These days you don’t have to look very far to find a reference to rising food costs or any number of food-related social unrest around the world. It is no wonder to me that more and more people that I know are considering the possibility of growing some (or all) of their own food.
What I find though, is that even though they are considering it – most people have absolutely no idea of how much space is needed to accomplish this goal. While it is absolutely true that specific figures depend on a variety of factors (climate, soil fertility, water resources, etc), the rough estimate of the land necessary to feed a family of four can be seen in the following infographic from One Block Off The Grid (1BOG). (To see the full graphic a, please click on the image below.)
I do think that it is worth pointing out that several of the land use figures in the infographic are skewed toward the Traditional Agriculture model, and as such do not take into account the increased productivity (and SIGNIFICANTLY reduced land footprint) that can be gained through the “Square-Foot” method or even through Aquaponics. By raising fish instead of traditional land animals for protein, it is possible to not only reduce the square footage needed for the animals themselves, but also the space needed for the production of feed crops (corn/wheat) for the same.
According to the amount of space that it takes to provide for a family of four I think that it would be really unlikely for that to become a trend. If people are serious about living off the land i don’t think it would make sense for them to grow all their own food. Even back before you could go to the store to buy all the groceries you needed people still sticked to growing more specialized foods and then trading it with neighbors for other things that the need. I really don’t see why it would be a good idea to grow/raise all your own food and to “live off the land”.
While it is a good idea, it is unrealistic to believe that the majority people in this day and age are going to start living off the land. For one, not everyone can acquire that much land. Two, it might be expensive to get animals and plants to begin all of this. However, I do think the idea is a good one and one of much practicality. But, I just don’t see this taking a large effect.
I agree with Jackson. Land nowadays is so expensive. It is crazy expensive to live in an 800sq foot apartment in dallas so how can you possibly think people can afford to live on land at which they could live on? ABSOLUTELY UNREALISTIC! Also, our generation has grown up with food being available to them at stores having it be so simple for someone to go to the store and get food. Not many people are going to go from the idea of just going to a store to having to do all the effort of farming your own food. It just wont happen, as much as people want it too! I just dont think this idea is very rational, in our economy everyone is busy and working non stop not having the time to go farm there own food to survive. Although it could have a nice outcome in the longrun, I just dont think it will ever happen!
That is a lot of space! Especially since i have a big family which means i would need more land! The substitutions do make it smaller but even then when you do the math needing to take care of the land, the tools, the labor (for some), is it really cheaper??? or just more environmentally stable???
I totally forgot about the size of families nowadays. Lots of families in our society are quite large with 4 or 5 individuals in each household. This would need to be alot alot alot of farm in order to farm for all of them and as Lauren states, tools and labor would cause it to be alot more expensive. I think there just thinking that it is environmentally stable because for one to take care of a farm is a full time job. This would cause parents to not have jobs which would reduce income OR have parents need to pay for labor workers which would be very expensive. This Idea is not rational.
I agree with Jackson, for people to live off their own land in this era is highly unrealistic. The majority find it more conveniant to go to the store to purchase their goods. I believe that growing and raising all your own food would be expensive at first. However it would save a tremendous amount of money in the long run. It definately takes more work and is not as easy to simply make a trip to the store to purchase your food.
I think that living off your own land is do able and depending on where you live very possible and there are a lot of people who are growing food and eating off their own land. However to except or even hope that the majority of people can live off their own land in this era isn’t very probable. Even the people that do grow their own food don’t live completely off of what they grow. All of the factors and things that it takes to live off your land people today especially in cities don’t really have. As the world is growing the less land their is to work off of.
I think that the idea of living off your own land is not a goal that can be reached by most people. It is a good idea, however to people in our society today, going to the store and getting your own groceries is the easier alternative. First, it would be hard to find the right space to even begin on and second, finding and buying all the animals and plants for the land would also be difficult. It would be expensive and not convenient. I agree with Teal in the fact that it could work in the long run, however people are not willing to try living off their own land when they can easily go to the nearest grocery store and get the food they want.
The idea of living off of food grown in your own backyard is completely unrealistic. Especially because of the amount of land you would need to make it possible. I agree with Teal and Bri that I don’t think that everyone would be willing to do this because for most people it is easier just to go to their local grocery store instead of spending more money to be more sustainable. But even if everyone was able and willing to do this, I’m not sure if it would even work out because there wouldn’t be enough land to fit that much area in the world especially considering that some families have more than 4 people in their family, but some do have less. Even though I don’t think its possible for this to happen, I do think it would be great if it could. We would eat more organically and the earth would be a healthier and safer place to live in.
In theory, living off the land is a great idea! However, when you factor in the amount of space it requires, the cost, and the energy it takes to put into the “project”…well…people are lazy. And, based on the amount of equipment and resources needed, it doesn’t seem all that cheaper. Most people would rule the possibility out just based on the amount of energy necessary to harvest their own food in relation to the cost (meaning it would just be faster and only marginally more expensive to go to the grocery store). While living off of the land sounds incredibly optimal, a somewhat more practical solution would be going to your local grocery or farmers market and purchasing home-grown produce.
Living off the land in your backyard would be a sight to see. It would be extremely pricey at first, you probably wouldn’t get it right the first harvest or two, and not to mention most people don’t have this much land to work with. It is honestly inconvenient in this day and age. I live across the street from a grocery store and I’m not sure if it makes me lazy or busy but driving 2 minutes down the street would be a lot easier then working everyday on my miniature farm. Living off the land is an amazing goal and I wish that it was possible for everyone but it is just unrealistic to expect everyone to completely switch the way they live.
Like Meghan, I live 2 minutes from Tom Thumb so it is very convenient for me to just stop at the store and pick up all my groceries. Also, the houses i live close to are in Highland Park and University Park and their front and back yards are really tiny. Those people would never be able to manage a farm in their backyard when they don’t even have enough room for their cars. My house, however, is on 2 acres of land and we have plenty of room to make a farm/garden to produce food. I think people these days don’t have near as much time as they used to and therefore this idea would never work. It is only going to get worse in the future- people will have less and less time. People want what is convenient for them. Its selfish but its the truth.
As unlikely as this is to actually happen I think its good that some people are starting to at least think out of the box some and put this idea out there. Some people will be influenced and even if they don’t turn their 2 acres in North Dallas into a fully functioning farm they might at least start a home garden. Another idea that I have recently stumbled upon is the idea of a community garden. A neighborhood in Richardson agreed to create and maintain a community garden in a local park. everyone was free to take from the garden and everyone helped maintain it as well. Unfortunately I heard about this idea because the garden was killed due to the Texas drought, but regardless; a good idea.
I think that your idea of having a home garden could be reasonable for people to accomplish. Finding and buying 2 acres of land for this is very difficult and inconvenient for people to do. A home garden is something very simplistic and can gradually grow into something big that can make an impact on our environment. Community gardens in different neighborhoods is also a great idea because it is a goal that can be reached. Instead of 2 acres of land for an individual family, people can share this land with others and work on it together. If many people take care and grow this garden together, then there will be a variety of different resources being produced. These two ideas are very good ways to produce our own food because it is reasonable and can be accomplished.
I found this graphic amazing because it really changes your perspective on how many resources you use on a day to day basis. However, I think that the facts might be a little incorrect, but that point is true with any graphic. The graphic also shows how nicely students at Parish (in general) are able to live. The fact that 1 house (.5 acre) needs 4 times as much land to survive.
The idea Haley states about having a community garden is a great idea. The town of Addison has a place where individuals can buy a garden plot where they can plant whatever their heart desires and they pay money to have city workers take care of watering the garden. This idea is great because fresh fruits and vegetables can be grown, which helps decrease our dependence on other food suppliers to give people nourishment.
Realistically, most people are not willing or even have time to have their own 2 acre farm, or even willing to invest the money in it. Tthey can just go a few block away from home and buy all they need. As well, having that much land near the city would be super expensive. A more viable solution would be a small green house in you backyard that would make your family partly self-sufficient and to buy groceries that are grown locally near your area.
Since our society has come to what it is today, I cant see many people following this trend. The way our cities and downtown’s are constructed it is very unlikely for people to change their ways. Especially since this new way will take more time, money, effort.
Yeah Santi is right. Where is all this land gonna come from? The majority of people live in cities. There is not enough room for people in New York City to start farming. Again, it’s a good idea ,but impractical.
I don’t think you’re quite grasping the size of the planet. Whatever size you think it is, is much smaller than reality. New York just happens to be too many people packed into an area far too small for that population size. With the way it is though, you are correct. It’s unrealistic for people to find 2 acres of land when they live in a studio apartment.
But what about people that live in houses, with 100 square feet of front or back yard? Though the infographic gives the calculations for a full 4-member family support farming option, the purpose is not to persuade people to produce that much food. The idea is that each person could probably find space on their property to grow a few tomato plants, some corn, and maybe even a chicken. That wouldn’t feed a family of four, but it could provide meal supplements for a single person almost indefinitely.
It’s impossible for the world to become completely sustainable right now. That’s a fact that everyone should come to terms with before they get all hot under the collar about how over polluted we make our world. Our duty as humans with the knowledge of pollution to ween ourselves off pollution reliance. Home growing, which has to start on a small scale anyways because very few people have the space for full farms, is just one step in the process.
I agree, there is a lot of land in the planet, but still most people live in cities or suburbs, and the land is expensive. People also have children and pets and they want them to be able to play on their back yard. As well not everyone in the world can afford a house with a 100sq.ft. back yard, this example might work on the U.S but not on other developing countries. While I agree with you that the idea is to become partly sustainable, and I think that is grate, I don’t think people are willing to do it, just because they can’t or don’t want to do it.
I don’t think people don’t do their part simply because they don’t want to. If they can’t . . . meaning that they have NO yard and NO space to grow things, than it’s a different story. But seeing how most people could do at least aquaponics, it’s a lack of knowledge about what benefits these farming processes have that keeps people from performing them, not a lack of desire.
Tying this in with what I’m talking about in the post about Jamie Oliver, everything should start in school. If all schools offered an opportunity for children to learn how to farm some of their own food or grow their own plants could lead to significantly increase the possibilities of them growing their own food in the future.
Basically: it’s not that people don’t want to, but it’s that people don’t know how helpful it is for them and their environment to live off their own land.
Over the last few months I’ve learned that you don’t need much space at all to grow some food for your family to eat. It’s just matter of being educated about it. I disagree with Jackson and Santi, it’s not impractical. It’s only impractical if your uneducated about the concept.
Mercedez — can you give some specifics about what you have learned and how it makes being self-sufficient (in terms of food) a possibility in the Urban environment?
Like a lot of my classmates i agree in a nonrealistic sense this would be fantastic to live off the land one owns. However, the space needed is way more then an average family could afford the land might be the equivalent to like four average house. there is no building up in this case like a family can do in a home. On top of the space the skills and hours required to achieve a successful farm would not be accommodating to a normal 8-5 work day. Like Lauren said what happens with big families? Do they have to buy more land and work harder for the same amount of food needed for a family of 4? a more logical idea for a family would be to pick on fruit or vegetable that is often bought in the house hold and plant that one thing allowing for some saving and some personal satisfaction of being environmentally thoughtful.
I think it is very unlikely that peolpe will start growing their own food for their family. Depending on the space that it would take to grow food for a standard family of 4, there are not many people with this amount of land. Also, in today’s society, people are so busy with their jobs and other tasks in their everyday life that they do not have time to tend to their home grown foods. It is much easier to just run to the store and pick up a couple of groceries that you need after a long day at work. Growing your own food would have to become somewhat of a full time job which most people do not have this time.
Yeah, i agree with everyone. I think the current system of food supply is working out pretty well and grocery stores are definitely not going to become less popular due to people growing their own food. However, I dont think that anyone expects for this to become a trend but it might be something that certain individuals who would consider this. I dont think that this article was written to encourage people to grow their own food but just to make people aware of how much land it takes. I never would have imagined that my food would take up so much land. I think its just a cool way to put it into perspective.
Being self sufficient in an urban environment is more then possible.
Space wise, you could use a X# gallon fish tank to raise eatable fish INSIDE YOUR HOME, and within aquaponics use you can create a bio-integrated system by including a grow bed to raise produce such as vegetables, fruits, and herbs. You will need some equipment to maintain circulation but it isn’t MASSIVE.
Looking towards the future this system is unbelievably practical. If you think about a staircase and it’s steps and picture a building like this
_ <– rain falls into grow bed here, plants filter out toxins
|_<– filtered water runs into fish tank
|_<– dirty water from fish runs into plants to filter out toxins from fish
|_<– plants continue to get produced.
This is a sketch of how in highly developed urban societies such as New York can potentially buildup and have the agriculture they need.
Info about aquaponics below.
Aquaculture + Hydroponics = Aquaponics
Aquaculture is raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, or prawns in tanks.
Hydroponics is cultivating plants in water. (NO SOIL)
Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. It is a bio-integrated system that links recirculating aquaculture with hydroponic vegetable, flower, and/or herb production.
HOW IT WORKS!
In the aquaculture waste products gather in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. The water is then led to a hydroponic system through a pump. The by-products from the aquaculture then are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients. After, the cleansed water recirculates back to the animals, providing them with clean water. The system repeats, eventually producing a harvest of plants and aquatic food.
You can build an aquaponic system of any size depending on your limitations. Your system can vary from indoor or outdoor units to massive commercial units, using the same technological concepts. Most systems usually contain fresh water, although saltwater systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and vegetation.
It is impractical for an individual or family to maintain and fully harvest 2 acres of land. The modern farm is designed to squeeze as much from the land as possible. The individual won’t have the machinery to efficiently plant or harvest. Even the use of Aquaculture and Hydroponics will require lots of time and energy.
Does this mean we shouldn’t try to do what we can or want. If your desire is to drive to the store and purchase foods grown who knows where or when feel free. If you prefer processed food, best of luck.
However, if you want to try and grow your own, you know the results of your labor. If your crops fails you have grocery store around the corner. But if it succeed and your took proper care you can have foods fresher and healthier than anything you can get from the store.
Texas is about 171 million acres in size, this COULD sustain about 85 million “families of four” or about the population of the United States. Now much of the land in Texas won’t support some crops, or there will be the need for green houses or other growing techniques.
One thing to consider about this articular and graphic is YOUR FOOT PRINT. If you tried to live as low impact life as you can you use about 0.5 acres (100ft x ~218ft). In addition to just substance you have other needs, a new bicycle, or tires uses resources, a car uses even more. Do you gamble on breaking even with electric or going cheap with gas. Do you get a new computer/tv/what ever, or continue using your 5/10 year old beast.
If you decide to establish a few gardens and tree groves your first few years you may not see the financial benefit. After your gardens beds are build you may need two season to break even. Your trees will take three or more years before they produce fruit or nuts. The animals are a different aspect, you must build shelters and feeders for them, they require some medical needs and other needs. However they can offer the greatest financial returns.
One thing the graphic doesn’t suggest is using a small wind-generator or two. Think out side the box 2-3 acres is a large swath of land which (zoning dependent) can offer you lots of option if your willing to work with them.
I agree with Jackson that it sounds idealistic, but impractical, to think that most people can get that much land at a lower cost in today’s market. It is fascinating how much land it takes to raise food for a family of four! Another issue is the learning curve most people would have to conquer to get this going.
I don’t think that producing ALL of your household’s food intake is necessarily a very smart idea. It would take too much time and labor for the family to take care of. Just think, if one of the family members forget to water the tomatoes, or feed the pigs, the whole family could suffer from not having that food source for a certain amount of time. Another concern could be having insects eat all their crops. This situation can also cause trouble for the family. I think growing small amounts of food is a good idea, but don’t be completely reliant on your own food.
Yes it seems like a good idea to live off the land, but in today’s society it is not practical. Living off the land would work… but it would only be a matter of time before you no longer could. Like Catherine said today’s food system is not impractical, grocery stores, markets, etc. are all fine. Living off the land and expecting it to work for a long time is just not smart. In my opinion, a normal family of four should be buying food from markets, where almost 99% of the time there is no shortage of a product.
As has already been said, it would be impractical to create a farm this large due to space restrictions. As sad as it is, I think that people will always need to go to the supermarket and buy food. However, it is possible to reduce the amount of store bought food by building a small garden in the backyard or growing some produce on a patio. I believe that this is the true solution; not trying to grow every last piece of food but rather growing enough to make a difference to the environment while still being able to live in an urban environment that does not have very much space.
Most of you are destined to join me (and others) in the job market. Many with have a “9-5 M-F” job. This will make caring for your “farm” a challenge.
For planting you can plan a few weekends to till and plant some of the land for a few crops. If I remember correctly, the garden my dad had while I grew up was about 15’x45′ (about 675 sq. ft.), it took about 2-3 hours to till the whole thing with a good pass, if we were working stuff in, or needing to break the soil even more it could take 4-6 hours. A lot of 2-3 acres I would consider using a small yard tractor with attachments instead of the walk behind. But if you plan your land well, the soil could be used to grow alternating crops, and when one crop is finished, the next can be planted. You also have trees which can produce at different times of the year.
The real time commitment would be the feeding, harvest, and preserving. But you could make this part of your daily activities. Feed the pigs and chickens at the crack of dawn, and grab a few eggs. Walk to the garden and collect a few veggies. Now a quick breakfast, and you can make lunch, even bring some goodies for the co-workers. Come home and do the walk again, and make dinner. Choose an evening or two each week and do some canning.
While the intentions are good, this idea is very unrealistic. There is no way that with all the housing developments, apartment complexes, and half-acre yards this idea can be fully utilized. Maybe if you have a good couple acres, live in the right environment, and are motivated to live off your land 100% we’d see a change in living sustainably. At my old house in Washington, we had 5 acres and grew fruits and vegetables at home. But that was 5 acres. Finding that in Dallas is difficult and its also a struggle trying to get foods to grow in your backyard down here with the crazy Texas weather. And in response to House, I don’t know if you’ve ever done farming or ranching and have been around chickens and pigs but they are loud, smelly, and a lot of work. A chicken coop is one of the messiest facilities I have ever been in and I don’t think my neighbor would appreciate it if I decided to put one up. Pigs are notorious on ranches for rooting around and escaping from pens, I can’t tell you how many times I had to chase down a pig or two this summer when I was working. Finding a pig on the intersection of Preston and Royal isn’t exactly ideal. And depending on the size and number of animals, there are acreage requirements. For every one cow that you own, you need one acre. Planning something like this down to the numbers is unrealistic, there are too many factors that can change the plan.
this is extremely unlikely. for one family of four to do this would be remarkable. to think that one day everyone could live off the land in this way is far fecthed and simply stupid. it would take a ridiculous amount of land, amazing effort by the entire effort, amd not to mention it would be extremely costly. for a bigge family these things would be insane to imagine. like Lauren said would this really be cheaper? probably not.
WOW! It is awesome to know that all it takes is about 2 acres for one to live off of their land: I would have guessed more around 10 or 20 acres. It is cool to see what all is generally necessary for one to eat healthy every day off of their own naturally produced foods. One thing is for sure, if every American could do this without any problems, America would not be the fattest country anymore. But one thing I thought about while reading this was how can people find enough time in the day to care for every single part of their land: they would have to feed their livestock every day, and tend to their crops as well each day. Maybe it doesn’t take that long to tend to a farm this size each day, but another issue I am curious about is would the family sell the excess produce or save it? I don’t understand how they would make much of a profit is they didn’t sell anything.
i think holly brings us some good points about selling the excess. Would people save for themselves or be willing to give to the poor or those less fortunate. However on the point she made on only two acres to feed off of i think holly forgot that that doesn’t include the house people already have to live in. Many people in today’s economy can barely afford to live in the house they are in let alone having to buy another 2 acres to have a farm. an idea might be a community farm however this brings us the problem of the tragedy of the commons.
I agree that this is extremely unlikely for a family of four to live only off of the resources in their backyard. Like Elianah said so many people are already struggling to afford their own home and cannot afford for the expenses of two more acres. What they do not know is it will pay off in the long run, and will be able to get free food and resources in the comforts of their own backyard. However what is holding them back is the present, and right now is very rare for a family to be able to afford this.
A more realistic view of this situation would be to encourage people to grow a small amount of food in their backyards instead of ALL their food. I think people would not mind growing a few tomatoes or carrots in their backyard- its a small reasonable amount. If someone were to promote this idea and show the benefits of backyard farming, I think you would see a lot of people interested. I know I wouldn’t mind growing a few crops in my backyard to help the environment. America just needs to take small steps at a time and stop trying to overwhelm people with these unrealistic ideas. With grocery stores right around the corner, the majority of people would not be willing to plant, grow, and harvest their food year round. Tomatoes? Carrots? Thats do-able.
I think living off your own backyard is a great idea, but like my other classmates have said this is a highly improbable task. People in todays world are far to lazy to grow and harvest their own food. Much less this would hurt many grocery stores businesses, which plays a big role in our economy. Many people who make their incomes off grocery stores are farms and such would pay the most price for this. Not only because these are their jobs but it is what they are educated to do, it is what they know how to do best. If everyone comformed to this idea, what would happen to the economy? What would happen to the farmers and grocery stores? I think everyone growing their own food is an idea worth thinking about, however for this to have ever worked it needed to be presented earlier before the industrial age came around. In todays world I just don’t see people putting in their own time, money, and effort for something they can go get down the street.
I think Olivia has a great idea, growing some of your own food instead of ALL of it. This is way more reasonable in the world we live in today. Most people can find the time to manage a couple of vegetables that they could plant in their back yard. This would not be a strenuous task and it could really help out the environment. Also, from what I saw off of the Food Inc. movie, it would be healthier and even taste better than the store- bought vegetables!
I agree with you two in saying that it wouldn’t make sense to attempt to grow all of your food. It’s just not very realistic. Growing an amount of your food would be cheap and not very labor-intensive. Plus, if everyone were to grow the majority of their own produce and food, many people could lose their jobs and livelihood.
I think Abby brings up a great point! growing some but not all is totally manageable… i wish that this idea was atainable and reachable but it totally isnt. With the way cities are today there is absolutly no way, especially with so many other problems like the homeless and people in poverty i think that this idea is a bit of a reach to say the least. But like i said earlier i think that growing a little bit of the food but not all is a great idea, and maybe even having a community garden in your neighborhood where everyone grows some food and then can share with other people in their own neighborhoods?
While the idea of living off the land is great in theory it is very unlikely that people of today’s society are going to convert to that lifestyle. This type of living would be far too rigorous and time consuming compared to the fast paced, easy lives that so many people in America lead today. It is a good idea to be more environmentally involved, however could never adapt or ease its way into our lives. It is a major leap from one end of the spectrum to the other, not to mention a huge sacrifice, that unfortunately only a small group of people might even consider taking.
i think the idea of people converting to growing their own food again is one that is hopeful but not real. I think it is safe to say that the world is pretty lazy and individuals what like to buy their food rather than take care of it. I couldn’t agree more with kate when saying that in America people would most likely not convert because of the amount of time consumed by it. Honestly the only way i see this plan working is if there was a faster and easier way to grow your own food in your backyard.
I think George and Kate are right but i also think that if enought people banded together to actually try and make this somewhat of a reality more people would like the idea. Also some people could get an experimental group together and try it for one year and then share the results with everyone and see if it truely is cheaper and healthier and more sustainable
If someone is really determined to live off of their land, I believe it is possible to accomplish this no matter how much land they have. There is always hydroponics and indoor growing. However, it seems to me like it would cost just as much or more to grow your own food rather than buy it.
Exactly, the price of living would go up if everyone were to buy 2 acres and try to live off of it. It is unrealistic to assume that everyone would even want to do such a chore as raise livestock and tend to crops all day everyday for the benefit of a balanced meal. Many would just take the cheap route and find the nearest McDonald’s instead. However there are many as well that would love to do this for their home and family, more power to them, but the simple reality is that not many people are capable of purchasing such land, and those who are would most likely choose not to make it their everyday life.
I totally agree with Holly here, while most people simply do not want to change their everyday life to take care of these things, there is also a bunch of things needed for this type of lifestyle. First, you going to need all of that space, because personally I know I don’t have a 2 acre backyard. Secondly you need the time. Then lastly you need the knowledge and the tools to accomplish these jobs. I mean honestly how many people here have the tools to slaughter their own pigs and cows and cut out all the meet they need? I guess you could raise the animals and then sell it in the market, but wouldn’t just taking on a second job or working more hours be more efficient for your family?
@Cameron- how can someone accomplish this if they don’t have enough land? People in poor areas have like 1/8 of the land we have surrounding our homes. Also, it would cost WAY LESS to grow our own food than to buy it… no tax, or mark-ups.
I’m just saying, you have to way out the costs of growing your own food. Not just in cash, but also in time. Is it worth going out and spending weeks and weeks fertalizing and creating fertile land for crops. Also, if you don’t have enough land, I was suggesting you could go and create a hydroponics system in your home to grow vegitables and fruits. Hydroponics are extremely expensive and require a lot of skill to set up properly.
This idea can be good, but I think that it is only realistic in moderation. There is no way that people in today’s society would ever be able to use their entire yard to live of the land, literally meaning, not being able to buy any other items to make food. I think that if starting small, such as only growing fruits of vegetables for your family, is quite sufficient. Agreeing with Olivia I think that it would cost way less to grow your own food, but it is all in respect to if you want to make the time and effort to do so.
[…] the wealth of discussion on the previous post relating to the land requirements for sustainable food production for a family of four, and the […]
This idea is not intended for families in urban areas and those that work 9-5 M-F. The time is just not there. It is most likely intended for those interested in leading a completely self sufficient lifestyle (living off the grid). Providing your own electricity, food, water.. etc. To those that strive for that kind of lifestyle this is a realistic picture/idea of what it would be like.