty nourishing meals from killing and eating all the fat dogs in America!

The problem with America is not poverty, but misplaced values. When people can afford to buy raw meat to feed their dogs but the little old lady next door cannot afford anything but cat food for her meal, we have a problem that is not about an impoverished country as a whole. Its about the loss of community, of family values, of any values for that matter. There is never any excuse for any one person to go hungry in a country as wealthy as ours.

I'd love to see people caring about their fellow man right here in our country but I see it less and less.

If it makes a rich person feel good to write a check and send some substandard, GM foods to the hungry in another country that is fine with me. If some stupid government program wants to buy corn to help farmers and give it to some hungry folks, I say why not? If our taxes pay for it, so what? They would find some other way to spend our money foolishly, so what the heck?

It behooves each of us to concentrate on taking care of what's in our own backyard, both personal and across America.

Is growing GM foods a good thing and necessary to feed the growing population? Nope. Not if there is enough excess to feed multiple countries. Is GM corn the only source for biofuels? Nope. Sugar beets provides more with less land than does corn growing. Also uses less nitrogen than does corn.

And that is why one should grow their own food and live as SS as one can. So you don't have to go hungry and neither does your neighbor.

I concentrate on being the best I can for my family, teaching them to care about their fellow man, growing the healthiest foods I can and sharing them with those who can no longer grow foods. Its really the best I can do. I can't feed Africa, but I can feed me, mine and my community.

Absolutely!

I don't think other lands need us to teach them how to plant seeds. How did they survive to modern times without knowing that?

I also believe we have very poor people in America, but we do not have enormous shanty cities with millions living in cardboard boxes. Our poverty is not the same depth or breadth of poverty in other countries.

With unstable governments and insane rates of inflation, some countries will just be black holes of need that we can only try to fill.

And, face it, some areas of the world are going to be more vulnerable to everything--disease, drought, flooding, famine--simple based on their climate, soil, gov't, borders, wars, etc.

I also agree that folks in America are likely to be hungry from lack of community support or insane parenting. I think we have enough help programs and overfed folks here that there is MORE than enough to go around, just not in a way that is reaching everyone.

Modern pioneer--are you referring to crop subsidies? It USED to be that farmers were paid to not flood the market. Today, they are paid subsidies for every bushel they produce whose market is below a certain base price. This actually encourages overproduction.

Famine in the world is not a supply problem. It is a distribution and governmental problem.

 

[modern_pioneer]

Modern pioneer--are you referring to crop subsidies? It USED to be that farmers were paid to not flood the market. Today, they are paid subsidies for every bushel they produce whose market is below a certain base price. This actually encourages overproduction.

Hmmmm... I have to re-read the article, it isn't on line, so I will do it tomorrow. When I first read it, at least the point I was understanding that the goverment was paying folks not to farm out right. I wanna re-read the article again to make sure I understood it correctly.

Sometimes when I am reading articles, there split into days depending on time. So might have gotten it wrong.

 

[Beekissed]

Farm subsidies like that have been around for some time. They will pay the smaller farmers to NOT grow grains on their acreage. The farmers, who had no intention of growing anything but hay and cattle in the first place, can apply for subsidies like this that pay them to not do what they weren't going to do in the first place.

I spoke to an extension agent who had subsidies for his own land and land he rented off a neighbor. The neighbor had subsidies for HIS own land(rented to his neighbor) and land he rented off the his neighbor. Both fellows were getting farm subsidies off of each other's land (rented off each other) and off their own land.....what a racket!

 

[me&thegals]

Modern pioneer--are you referring to crop subsidies? It USED to be that farmers were paid to not flood the market. Today, they are paid subsidies for every bushel they produce whose market is below a certain base price. This actually encourages overproduction.

Hmmmm... I have to re-read the article, it isn't on line, so I will do it tomorrow. When I first read it, at least the point I was understanding that the goverment was paying folks not to farm out right. I wanna re-read the article again to make sure I understood it correctly.

Sometimes when I am reading articles, there split into days depending on time. So might have gotten it wrong.

Could you be referring to CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land? That is land that is ecologically sensitive (flood plain, next to creek, etc.) in which farmers who sign up are paid not to farm it. But, it sounded like you were referring to crop subsidies... which WERE originally set up just the way you describe, but no longer.

 

[modern_pioneer]

Today, they are paid subsidies for every bushel they produce whose market is below a certain base price. This actually encourages overproduction.

Yes you are correct, I was wrong, I thought it meant they were paid not to farm, further down it explained how farmers are currently paid for production of crops that are in high demand because of shortages. Later it also explained how that effects the cost of other crops, by raising them, supply and demand.

 

[davaroo]

Ultimately the SS lifestyle in one based in fear. "Something bad will happen, so we must prepare," etc.

The greatest challenge, IMHO, is to adopt SS practices because it is the right thing to do - not as a reaction to potential worries.


"If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today." ~E. Joseph Cossman

 

[freemotion]

My reasons started out as enjoyment of the ss projects and a fascination with how "they used to do it." Also pushing me was a sense of environmental responsibility, and the lack of availability in my area of clean food, such as raw milk and clean eggs and organic produce.

Then my income dropped due to many of my clients incomes taking a sudden and hard hit. So glad to be prepared to quickly become more ss, and draw on skills aquired while learning stuff as a hobby....like making soap 8 years ago for fun, now I am making it to save and make a little cash. And have fun, too!

It is not always out of fear, but fear certainly is a great motivator. I certainly will continue being well-stocked up even if/when my personal financial situation turns around....which it always does.

This forum has been a great source of ideas, encouragement, and detailed information. Thanks again, everyone!