In the early 70’s I read a book titled “The population bomb” some of the concepts were very terrifying and based on certain calculated assumptions, the author had projected certain outcome and forecasted a rather bleak picture, after almost four decades the picture is coming into focus. However the route and the reasons seem to be a bit different, none-the-less the results are quite foreseen.
We are getting disheartening statistics from different parts of our cities and the nation at large, suggesting wide spread insecurities of our food supply, we need to address this problem in a timely fashion, otherwise global warming and other catastrophes might not seem so compelling after all. Having said so, each one of us has a part to play, the common denominator being consuming food to sustain ourselves. Some of us might be more affluent than others, but the statistics suggest a record number of people are in need of help. In Montevideo, Minnesota about 5 miles from where I live, first time in recorded history more than 50% students are now on partially subsidized lunch program and these are not isolated numbers. It has been reported by the Federal Government that by February of 2009, there were almost 32 million people receiving food stamps in the United States, which is an all time high record. In order to put a strangle hold on this ugly problem, lets join forces, I have come-up with a partial solution in the form of a backyard food shelf, this is an attempt to share techniques with home gardeners and non-gardeners alike, to share with them how to use intensive growing methods to grow food 2000% more efficiently, in other words you can grow vegetables in 6% of land as compared to traditional methods. This will help a lot of people grow food in their backyards, and places where growing seasons are short like my home state of Minnesota. People can consume what they can during the growing season and freeze, dehydrate and store in other ways such as canning etc., to consume during non producing months, All this should be organized on a local level, such as a city, county, or a parish level, people who can donate in terms of time and effort should do so, we can consult each other about our successes and short falls, in turn, spreading this know-how to each and every individual willing to help themselves in becoming self sufficient in terms of nutritious food. In order to do this I have come-up with a HOOPBED ( a word first coined by Audrey Arner of Moonstone Farm, MN.) design, I have tested this and found it very effective, and I will share the details, showing how to build this hoop bed. I will be posting pictures, diagrams, slides and list of materials and hardware that gardeners can in turn purchase from there local sources or people can donate their extras to make these hoop beds. I will be happy to conduct workshops to show how to put together a hoop bed. If you can set-up a hoop bed in your local area to show other people how to do this, you will be serving humans in a big way to overcome a huge problem, similarly if you are a canning expert, a person who dehydrates, or have developed an easier method or improvised a method you can share with other people to preserve food in any way, lets share with each other, lets Improve The Wheel. If you have extra space in your freezer and can spare space for your neighbor, similarly there are so many other ways you can be an integral part of this Backyard Food Shelf Movement, neighbors could build community hoop bed or two or more neighbors can share a hoop bed, etc., etc. I have a Power Point presentation on this subject and several other tips, all this information is absolutely FREE and can be freely copied and shared with other people, we also encourage and request other gardeners and researchers to share there expertise and innovations with us and other people, the whole idea is to give an instant platform from where valuable information can be dispensed to people who need it, without putting too much effort and money using traditional methods, they can grow more food and help themselves build their very own backyard food shelf they can be proud of. Please share this website with other people, do not hesitate to send you suggestions, advice and comments, don’t forget even your ideas will help put a strangle hold on this ugly problem.
Below is a link to our page exclusively dedicated to growing food.
Send the link below to friends, family and others.
Write to: Backyard Food Shelf 212 S. 2nd Street Watson, MN. 56295 |
