SUSTAINABLE LIVING, LLC

If catchphrases like “sustainable,” “natural,” “organic” and “green” make you yawn and want to roll over and go back to sleep, please consider our country’s current system of food production and distribution. Sleeping through—and thereby supporting this untenable mess can only have disastrous consequences.

Why bother growing food locally, you ask? Your average supermarket produce travels 1500 miles to get to your plate—or, put another way, it takes 34 million BTUs (the global unit of energy) and about 400 barrels of oil to feed the average American each year. From 1997-2002, energy used to produce food in America rose 80%. The chemical-based agricultural system, ironically dubbed the “green revolution” back in the 1940s, is fueled by fossil fuels in the form of natural gas for fertilizers and crude oil for pesticides, running machinery and irrigation systems. If the oil supply should be interrupted by natural disaster, war, political embargo or any other threat of the modern world, our current system would crash. All those numbers might make you start yawning again, so suffice it to say our food system is based on a very tenuous, politically-charged and environmentally-destructive substance: Fossil fuel. 

Dare I mention the hundreds of thousands of square miles devoted to the “monocrops” of corn, soy and wheat, most of which are grown for fuel and cattle feed (not human food) and necessitate vast quantities of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides? These poisons then leach into the water table and wash into the creeks, streams and rivers, which in turn disperse the poisons far and wide from their source. The Gulf of Mexico has several giant dead zones where no fish or plant life can survive due to massive farmland runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus—the largest is now 8,543 square miles where it meets the Mississippi River. 

There is no question that chemical agriculture depletes the soil, causes environmental pollution and keeps us oil dependent. And don’t even get me started on factory “farms” for animal products! All this is supposedly in the name of “feeding the world.” In reality, we Americans throw away nearly half of what we grow. According to American Wasteland author Jonathan Bloom, “more than 40 percent of all food produced in America is not eaten. That amounts to more than 29 million tons of food waste each year, or enough to fill the Rose Bowl every three days. Nationwide, food scraps make up 17 percent of what we send to landfills.” 

Now for the good news: We don’t have to keep doing it this way. Bringing our food production down to regional, state and local geographies is not only ideal but will be a necessity in the coming years of declining availability and affordability of fossil fuels. Community-supported agriculture (CSAs), farmers markets, community gardens, backyard gardens, roof top gardens, urban farms, backyard chickens and urban agriculture are all forms of a food revolution that puts the power back in the hands of the people. All you have to do is plant just a few seeds in the backyard and you’re on your way to contributing to real, sustainable security for Savannah and the entire country.

The satisfaction and joy of putting a seed in the ground and seeing a plant develop under your care and nurturance can’t be fully described—the words “miracle” and “magic” come to mind. This spring, please consider trying your hand at growing some food for yourself and your family as the spirit of new growth and new beginnings is upon us. The garden shops will be full of seedlings, seeds and every device marketable for the novice and experienced gardener. Invest in a good pair of gloves that fit well and allow for dexterity, a hand trowel, a long-handled shovel, garden fork, and weeding device sized for your garden space. (If you have a 4’x8’ raised bed, hand weeding is a cinch.) Don’t get too carried away with tools and gadgets.

Joining a community garden will afford you companionship with others who bring varied skills and knowledge, and it’s always more fun to learn a new skill together with like-minded folk. Community garden benefits go way beyond fresh, organic, affordable, local produce (there’s those words again, but hopefully, you’re awake now.) According to the American Community Garden Association (and from my own experience), community gardens offer the following list of benefits:

• improves the quality of life for people in the garden
• provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
• stimulates social interaction
• encourages self-reliance
• beautifies neighborhoods
• produces nutritious food
• reduces family food budgets (up to $750 per growing season in a 4’x8’ bed)
• conserves resources
• creates opportunity for recreation, exercise and education
• reduces crime
• preserves green spaces
• creates income opportunities and economic development
• reduces city heat from streets and parking lots
• provides opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural connections

Here’s the deal: Food matters. A lot. Please inform yourself of the issues around sustainable agriculture and help move the food revolution forward! First in our own community, then to the state, region, country and the world on which we all depend for our very lives.

For more information, testimonials and resources on Savananh’s growing food movement, check out Savannah Urban Garden Alliance’s Facebook page or SUGAcentral.org.

*Thank you to all who have made the Real Food Film Festival a well-attended success so far!  The final documentary, Dirt, will screen at the Telfair on Thursday, March 3 at 6pm. The evening will feature Vendana Shiva, a prominent scientist and activist who is working toward sustainable agriculture in India. Ms. Shiva will also serve as the keynote speaker at the Georgia Organics Conference (here in Savannah for the first time) March 11-12. Preceding the conference, the Film Festival will hold a panel discussion with policy makers, producers, and health advocates on Thursday, March 10 at 6pm at the Telfair.