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Food
Mar 20, 2015 20:46:59 GMT -5
Post by armjr on Mar 20, 2015 20:46:59 GMT -5
Another work day in the garden. Cleaned out one raised bed and a couple of other in-ground patches. As usual I had plenty of edibles that came out of each spot. Took me about an hour of washing to get them all cleaned up and made a huge salad for my supper.
When I finished washing I noticed the trash can. I had culled about 1/3 of the lettuce, chard, and spinach I had brought into the house. I brought in only the best of what I took out of the beds which was about 1/3 of the total.
I get about fifteen mailings a week wanting money from me to "Feed just one child for 19cents per day". I'm throwing away food that starving people would gladly gobble down. Vitamin and Nutrient rich veggies that would sustain life. There is absolutely no way to take that food which I will not eat and give it to someone who is starving.
The technology (putting a seed in the ground is technology?) is available for people to grow food all over the world. I put very little into my gardening monetarily, aside from seed, nothing.
Sometimes I just don't understand. I know there are many other factors involved in why people are starving in places in this world. But, I feel certain that if we here in the US were faced with some catastrophe, myself and my neighbors could grow enough food to go around. With a little organization we could grow garden crops all year round.
When my great, great grandmother came to this country and moved to South Texas, she grew a garden behind the kitchen just like 98% of all households did. With her though, there was no town, no market, no grocery store. If she didn't grow it, they didn't have it. She had to keep staples going all year round to feed 12 no less. If she could do that and all the other things she had to do in a day, then I don't understand why others in the world can't as well, and furthermore why they are starving to the point where 19 cents a day from me will make all the difference in their life and death struggle.
I'm really not being naive or condescending, I know that if there was a will to succeed they would. But, I still can't get over the fact that I throw away enough "food" to feed a large family.
Alan
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Food
Mar 20, 2015 21:25:54 GMT -5
Post by ahntjudy on Mar 20, 2015 21:25:54 GMT -5
You hit that nail right on the head, Alan. I feel exactly the same way. I hate waste. And you're right. I think it will take a miracle and/or the big catastrophe to get people to wake up, work together and make the intelligent changes for the world...for once.
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Food
Mar 20, 2015 22:21:38 GMT -5
Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 20, 2015 22:21:38 GMT -5
Alan and Judy, based on some information I've read, some of the money collected by charities which ALLEGEDLY is intended to purchase food for poor people never gets to them because of political and tribal strife. Some of the worst food shortages are for countries in which this kind of tribal strife divides the population, creates increased danger if not impossibility of distribution, and literally causes starvation for besieged populations because of the lack of safety in delivering food.
There's also political corruption between rival politicians, keeping the country in an unsettled state while these megalomaniacs battle it out in political arenas. Those kinds of battles disrupt the food distribution system, even if they aren't shooting each other up.
My father also gets a lot of solicitations, sometimes over a dozen a week. I check out the ones to which he wants to donate and have found so many fraudulent activities, so much misrepresentation, dishonesty, and overpayment of executives that I encourage him not to consider most of these solicitations.
In addition, I can't see any justification for someone on limited Social Security to donate to an organization which pays its CEO anywhere from $200 to $.5 million a year! That's scandalous and insulting.
From what I'm told, there are people in Appalachia who need the food; at least in the US I would think there's more likelihood of food getting to those in need. And at least there aren't armed thugs ready to shoot up anyone who comes into their territory. At least I hope not.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 6:34:13 GMT -5
Post by armjr on Mar 21, 2015 6:34:13 GMT -5
The number of organizations which DO NOT have a huge bureaucracy administering them are very few. I suppose starvation anywhere is due, in large part, to people not wanting to do what is necessary to get food. Gardening, especially on a level that would support a steady food source, is hard, back bending, knee scraping, work. But, with very little effort, a great deal can be grown, if, a person is willing to invest some hard work at the beginning and some moderate work maintaining the vegetable patch. I realize this is extremely difficult to do while you are running for your life.
Alan
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 7:04:45 GMT -5
Post by claude on Mar 21, 2015 7:04:45 GMT -5
We live in a part of the world where natural resources are abundant. Of course we can grow food with little effort. My fathers second wife was from Appalachia and they were very self sufficient...more so than I am. They raised chickens, livestock, wove grasses to make baskets..raised bees for honey. Besides the waring factions..a shortage of water and drout has desiminated what topsoil remains..dry winds blow it away. Conservation methods of hundreds of years work on small farms where they've been saving seed for generations...enter Monsanto with their feed the world ...they offer seed which requires their food that these farmers cannot afford..and their little independent farms become an albatross around their necks. In Africa young girls walk 30 miles a day to carry a 5 gal pot of water home for family personal use. It takes the entire day. In sri lanka the rise of the sea has flooded entire villages displacing thousands of people who once had gardens and could feed themselves. In addition a war over water rights where companies in conjunction with governments have diverted water away from where it once ran creating desert area. We are a rich nation with a majority of the WORLDS fresh water as well as bountiful natural resources. We are blessed.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 7:16:56 GMT -5
Post by brownrexx on Mar 21, 2015 7:16:56 GMT -5
I know that if there was a will to succeed they would. But, I still can't get over the fact that I throw away enough "food" to feed a large family. I totally agree with the comments and I feel the same way. Sadly, there are many people in this country living on food stamps and welfare who would never even consider having a garden. You can't grow chicken fingers in a garden! The poor people in our grandparent's time gladly ate vegetables. Not so anymore.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 7:38:56 GMT -5
Post by claude on Mar 21, 2015 7:38:56 GMT -5
In a classroom of 22, one third..that's 7 children did NOT KNOW that you grow food in the ground from a seed. Food doesn't come from a grocery store it comes from the ground. The numbers are higher in urban areas. I live in a farming area..farmlands literally surround where I live. They are slowly being sold off for housing developments. Many owners rent their land to other farmers or people who raise cattle/ hog feed corn or pumpkins. A group of teachers and I started gardens and growing pots thanks to a donation of seed from seed savers..it was a small project where we got pre-schoolers involved in growing their own food. We gave them seed to grow at home as well mostly in pots. We made our own pot of spaghetti sauce, salad and squash for a school wide lunch. we grew a dozen corn plants...and one little girl thought we would unhusk Doritos.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 8:16:08 GMT -5
Post by armjr on Mar 21, 2015 8:16:08 GMT -5
I have been poor and I have been not poor. My period of poverty was situational and I knew what I would have to do to rectify the situation. My father grew a few tomatoes and bell peppers when I was growing up but we never really had a "garden" per se. It was not until I was at college and encountered a publication called "Mother Earth News" provided to me by a sweet little girl who thought that sort of thing was pretty neat too, that I got into the "Gardening" scene. But, every year since then, 41 of them, something has gone in the ground, Spring and Fall, to produce supplemental food. The question of "Are we going to have a garden this year" has NEVER come up or has even been contemplated that I am aware of. It is simply something that we DO.
I understand the crippling disease plaguing our nation now collectively called welfare. There is something very honest about growing a garden or raising animals for food or hunting for food. It is in large part work, and the pleasure and satisfaction that one gets from these activities is in the fruits of those labors. A dead chicken or a dead deer is a long way from the table and what is required to get it there is often unpleasant Work. I feel that same responsibility to use the things I grow as I do to the things I kill in the name of food, the idea of which has prompted this thread. I do not like to waste food and at times I feel that is what I am doing by culling the less desirable leaves and vegetables from my garden. A hole in a leaf does not ruin the nutrient value of a spinach leaf, only the aesthetics. A malformed or small carrot is not less nutritious only harder to clean (Note. Tomatoes are sacred and are eaten regardless of their shape or size.)
Alan
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 9:32:43 GMT -5
Post by brownrexx on Mar 21, 2015 9:32:43 GMT -5
I do not like to waste food and at times I feel that is what I am doing by culling the less desirable leaves and vegetables from my garden It's never really wasted, just composted to feed another crop. Vegetable waste never leaves my property.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 9:44:04 GMT -5
Post by octave on Mar 21, 2015 9:44:04 GMT -5
Aside from unimaginable natural catastrophe and wars, most people can implement self-supporting practices in their homeland.
The problem that we are facing as modern humans in the US is that convenience has made a lot of us unresourceful, especially the young ones. I see that as a very serious problem. These kids are familiar with sophisticated technology, yet they would not know how to grow a single plant (except maybe pot ;)). If they live in homes with yards, they, as well as their parents, can't see the potential that's offered to them. They could raise small livestock, plant a garden, an orchard, anything that empowers them. But they won't. The general consensus seems to be "why bother working the soil when you can spend that time at work and make money"--I have heard many people say that, not thinking that the money, and quite a bit of it, will ultimately pay for the foods they are not growing.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 9:51:04 GMT -5
Post by desertwoman on Mar 21, 2015 9:51:04 GMT -5
I agree, also. Unfortunately we are a culture of disconnect that has been spreading across the globe as others try to emulate the U.S. Traditional nutrient rich foods that grow abundantly in their areas are shunned (i.e. coconut milk for cokes) Or their traditional foods, which become trendy here, are unaffordable as the food is shipped to us for a much higher price than the locals can afford.
I worked in a food cannery in Oregon for one day to have the experience and see what that was about. This was in 1981. I worked the conveyor belt as green beans rode by. Our job was to pick out the "defective" beans, which were trashed. I cried as I saw this wasted food going in to the trash bins, thinking of how many people in the U.S. and around the world would have been so grateful for these defective beans.
When we had the orchard, we would have kids come out on field trips to see how fruit was grown. Like claude said, many had no idea an apple came from a tree. They only knew them to be found in styrofoam, plastic wrapped trays. The looks on their faces, of wonder and delight, when they were able to pick a fresh piece of fruit and eat it on the spot is something I will never forget.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 9:54:21 GMT -5
Post by desertwoman on Mar 21, 2015 9:54:21 GMT -5
The money will also pay for their doctor and hospital bills as their stress levels rise, and the lack of exercise and less nutritious foods have their affect.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 10:39:37 GMT -5
Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 21, 2015 10:39:37 GMT -5
There's another side to the issue of home gardening. It's the municipalities with employees who either don't understand, don't want to understand, or perhaps are just plain dumb about the benefits of gardening. These people are obsessed with manicured green lawns, not wise land use.
I've written before about the number of times I've been cited by code enforcement for having either a beginning (never gets any farther than that) compost pile, grass clippings, mulch, hay or straw on my beds. The code enforcement officers believe that these "attract rodents". They can't even recognize flowers or herbs!
Never mind that there are people who pile garbage up either overflowing from garbage pails or just piled up in bags, plopped down next to their garage for easy picking by raccoons and anything else that might be hungry. It's all about the green lawns.
This is from the latest issue of the AARP Bulletin, which I get only because I joined AARP for the insurance discount, not because I have that much respect for the organization.
The article is titled "You Gotta Be Kidding!" and subtitled "News stories that made our blood boil". One of these allegedly egregious offenses is titled "Are You Going to Eat That?". It reports that in four months Seattle residents will be fined for throwing food in garbage. Since Jan. 1 the city's sanitation workers have been red tagging garbage cans of alleged violators. Apparently the goal is to encourage residents to compost, and to reach a composting level of 60% of waste by the end of the year.
The article quotes an unknown "blogger" who claims that this goal isn't possible, refers to it as a Utopian goal of universal recycling and unanimous composting. This "blogger" then refers to Seattle's actions as "Maoist public shaming."
The comment on Maoism speaks for itself; I couldn't write anything that would more succinctly reveal this person's resistance and stupidity.
What's sad is that Seattle is a leader but AARP treats it as an offender. If only other communities were as progressive as Seattle!
There's also the issue of technology worship and emphasis on younger people who are technology proficient, as if that's the only goal of life. There's another AARP article on reverse mentoring, in which younger more tech savvy people are showing older people how to "get with the program", as some would describe it.
I often used to wonder what these people who are so tech reliant would do if their power was down and they had to do dishes by hand, or even use a broom (if they even know what it is).
Perhaps that's why some of the survivalist programs seem to be so popular. At least some people think about surviving in nontech environments. I don't for a moment think that these programs aren't planned with some element of entertainment, but at least they demonstrate shelter in a wilderness and learning to recognize native plants for their value.
If only municipal employees could be so adaptive.
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 10:59:57 GMT -5
Post by OregonRed on Mar 21, 2015 10:59:57 GMT -5
(I've always wondered how they survived on the ship of Star Trek with the - forgot the word again - that they walk up to and ask for food) also, no sun or nature what-so-ever)
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Food
Mar 21, 2015 11:11:55 GMT -5
Post by brownrexx on Mar 21, 2015 11:11:55 GMT -5
Replicator. And don't forget they had a hydroponics lab too for growing food.
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