With all the natural disasters happening in the past few months, I have noticed an interesting similarity: in all of them, agricultural areas were hit hard. The ice storms that hit the US went through our main agricultural centers, the Midwest and the South, as well as slamming the Northeast. The torrential rains and hurricane that hit Australia wiped out their agriculture as well, although they were quite realistic about just how bad this looks for Australia's food security this year, while the US was not. Now this massive earthquake and tsunami has hit Japan's northeast, a rural, agricultural area of the country. I think it's a far-fetched idea that there is a connection, but it is eerily consistent that the industry with the highest fuel inputs, the food industry, is being hit the hardest.
What it does mean is that we have even more of a catalyst for encouraging and supporting not only local food but home-grown food, as well as food preservation, as these disasters are clearly demonstrating that our food supply is not safe, it is as vulnerable as it ever was, even more so now that we as a nation do not truly understand our own food, and to rely on it completely is folly. So now the question for me is, how can I help my neighborhood become more self-sufficient when it comes to food supply? I think removing the HOA poultry ban would be a good first step ;) Adding in a provision for goats would be great too, but maybe I can organize a planting day; a neighborhood plant-in. It would be awesome!
happily,
-nava
No comments:
Post a Comment