Rising Food Costs and The Home Garden Revolution
It is that time again in the Northeast, when we spread our seeds, planting the fruits of this year’s garden. If you have even the smallest bit of arable space, now’s the time to use it as skyrocketing prices for staple items such as corn, wheat and soybeans have caused global food prices to rise 36% just in the past year. Contributing to the rising cost of food is the recent increase in oil prices to over $100 a barrel, putting the squeeze on people across the nation.
Companies like UNFI (United Natural Foods Inc.) can no longer absorb the additional cost to transport goods. The supplier for a local co-op I belong to, they recently sent a letter to inform its members of the coming price increases, due to increased fuel costs. The cost of food going up will only add insult to injury, as more and more people will barely be able to scrape by. Already, as a result of rising global food prices, 44 million more people are now living in extreme poverty, which is defined by the World Bank as living on $1.25 a day. Another 30% rise in the price of food would drive 34 million more people into that category.
Oil prices are not the only thing responsible for the rising costs. Extreme weather is also to blame, such as the drought in Russia, which caused a ban on the exportation of wheat. Many other countries from Australia, to Canada have suffered crop devastation from wild weather.
Rising food prices is only one reason to grow your own food. Ingrid Naiman from LandscapingRevolution.com warns of all the tons of carcinogenic, chemical pesticides that are used in industrial agriculture and the subsequent polluting of the world’s water, and the human body. She calls for people to take action by refusing to use chemical products on your property, and converting your land into an edible landscape. Say goodbye to wasted lawn space and help yourself and the planet by planting non-genetically modified seeds, trees, and heirloom, as well as medicinal plants. Even if you are in an apartment, you can sprout edible seeds!
It is time to rethink the way we obtain food in this country. Instead of relying on food imported from other countries, which takes an obscene amount of fuel to transport, as a nation, we need to get back to our roots and regain the knowledge our ancestors knew well – how to grow food. As family farms continue to go belly-up, unable to compete with large corporations, let us spend our dollars wisely and support our neighbors, buying local food whenever possible. It’s time to get our hands in the dirt and join the gardening revolution!
http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/14/news/international/world_bank_food_prices/index.htm
http://www.landscapingrevolution.com/mission_statement.html