Food, Inc.

[Davaroo]

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When I was young, growing up in California, I used to deposit er, um..."seeds" wherever I walked. There wasn't much wasted land around my home that didn't have a nice crop of "medicinal herb" flourishing on it.

So, I'm proud to be both a pioneer and proponent of the 'guerilla gardening' movement.

However, this "guerilla" movement is likely to remain a fringe movement. A few veggies poking up in a vacant lot, planted by a bunch of kooks aint good enough!
I like it, mind you. But what I'd like to see is the whole guerilla silliness dispensed with and the notion brougt into the limelight, given credibility. I'm talking full blown policy, here.
Like I said - Medians Feeding Mankind.

This needs to be an organized thing, with universities studying it and policymakers voting for it and tax dollars funneled to it. In short, make it part of our overall production scheme. We should be driving around, seeing small minifarms everywhere we look. It gives everyone a stake in this.

But for the time being, I think the idea of guerilla gardening is at least intriguing. Hey, maybe we can get Janeane Garofalo on board...

 

[Rillion]

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While I appreciate the sentiment, that sounds like a really good way to get the owners of the "wasted land" arrested.

 

[Davaroo]

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While I appreciate the sentiment, that sounds like a really good way to get the owners of the "wasted land" arrested.

Well, you had to be around in Southern California in the 60's and 70's. Things weren't quite like they are today.

Besides, by the time the "herbs" got any size on them, they were snatched up by other passersby. They didn't last long!

But, you are right - it was selfish and inconsiderate, the actions of a typically blunt-skulled teenager. I don't encourage it, nor condone it, and I cannot change it. Luckily, it was relatively harmless in light of some of the things I could have done.
And on a positive note, I singlehandedly, and selflessly, accounted for a lot of joy among my peers.

So, if you were ever arrested in the late 60's or early 70's, in South Oxnard, CA near Hueneme High School, for herbs mysteriously springing up in your yard or vacant lot... I am truly sorry and I apologize. I'm certain I also speak for all the other "guerilla gardeners" who were doing it, too.

They were halcyon days, thats for sure. Now, without further ado, back to our regularly scheduled topic....

 

[hikerchick]

this has been a great thread. Very thought-provoking. There have been well-reasoned and well-expressed points from all sides.

Thanks, OP.

 

[michickenwrangler]

I had no idea the can of worms I was opening when I started this thread. I simply thought that since most of us wish to be food reliant, this documentary and book might be something that would encourage us and others.

Good luck to all of you and let's set an example for others to follow.

 

[SportTees]

I saw previews for the movie in Blockbuster about a month ago. It looks like a good movie- it kept my interest and most movies like that don't. Cant wait to see the whole thing

 

[Davaroo]

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Hey, this is BYC - you get ALL kinds here. It's never safe to assume you are preaching only to the choir.

Besides, you Dont Get Traction Without Friction.

 

[Lady Henevere]

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Davaroo, you bring up some interesting points. Some political ones just can't be dealt with here (like the comment from a few posts back about the cowboy president being "kicked out" of office -- you'll have to take that one up with the drafters of the 22nd Amendment.

) But I was interested in the quote above, especially since I just read this in Food, Inc. (the book, not the movie): "The average American family now spends less than ten percent of its income on food, the lowest percent in history. In 1950, this figure was 20 percent." People gotta eat, yes -- but do we gotta eat so cheaply? It's not that we need to make people grow their own food (although I agree that would be great), but is it really so awful for food to cost a little more if it's better for mankind as a whole? Maybe Americans need to spend a larger percent of their income on sustainably-raised food rather than "stuff." (How many organic apples can you buy for the price of a smartphone or a new TV?)

As for feeding the hungry in the rest of the world, that's a problem that needs a solution far bigger than I can even imagine. It's a noble goal to be sure. But in the meantime, I don't see any harm in trying to make agricultural practices in America as good as they can be, and I see no reason for avoiding doing so simply because other countries don't have the wealth we do. We have the opportunity here in the land of plenty to be role models and leaders for a sustainable global movement -- we should embrace it.

(As for the "wasted land" in SoCal in the 70s -- I think every one of my brother's friends did the same thing. I was little, but I heard about it. "Man, someone took the whole darn crop that was up by the creek...." I'm not sure the land was that wasted--but the "gardeners" certainly were.)

 

[Davaroo]

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"The average American family now spends less than ten percent of its income on food, the lowest percent in history. In 1950, this figure was 20 percent." People gotta eat, yes -- but do we gotta eat so cheaply? It's not that we need to make people grow their own food (although I agree that would be great), but is it really so awful for food to cost a little more if it's better for mankind as a whole? Maybe Americans need to spend a larger percent of their income on sustainably-raised food rather than "stuff." (How many organic apples can you buy for the price of a smartphone or a new TV?)

Therein lies the rub - where do we draw the line between dictating how to spend your money and giving options? How many moderns will want to make the choice you suggest?
This carries us right back to the political arena we try so hard to avoid.... at what point do we appoint the Bureau of Correct Food Consumption... for our own good, of course??

In the Norman Borlaug research I did, I learned an interesting fact: 17% of the cultivated land accounts for 90% of the food produced.
That is astonishing. Not 17% of all land, but just that land under cultivation. When I told my son that, his first reaction was... "So why all the fuss? Sounds like we've got it whipped."
He's right - we really are only scratching the surface. Im about half convinced that we are all being duped by alarmists and psuedo-scientific elitists.

 

[Rillion]

...never mind.