I grow some greens here. Within weeks, or as soon as it gets warm enough, everything goes to seed. Yeah! I can pick my greens before they mature;or I can work out a succession of plantings; or, I can let the plant go to seed, and hope the seed will sprout for another season. It sounds so easy.
I can't imagine doing this for all my food needs. Yet, my father did that, and grew enough olives and grapes to buy whatever he couldn't grow. His days were long and arduous, back-breaking job for everyone in the family. What he didn't want was for us, the new generation, to do the same thing he did for a living. He insisted farming was not a good profession.
Many family farms cannot survive on what they grow or raise. Everyone in our small town who owns land or ranch pastures has a spouse with another job, to pay the mortgage, to cover medical expenses. So, why is it that once we could support our families on a family farm, and we can no longer do that?
Our costs are skewed too. We pay more for medical insurance monthly, than we pay to feed our family.
We pay more for a new car than a year of education.
We pay $3 for a Starbucks specialty coffee, but think bread should not cost that much.
We import grapes from who knows where and fire our illegal workers who pick our local grapes.
So much to sort out.
So much at stake.
And we have not even started talking about all the diets out there.
Have a great weekend, wherever you are.
Eat well. Eat locally. Grow what you can.
