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Today’s economy has us all thinking of ways to save money. Unfortunately, one of the ways many of us cut back first is by buying lower grade (cheaper) food. This is unfortunate because there’s nothing more sacred than what we put in our bodies. The food we put into our bodies determine in many ways both subtle and overt health consequences. Some of the outcomes from poor eating habits can be as minor as frequent bouts with fatigue, short attention spans, and irritability. Far worse effects are major diseases and compromised immune systems. Many of these symptoms take a long time to show up so, at first we don’t notice any change and often it takes an extreme situation to make us aware that there’s anything wrong. Fortunately, cutting back on good food doesn’t have to be your first choice when saving money. With a little planning and small amounts of money spent up front, you can eat even better food than you can buy in the supermarket and you don’t have to own a farm to grow it. Even if you live in a small apartment you can grow greens and herbs year round. Growing your own food can be a very satisfying and stress-reducing endeavor. Spending time with plants is good for the soul and if the outcome is good food, it’s good for the body too. It won’t cost you much to get started either. Organic Squash seeds cost about $3.00 per package and one seed from that package can produce as much as 100 pounds of squash! For the price of one packet of Mesclun Salad seeds you can have fresh salad nearly everyday for a couple of weeks. I know of no better investment in this world than a package of seeds. One 7 ounce bag of salad from the supermarket can cost as much as $4 or $5 and it’s gone at one sitting. Not only that, it probably came from 3,000 miles away with a heavy carbon footprint and possibly bacteria like e coli. The vegetables you grow for yourself from heirloom organic seeds produce safer and healthier food than you could possibly buy anywhere. Not only that, when you buy and grow heirloom seed you are helping to preserve diversity in our agricultural system and in so doing you are helping to ensure a safe and healthy future for those who come next. Right now less than a handful of giant corporations control 75% of the seed market in the world. These corporations are producing terminator seeds that will not produce any new seeds, forcing the consumer to go back to the factory producers every time they need new seeds for planting. Almost all of the seeds these companies produce are hybridized to the point that they require chemical pesticides and expensive synthetic fertilizer to grow, making farmers even more dependent on the corporations. This is a dangerous trend in our world today. If we lose control of our food supply, we lose control of everything. There’s nothing more fundamental than who decides what we eat, when and how much. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to have as much to say about what I put in my body as I possibly can and not hand that decision off to some nameless, faceless corporation that doesn’t care if I live or die or how healthy I am while I live.
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