Homegrown
By Garrett Okrasinski
If you needed an extra kick to start a garden or maintain your existing garden, I recently stumbled upon a few facts that may provide you with the needed motivation. They sure did for me!
In doing some research for a project on food access, I came across a report “Recommendations for Food Systems Policy in Seattle” from the Community Food Security Coalition. This report contains a survey of the current food systems in Seattle and recommendations for the future policies. However chapter one stopped me in my tracks and forced me to share with you – Introduction to Food Systems: Environment.
Most of us can agree our current mainstream food system is well… less than ideal.
Below are a few facts that I discovered through the Community Food Security Coalitions report.
- Our current food system is so energy inefficient, it takes about 8 calories of energy to produce one calorie of food.
- To grow, process and deliver food for a family of four it requires more than 930 gallons of gasoline.
- The current food system produces roughly one third of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.
- Approximately 25% Seattle’s waste is food related
As many of you work hard to cultivate food in your backyard or community garden to feed yourself, your family and your friends, it is important to remember how important your work is to our larger food system and our environment. We appreciate what you do! Keep up the good work!
Excellent post – the benefits of home gardening and sustainable food systems are limitless. Thanks for the motivation boost and keep fighting the good fight!