Blog Post #4

I am happy to say that a large majority of my meal was what you may consider “part of the solution”. While the stir-fry I ate contained chicken, this wasn’t a vital part of the meal, and it could have easily been just as sufficient without it. All of the vegetables and most of the spices included in the dish were directly out of my parent’s personal garden, and as I discussed in the last entry, we use very little resources to grow our crops—especially when considering to the amount of environmental impacts most store-bought meals have.

On a global scale, this tactic of eating (producing your own food) is very difficult in many regions. Luckily Wisconsin usually has fertile soil to grow in, we get plenty of rain, our summers are filled with sunny days as well, and most importantly, we have a lot of flat, open space. While there may not be as much space, it is still important to promote personal gardens as much as we can. In a city there may not be any public or rentable growing land, but that doesn’t mean somebody can’t set up a few raised garden boxes on the roof of their building or on their balcony.

Another way to discourage harmful food industries is to raise awareness about the drawbacks of fast-food restaurants and other small chain establishments. If we can stop people from constantly gorging on McDonalds and such we will both forcefully slow down the greenhouse levels of mass-food producers and raise the overall health of our country.

On a micro-scale in our own home, we are able to eliminate the use of so many resources by planting and eating from out own garden. For one, our plastic usage dramatically drops. If one really thinks about it, even fresh produce at a store uses significant amount of plastic. Each vegetable or fruit is usually dropped into its own separate bag, which is then put into a bigger plastic bag when you are checking out.

From my point of view, there are two major limitations of having your own personal garden. The first is space. If you simply don’t have any means for a large enough plot of land to grow a significant amount of crops on, you will probably have to resort to buying from somebody who does at a farmer’s market, or something of that nature. This may be a little bit more expensive, but will still save you from using many resources. The other limitation is know-how. Gardening isn’t easy, and it takes study and practice. Everybody can grow plants, but everybody also has to learn how. One must be diligent in watering every day, protecting the crops from animals, providing each crop with enough sunlight, and keeping the soil healthy. Though tough to manage, one will find the rewards are worth the work.