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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] How Much Land Does It Take To Become Food Self-Reliant

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] How Much Land Does It Take To Become Food Self-Reliant
  • Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 17:59:42 -0400

Toby Hemenway wrote:
The operative word I'm focusing on in "grow all your own food" here
is "all." That's the part I think is unnecessary and a distraction.
Grow food. Yes. Work toward self reliance. Yes. All that stuff. But
the goal of growing ALL your own food is not something that any
permaculture principle would suggest or encourage, will distract
people from more important and relevant goals, and I'd like to see it
stricken from the vocabulary of permaculturists. I don't know how
that idea crept into our lexicon. That's all I'm sayin' here.

There should be a statement in the permaculture lexicon that includes endorsement of a multiplicity of advanced concepts that are generally accepted as possible, such as a "paleo" one (remember the "paleo" diet?), a spartan lifestyle wherein one actually survives only on
food he grows or wild-harvests, a limited but nourishing and healthy diet but one that may be far too difficult for most people.

State that one could strive to grow all of one's food but that range of foodstuffs might be limited but nutritionally complete and in some cases possibly lacking in one or more special components important to those with special dietary needs.

Grow ALL of your own food if possible and obtain those elements of your diet that you cannot produce on your land from sources as local and as sustainably-grown as possible; keep money in the local economy, support local businesses so that they in turn can support your lifestyle and/or business so as to keep your immediate and extended community together,
well organized and highly functional, with an eye to streamlining the system over time.

Some people into ultimate frugality might very easily grow all their own food. Some diets are an acquired taste. Others:
less salt
no dessert
plain rice w/o condiment or salt
raw foods in general
raw salads w/o dressing containing oil, salt, vinegar
fasting

We were pretty frickin' self reliant in our rural decade: cut
firewood for all our heat, harvested 100% of our domestic water,
recycled all our graywater, grew a large percentage of our fruit and
veggies, traded with locals for things we needed, built much of the
house myself, planted trees and built soil to heal the land, lived on
next to no money. So I feel like I'm speaking from experience here.

Excellent. Do you have any advice on frugal living?

Frugality, locally and sustainably grown, permaculture, home food production, community gardens are individual movements sweeping the country. We need to help keep the momentum up.

...:LL




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