Where’s that 4chan post where all the BLM rioters tried to set up a new community in Seattle or something. Then they had everyone give there skills and what that want to do in the new world, everyone was saying they can grow food. Then there was the crappest plot of veggies I have ever seen.
I recall the one you’re thinking of, but did not find it. This is a textbook case of how photography is just another aspect of journalism that can be very biased depending on what you decide to show and the context in which you place it.
For my part, isn’t it more interesting to know that it was started by a scholar of energy and sustainability who used the opportunity to promote gardening skills and raise awareness of the history and politics of land use rights?
There is a whole thing about land use rights and energy and sustainability. But just because one guy was right on that doesn’t mean the whole movement wasn’t a complete disaster from the start.
As much as this website hates capitalism I’m still pro capitalist. But even I admit a lot needs to be changed. Land is one of the big things I have been contemplating lately. Having said that, there wont be any meaningful food production in cities for anything but mental health reasons.
What can I say except that I hope you’re wrong about food production? The allotment system in the UK is a good example of this, and could be expanded on to good effect for the overall goal of more mutually supportive communities. Obviously we’re not going to turn every city into homesteaders, but reducing the imbalances in our economic systems is worthwhile.
As for CHAZ/CHOP, I find it more useful not to judge it based on whether an impromptu short-lived anarchistic community can govern itself perfectly during that chaotic moment in time (especially as police had every reason to try and subvert it - after all, they did lose that precinct), but based on its vision and the hope it gave people. It only lasted a short while, but hopefully the memory of it can live on as a hope for what could be, and as a part of the dialogue between communities and state forces going forward.
Agreed, my wife and I had that conversation recently, as it happens. Though, for some things, there are other benefits. Herbs is the best example, even the fresh, packaged herbs that you can buy at a grocery will be noticeably not-as-good as something that you picked fresh in the backyard 2 minutes ago. Dill, basil, thyme, mint, what have you. I’ve found the same to be true of things like bell peppers and jalapenos.
Agree, but also do plant something that you’ll use just a small amount from time to time, like herbs, spices, scallion, chive, and so on. Thing that you’ll want it fresh but you can never use it all before it compost. Don’t even need a garden, just plant it in pot.
I have screwpine leaf, lemon grass, coriander, and scallion in my garden, and i can harvest the onion when i need it.
Although I have certainly mentioned that 40+ acres are required to sustain a family agriculturally I believe that it is still worth it to grow food and herb and spices where one can. Just don’t expect it to change the direction of inflation.
That is true. But the cost of getting quality garden beds together from the soil without yard-fill toxic contaminants, the wood or metal for the beds, and the produce starts and seeds, the water, and the labor can make it a loss financially. That said it is a great hobby and does yield very satisfying results.
Yeah, with sufficient unthoughtfulness, refusing to do research, and with poor enough planning, you can fuck up literally anything? I’m not sure what your point is. I didn’t say it was suitable for everybody, or that it magically cannot fail, or that it will always be worth it in all circumstances (if your soil’s contaminated, yes, you will want to be careful about how you garden and your costs will likely be higher), or that gardening, unlike anything else, is a good fit for everybody’s brain and that every single person can do it effectively.
I just think it’s kinda dumb to go after home gardening as somehow not useful or valuable just because it’s not a complete, viable replacement for industrial agriculture. It’s a completely stupid false dichotomy.
Basically you need to think about how to do it cost-effectively and sanely. Just like anything else you do (you do think about that, right?)
You know you don’t need “beds” made of wood and metal to grow plants, right? You’d be shocked to know that most plants just grow right in the ground. Raised beds offer some benefits for sure, but are completely unnecessary for most home gardens.
Assuming it used all the same tools and techniques, making only minor replacements of tractors for voluntary domestic labor … I don’t see why it couldn’t reach averages in a similar magnitude. Given them larger plots where they could use industrial tools and they should produce about the same on average.
Eother way there attempts more self sufficiency are to be commended… So the I’m not sure of the point of the post really.
If we had a socialist style of market economy like Vietnam we’d produce more crops.
Also in a correctly valued economy we wouldn’t have to subsidize farming.
I feel like there are helpful and harmful fantasies, and villainizing the foundation of all modern life in favor of unrealistic self-sustenance is leaning harmful.
We have the means to all enjoy good produce for minimal costs, we don’t need to change to a worse system that costs us more.
Honestly, you don’t have to do much to villainize some aspects of industrial farming. It’s mostly only possible due to the haber-bosch nitrogenation process, which was invented by the same guy who invented chemical warfare, and the process itself uses lots of petrochemicals and dumps a lot of nitrogen into the natural environment. That’s not even getting into the use of migrant workers, or the patenting of dna over some crops, and the food monopolies that exist in some countries.
I also don’t think it’s a case of “there can be only one system”… And I don’t run into a lot of people saying that.
For myself, this isn’t one of the more pressing issues in the world. I don’t really think people have enough land to be able to be self-sufficient, but gardening is a nice hobby.
Food markets vary from nation to nation, and have political aspects I’m fairly disinterested in, so can’t really comment on that.
You can have both and it doesn’t need to compete with industrial farming or meet some business model. It just needs to meet your needs and/or goals.
Gardening lets you grow the stuff you want how you want and eat it fresh without taking days and trucks on a highway to get it to you.
I’m thankful for the conveniences of modern agriculture but if gardening didn’t have any positive impact why did they push victory gardens so much in WW2?
It feels good, teaches valuable skills, makes your neighborhood more resiliant and gives you healthy things you want to eat. It’s more than simply therapeutic.
100% granted. In the 100 square feet of my property I set aside for vegetable gardening in my spare time, I cannot grow as much food as a full time professional farmer can in a given 100 square feet of a multi-acre field.
I can, however, produce more food than the non-native species of turf grass that used to grow there.
This only true in places that aren’t environmentally supportive of agriculture. My family never had to buy vegetables. Granted we had about 2 acres of farmable land. We didn’t sell produce, we harvested and froze until we needed it
Edit: Initial start up is definitely not as cost effective as buying from the grocery, but once you’re able to harvest your own seeds, it’s not that expensive to sustain your production
Counterpoint: if you, personally, can save some dollars so you’re mainly spending on the things you can’t grow, that’s hardly a bad thing. Also, working with soil is known to be good for you. Exposes you to soil bacteria that are known to boost mood.
And it sounds corny as fuck and I didn’t really take it seriously until I did it, but homegrown produce can be so incredibly much better than what you get off an industrial farm.
Just let people participate in feeding themselves and be happy, fuck.
A third of all food goes uneaten in the USA, at the CONSUMER AND RETAIL LEVEL. It’s not going to waste on the farm, nor would that change from gardening on your own.
Right, the yields of the industrialized farms are what go to waste. You dont need a level of productivity that gets bottlenecked at what I’ll definely broadly and loosely as ‘distribution’–from a garden.
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