Great post and I agree with the environmental cost to ship food all over the globe. So my small test of change is, let's start local with small vacant warehouse. I know they have to be retrofitted, but in places like Colorado where we have a ton of sunshine this has to be doable. You save the environment by not tearing down another building, you keep it local. Now funding is another issue, but the policy doesn't have to fund it, but maybe via tax breaks it can encourage it.
Great idea. I mean the whole "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" mantra is built on the value of re-purposing! We need to look at the resources and assets that can be repurposed in every community. How can things be adjusted so that there are multiple benefits instead of only one?
I agree, but there are some built in problems with "factory" gardening, not the least of which is the extremely low ROI. All the early adopters are now going out of business because our business and financing cycles are private equity, and they demand instantaneous ROI. I'm open to all ideas, but the folks that got into it early are going out of it.
There are certainly significant problems with vertical farming and other high-tech "solutions". However, I believe a large part of those problems comes from a flawed business model from the outset -- these companies were designed (in many ways) around the software-startup or tech-company biz model. This type of model depends on ROI margins that simply do not exist in the agricultural space. As a result, when the company doesn't generate the expected return, then the VC backers cut their losses and exit.
Now, what I am a proponent of, and trying to build, is the other direction. I want to build a network of smaller, more nimble farms using a variety of methods to produce a variety of crops for hyper-local distribution within a local food system. I would love to have you as a part of the conversation moving forward.
First paragraph...I agree completely. I wasn't arguing against the idea; I was only describing the current situation. The problems of "factory gardening" is the same as any food producing business enterprise; it's about food and sustainability, not about the ROI. ROI poisons any good idea.
I'm living in Wuhan, China now. I have a lot of countryside exposure. Lots of small operators, LOTS of hoop houses, and the local market that survives because of the infrastructure that supports it. Super markets are putting most markets out of business, but our Nanhu Market is surviving.
We have externalized the cost of our food. It's way cheaper than it should be, and the costs get taken care of somewhere out of sight, usually in another country and out of the skin of whoever is doing the backbreaking labour to produce it. The American cost of living is so high that producing food at its current value is a terrible idea unless you are a highly mechanized mega farm or have access to a boutique farmers market with clientele that don't blink at paying 5x grocery store price. Labour in other countries is insanely cheap because the average farm worker is already living in poverty and there are no protections for safety or other basic but expensive baselines, or value placed on fairness. Can you imagine buying a banana plantation and trying to staff it with American minimum wage labourers? Impossible. The only way to move our farm production back inside the US is to subsizide farmers so that they can make enough money to justify growing the food or to nationalize the farms and take capitalism out of the equation.
Adam, I’m looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this topic.
Circular, really appreciated your thoughtful comment. The only thing I’d add is that we already do subsidize farmers. You could argue we’re doing it in the wrong ways, but I think the deeper point you’re making is that capitalism itself makes it hard to produce quality food in America. I’m not saying nationalization is the answer—I like exploring divergent ideas before converging on a “best” one—but if we keep operating within the current model, even well-intentioned subsidies might still lead to poor food outcomes.
Bravo on condensing such complex systems into your five main points of what's currently wrong with our systems of food production! I would add the intentional obfuscation of farmer labor injustices (particularly in the Global North) and the unwillingness to enact policy protections for those who produce/handle our food, the current wave of deregulation concerning food safety and the extremely uneven barriers faced by producers (especially if they are small-scale, regional), and land access. Trying to afford land, especially in the American Southwest, is rough.
I'd put #5 at the top of the heap of problems. Land adjacent to population centers is slated for development making it expensive and profoundly disadvantaged for the relatively low ROI of growing food. The usual zoning and municipal regulations get piled on that. Hoop houses can dramatically increase growing seasons, yet people don't want to see them from their houses, and zoning won't allow it. To change zoning requires long term expensive legal hassling, which severely disadvantages farmers.
Distribution... I'm in China, I live in a working class neighborhood of Wuhan, Wuchang District. Farmers truck in their goods, park at high traffic intersections, and sell their produce right there. Yes, it complicates traffic. No one cares. No one complains about farmer's selling direct; everyone understands they need to sell their goods, and they want to buy them. That's inconceivable in America. In America, farmers have to apply for extremely limited space at "farmer's markets" that take a cut, it's usually one day a week and the markets themselves are way too small to let all that need the exposure to get it. Food at farmer's markets ends up being very expensive, more than the grocery stores. That limits exposure to affluent suburbs and neighborhoods.
#5. Get out of the farmers way. Listen to what they say we should do. Then, do it.
Good points. I think the biggest hurdle other than those is shifting the mentality of the masses; a person needs to understand that food literally IS medicine. Without quality food, we fall apart. Financially, so many find true nutrition out of reach and have no way to mitigate that. In our personal circumstance, we have finally gotten access to raw milk, we have also finally changed our view on the necessity of choosing better options besides what we already do. Taking initiative for one's own health, rather than placing it on some "doctor", is absolutely necessary. Educating yourself on everything can seem daunting, but we have access to so much information now that it's a matter of taking some time to sit down, one topic at a time, and digging in. It's simply a shift in thinking for all of this to start working.
One problem is not enough people are willing to pay the price point needed to sustain a small urban ag operation, at least as a casual customer at the local weekly farmers market. And not enough people actually cook anymore, nor recognize half of whats on my tables, nothing of which is that unusual. The older demographic might but in a young hip neighborhood there is not the support you would think there would be with so many so-called environmentally conscious people.
The other part is my farm might sit smack in the middle of a food dessert but that doesnt mean the neighborhood is going to come out and spend their dollars on fresh greens when they can swipe their benefits card at aldis 20 minutes away and get prepared meals. Its a long slog to get this to change. The farmers markets are not as good as they were ten years ago around here. Selling direct to local grocery stores seems to be the way to go right now, if you are able to. A farmer run store that buys from other farms, is also a growing thing around here and seems to be working well so far for everyone involved. Cheers to a new season.
We all face many challenges as small farmers—education on the value of "fresh foods," waning interest in markets, and so many more. If you have the time, I host a virtual gathering every month specifically for small farmers to discuss these challenges and discuss solutions and options to overcome them.
Specifically, we cover topics like customer acquisition, product development, and effective marketing/relationship building. This monthly Mastermind meeting is designed to provide value, information, and support for the challenges facing all of us as producers. We need to constantly do more with less, and in less time. We are all farmers, and we can all work together to help each other.
Great post! I think you nailed many things on the head. I also wonder how consumers tastes have have ever smaller blinders through generation impacts this. The loss of biodiversity in our food has made us less interested in healthy flavors (bitterness especially) and accustomed to UPF tenets of artificial sweeteners, protein maxing and other nutrition fact panel-derived optimization.
In designing and developing many CPG products over my time, I’ve noticed that people don’t like differences from their expectations: plant-based versions must taste like corn-fed chicken, chocolate has to melt like cheap, economically-optimized formulations. While we must build towards a local-global food system, how do we ensure there is someone on the other side of the counter that will value this? I realize this is the capitalist extraction point you reference, but making food that folks can wrap their head around is important.
I have a framework of how to do this but it’s still yet to be determined if it has legs long term. The aspect that most people are abstracted from where food comes from creates difficulties that hopefully making local networks gets consumers reacquainted with their food. Not just farmers markets. Not just their community garden they volunteer at. But cooking and developing their own palates outside of the larger construct of our current food system.
Thanks for your comments Bob. I would love to hear more about your framework. I don't have all the answers, but I am more than willing to try things and then iterate as needed until we find a solution.
I would genuinely love to see local co-op style urban farms popping up in all neighborhoods. I only have a balcony, no yard but I am trying with a raised planter bed this season to see what I can grow. Probably not a ton but it’s more about the experiment.
One other issue that seems adjacent to some of the above but maybe not quite covered. The less-processed foods that are so much healthier for us take more prep time than simply opening a package and nuking something. Households with kids, and any/all adults working, are going to have a tough time with that. Add to this the issue that if you're starting with raw produce, you'll be producing more waste in the form of peelings and trimmings. If you can't compost it, that will contribute to gg production. Another issue that we need to address so people & planet can live with each other.
That is an excellent point, and one that I will be addressing directly in a future post. But, yes, the reality is that TIME is one of the biggest hurdles for many who want to eat more fresh and local. The TIME to access and acquire the foods; the TIME to prepare and cook the foods; and the TIME to simply slow down and share a family meal.
How many times do we eat fast food or similar simply because our incredibly busy schedules require us to simply “feed the engine” on our way from one activity to another? This is especially important for all with school age children who have the multitude of “after-school activities”.
I was glad to read your latest post Adam. I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of the tendency for food to be transported over long distances. but we can definitely increase the amount of local grown food. and by you showing people how to do that profitably you may make a difference in that.
I agree. Right now my goal is to shift 1% of expenditure in DFW (TX) to a Local Food System. With a $40 Billion valuation annually, that would represent an influx of $400 MILLION into the local economy, and to support local farmers and food producers.
I can attest to # 4 in southern rural VA. I'm pretty sure the grocery stores get what others have passed on...
talking with farmers at the farmers market, they're not all concerned about organic practices- if it's grown fresh, it's good enough.
I think that cost of living and just low desire for regional growth has a lot to do with availability, at least here. The food options are big box stores only- Walmart, Kroger and food lion- there's a small produce store, but they sell regular store produce with the stickers. People are struggling just to survive; they don't have the bandwidth to care about anything else. Single use plastic and litter abounds.
I think you mentioned this in your original post, Adam, zoning/legality of growing/raising our own food... finding zoning that would allow a few chickens is so much harder than one might think.
With small farms and a large diversity of crops, there is often less of a need for pesticides and such (not zero, but lesser)... One aspect that I have been looking into is more of a share-and-barter-style system. The Local Food Hub acts as an aggregator where each farmer brings in their harvest. They get a "credit" for the product they bring in, allowing them to shop for the other goods. It would allow the distribution of harvest, without the need for a formal monetary system... Definitely more probably on a small scale (like some of the communities in your area), but the concept is valid IMO.
It's crazy how much urban space we devote to roads/highways/parking (cars) and none of that is questioned but if we want more urban gardens and farms that's not a good enough use of public space?
Simple: grow spuds. They aren't worth much, but they're really easy to grow, make their own seeds for next time, and are full of calories (which is good if you're trying to live off your own food).
Add chickens if space permits. This gets you good quality manure, as well as pest control, and eggs! Even meat if you add meat chickens.
It's really as simple as that. Replace most of your calories with ones grown yourself.
Absolutely, and this is a reasonable question. Chickens, like most domesticated farm animals, have been bred to create distinct types for different purposes. Essentially, they break down into 3 categories: Layers (breeds bred for high egg production - often 260-300 eggs per year), Broilers (breeds bred for fast growth and high body mass), and Dual-Purpose (breeds that can be used for both goals).
I agree, if you have the opportunity (land, time, resources) that doing any level of Homesteading will always be beneficial. BUT, the reality is that in the US, the vast majority of people in urban or suburban areas do not have this ability. So, for these people, we need to redesign or create a local food system that can provide the needed support.
This is true, but most people have some sort of outdoor space, and would be surprised how many spuds you can grow per sqft per year. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Even in a 1 bedroom apartment, if you have some balcony space you could supply probably a fifth of your calories just with spuds on the balcony.
Those with larger properties should barter away or give away their surplus.
If you get the itch for more than you can do in a city environment then consider moving out of the city!
An incredibly boring diet that will bring on major health imbalances. Replacing most of your calories with ones you grow yourself will mean at least 20 hours a week spent on food growing/harvest/storage/putting up. The learning curve is steep so you will fail to produce enough calories to keep you alive all year round. Why not farm out the food growing to actual farmers? We sure can use the support.
The biggest issue of all is one not mentioned-lack of food and farming knowledge by the public. I have been farming for over 30 years. I grow produce that I sell directly to the public at farmers markets. before that I cooked in and managed commercial kitchens. I have had a lot of interaction with eaters who visit my market stall as well as tens of thousands of discussion on-line about food and farming. And one thing I know above all else is Americans are ignorant about food and farming. I would guesstimate that around 99.5% have zero knowledge about how their food is grown. They believe it comes out of some sort of factory or maybe a food replicator in the back of all grocery stores. If they even notice the fields growing crops and livestock that they pass driving they have no clue what is being grown there. Nor do they care. When I started growing and selling food direct to the public around 60% of Americans cooked at least half of their meals at home. Today that number is around 5%. Most people have nothing to do with the creation of their food. They do not know how to cook and certainly do not know how to grow food or even what that would look like and they do not care. Until this ignorance and apathy is addressed nothing else about the food system matters.
Great post and I agree with the environmental cost to ship food all over the globe. So my small test of change is, let's start local with small vacant warehouse. I know they have to be retrofitted, but in places like Colorado where we have a ton of sunshine this has to be doable. You save the environment by not tearing down another building, you keep it local. Now funding is another issue, but the policy doesn't have to fund it, but maybe via tax breaks it can encourage it.
Great idea. I mean the whole "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" mantra is built on the value of re-purposing! We need to look at the resources and assets that can be repurposed in every community. How can things be adjusted so that there are multiple benefits instead of only one?
I agree, but there are some built in problems with "factory" gardening, not the least of which is the extremely low ROI. All the early adopters are now going out of business because our business and financing cycles are private equity, and they demand instantaneous ROI. I'm open to all ideas, but the folks that got into it early are going out of it.
There are certainly significant problems with vertical farming and other high-tech "solutions". However, I believe a large part of those problems comes from a flawed business model from the outset -- these companies were designed (in many ways) around the software-startup or tech-company biz model. This type of model depends on ROI margins that simply do not exist in the agricultural space. As a result, when the company doesn't generate the expected return, then the VC backers cut their losses and exit.
Now, what I am a proponent of, and trying to build, is the other direction. I want to build a network of smaller, more nimble farms using a variety of methods to produce a variety of crops for hyper-local distribution within a local food system. I would love to have you as a part of the conversation moving forward.
First paragraph...I agree completely. I wasn't arguing against the idea; I was only describing the current situation. The problems of "factory gardening" is the same as any food producing business enterprise; it's about food and sustainability, not about the ROI. ROI poisons any good idea.
I'm living in Wuhan, China now. I have a lot of countryside exposure. Lots of small operators, LOTS of hoop houses, and the local market that survives because of the infrastructure that supports it. Super markets are putting most markets out of business, but our Nanhu Market is surviving.
We have externalized the cost of our food. It's way cheaper than it should be, and the costs get taken care of somewhere out of sight, usually in another country and out of the skin of whoever is doing the backbreaking labour to produce it. The American cost of living is so high that producing food at its current value is a terrible idea unless you are a highly mechanized mega farm or have access to a boutique farmers market with clientele that don't blink at paying 5x grocery store price. Labour in other countries is insanely cheap because the average farm worker is already living in poverty and there are no protections for safety or other basic but expensive baselines, or value placed on fairness. Can you imagine buying a banana plantation and trying to staff it with American minimum wage labourers? Impossible. The only way to move our farm production back inside the US is to subsizide farmers so that they can make enough money to justify growing the food or to nationalize the farms and take capitalism out of the equation.
This is absolutely one of the major challenges presented with all things food production and agriculture...
Adam, I’m looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this topic.
Circular, really appreciated your thoughtful comment. The only thing I’d add is that we already do subsidize farmers. You could argue we’re doing it in the wrong ways, but I think the deeper point you’re making is that capitalism itself makes it hard to produce quality food in America. I’m not saying nationalization is the answer—I like exploring divergent ideas before converging on a “best” one—but if we keep operating within the current model, even well-intentioned subsidies might still lead to poor food outcomes.
Bravo on condensing such complex systems into your five main points of what's currently wrong with our systems of food production! I would add the intentional obfuscation of farmer labor injustices (particularly in the Global North) and the unwillingness to enact policy protections for those who produce/handle our food, the current wave of deregulation concerning food safety and the extremely uneven barriers faced by producers (especially if they are small-scale, regional), and land access. Trying to afford land, especially in the American Southwest, is rough.
I'd put #5 at the top of the heap of problems. Land adjacent to population centers is slated for development making it expensive and profoundly disadvantaged for the relatively low ROI of growing food. The usual zoning and municipal regulations get piled on that. Hoop houses can dramatically increase growing seasons, yet people don't want to see them from their houses, and zoning won't allow it. To change zoning requires long term expensive legal hassling, which severely disadvantages farmers.
Distribution... I'm in China, I live in a working class neighborhood of Wuhan, Wuchang District. Farmers truck in their goods, park at high traffic intersections, and sell their produce right there. Yes, it complicates traffic. No one cares. No one complains about farmer's selling direct; everyone understands they need to sell their goods, and they want to buy them. That's inconceivable in America. In America, farmers have to apply for extremely limited space at "farmer's markets" that take a cut, it's usually one day a week and the markets themselves are way too small to let all that need the exposure to get it. Food at farmer's markets ends up being very expensive, more than the grocery stores. That limits exposure to affluent suburbs and neighborhoods.
#5. Get out of the farmers way. Listen to what they say we should do. Then, do it.
Good points. I think the biggest hurdle other than those is shifting the mentality of the masses; a person needs to understand that food literally IS medicine. Without quality food, we fall apart. Financially, so many find true nutrition out of reach and have no way to mitigate that. In our personal circumstance, we have finally gotten access to raw milk, we have also finally changed our view on the necessity of choosing better options besides what we already do. Taking initiative for one's own health, rather than placing it on some "doctor", is absolutely necessary. Educating yourself on everything can seem daunting, but we have access to so much information now that it's a matter of taking some time to sit down, one topic at a time, and digging in. It's simply a shift in thinking for all of this to start working.
One problem is not enough people are willing to pay the price point needed to sustain a small urban ag operation, at least as a casual customer at the local weekly farmers market. And not enough people actually cook anymore, nor recognize half of whats on my tables, nothing of which is that unusual. The older demographic might but in a young hip neighborhood there is not the support you would think there would be with so many so-called environmentally conscious people.
The other part is my farm might sit smack in the middle of a food dessert but that doesnt mean the neighborhood is going to come out and spend their dollars on fresh greens when they can swipe their benefits card at aldis 20 minutes away and get prepared meals. Its a long slog to get this to change. The farmers markets are not as good as they were ten years ago around here. Selling direct to local grocery stores seems to be the way to go right now, if you are able to. A farmer run store that buys from other farms, is also a growing thing around here and seems to be working well so far for everyone involved. Cheers to a new season.
We all face many challenges as small farmers—education on the value of "fresh foods," waning interest in markets, and so many more. If you have the time, I host a virtual gathering every month specifically for small farmers to discuss these challenges and discuss solutions and options to overcome them.
Specifically, we cover topics like customer acquisition, product development, and effective marketing/relationship building. This monthly Mastermind meeting is designed to provide value, information, and support for the challenges facing all of us as producers. We need to constantly do more with less, and in less time. We are all farmers, and we can all work together to help each other.
Click this link to join the Mastermind:
https://calendly.com/adamcohen1977/mastermind
Great post! I think you nailed many things on the head. I also wonder how consumers tastes have have ever smaller blinders through generation impacts this. The loss of biodiversity in our food has made us less interested in healthy flavors (bitterness especially) and accustomed to UPF tenets of artificial sweeteners, protein maxing and other nutrition fact panel-derived optimization.
In designing and developing many CPG products over my time, I’ve noticed that people don’t like differences from their expectations: plant-based versions must taste like corn-fed chicken, chocolate has to melt like cheap, economically-optimized formulations. While we must build towards a local-global food system, how do we ensure there is someone on the other side of the counter that will value this? I realize this is the capitalist extraction point you reference, but making food that folks can wrap their head around is important.
I have a framework of how to do this but it’s still yet to be determined if it has legs long term. The aspect that most people are abstracted from where food comes from creates difficulties that hopefully making local networks gets consumers reacquainted with their food. Not just farmers markets. Not just their community garden they volunteer at. But cooking and developing their own palates outside of the larger construct of our current food system.
Thanks for your comments Bob. I would love to hear more about your framework. I don't have all the answers, but I am more than willing to try things and then iterate as needed until we find a solution.
Some of that was off kilter soliloquy, but always happy to chat!
I would genuinely love to see local co-op style urban farms popping up in all neighborhoods. I only have a balcony, no yard but I am trying with a raised planter bed this season to see what I can grow. Probably not a ton but it’s more about the experiment.
One other issue that seems adjacent to some of the above but maybe not quite covered. The less-processed foods that are so much healthier for us take more prep time than simply opening a package and nuking something. Households with kids, and any/all adults working, are going to have a tough time with that. Add to this the issue that if you're starting with raw produce, you'll be producing more waste in the form of peelings and trimmings. If you can't compost it, that will contribute to gg production. Another issue that we need to address so people & planet can live with each other.
That is an excellent point, and one that I will be addressing directly in a future post. But, yes, the reality is that TIME is one of the biggest hurdles for many who want to eat more fresh and local. The TIME to access and acquire the foods; the TIME to prepare and cook the foods; and the TIME to simply slow down and share a family meal.
How many times do we eat fast food or similar simply because our incredibly busy schedules require us to simply “feed the engine” on our way from one activity to another? This is especially important for all with school age children who have the multitude of “after-school activities”.
Excellent summary Adam, thank you. Anyone who eats should read this if they are not aware of what it says….
Do you know about Riverford in southern England?
https://www.riverford.co.uk/growers
I do not. But, I will look into them. Thanks for the recommendation.
I hope @Untrickled by Michelle Teheux will read this and weigh in~~so many thoughts after reading it about how our systems don’t work “for” us.
I was glad to read your latest post Adam. I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of the tendency for food to be transported over long distances. but we can definitely increase the amount of local grown food. and by you showing people how to do that profitably you may make a difference in that.
I agree. Right now my goal is to shift 1% of expenditure in DFW (TX) to a Local Food System. With a $40 Billion valuation annually, that would represent an influx of $400 MILLION into the local economy, and to support local farmers and food producers.
By the way, talking about this goal and how people can be a part of it would be a great article.
now that is an awesome goal.
Thanks! Nothing worth doing is small in nature...
I can attest to # 4 in southern rural VA. I'm pretty sure the grocery stores get what others have passed on...
talking with farmers at the farmers market, they're not all concerned about organic practices- if it's grown fresh, it's good enough.
I think that cost of living and just low desire for regional growth has a lot to do with availability, at least here. The food options are big box stores only- Walmart, Kroger and food lion- there's a small produce store, but they sell regular store produce with the stickers. People are struggling just to survive; they don't have the bandwidth to care about anything else. Single use plastic and litter abounds.
I think you mentioned this in your original post, Adam, zoning/legality of growing/raising our own food... finding zoning that would allow a few chickens is so much harder than one might think.
With small farms and a large diversity of crops, there is often less of a need for pesticides and such (not zero, but lesser)... One aspect that I have been looking into is more of a share-and-barter-style system. The Local Food Hub acts as an aggregator where each farmer brings in their harvest. They get a "credit" for the product they bring in, allowing them to shop for the other goods. It would allow the distribution of harvest, without the need for a formal monetary system... Definitely more probably on a small scale (like some of the communities in your area), but the concept is valid IMO.
It's crazy how much urban space we devote to roads/highways/parking (cars) and none of that is questioned but if we want more urban gardens and farms that's not a good enough use of public space?
Simple: grow spuds. They aren't worth much, but they're really easy to grow, make their own seeds for next time, and are full of calories (which is good if you're trying to live off your own food).
Add chickens if space permits. This gets you good quality manure, as well as pest control, and eggs! Even meat if you add meat chickens.
It's really as simple as that. Replace most of your calories with ones grown yourself.
Genuine question - are there non-meat chickens?? How are they different? Like they’re more specialized for egg laying?
Absolutely, and this is a reasonable question. Chickens, like most domesticated farm animals, have been bred to create distinct types for different purposes. Essentially, they break down into 3 categories: Layers (breeds bred for high egg production - often 260-300 eggs per year), Broilers (breeds bred for fast growth and high body mass), and Dual-Purpose (breeds that can be used for both goals).
That’s really cool! What’s, like, the best egg chicken?
I agree, if you have the opportunity (land, time, resources) that doing any level of Homesteading will always be beneficial. BUT, the reality is that in the US, the vast majority of people in urban or suburban areas do not have this ability. So, for these people, we need to redesign or create a local food system that can provide the needed support.
This is true, but most people have some sort of outdoor space, and would be surprised how many spuds you can grow per sqft per year. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Even in a 1 bedroom apartment, if you have some balcony space you could supply probably a fifth of your calories just with spuds on the balcony.
Those with larger properties should barter away or give away their surplus.
If you get the itch for more than you can do in a city environment then consider moving out of the city!
An incredibly boring diet that will bring on major health imbalances. Replacing most of your calories with ones you grow yourself will mean at least 20 hours a week spent on food growing/harvest/storage/putting up. The learning curve is steep so you will fail to produce enough calories to keep you alive all year round. Why not farm out the food growing to actual farmers? We sure can use the support.
The biggest issue of all is one not mentioned-lack of food and farming knowledge by the public. I have been farming for over 30 years. I grow produce that I sell directly to the public at farmers markets. before that I cooked in and managed commercial kitchens. I have had a lot of interaction with eaters who visit my market stall as well as tens of thousands of discussion on-line about food and farming. And one thing I know above all else is Americans are ignorant about food and farming. I would guesstimate that around 99.5% have zero knowledge about how their food is grown. They believe it comes out of some sort of factory or maybe a food replicator in the back of all grocery stores. If they even notice the fields growing crops and livestock that they pass driving they have no clue what is being grown there. Nor do they care. When I started growing and selling food direct to the public around 60% of Americans cooked at least half of their meals at home. Today that number is around 5%. Most people have nothing to do with the creation of their food. They do not know how to cook and certainly do not know how to grow food or even what that would look like and they do not care. Until this ignorance and apathy is addressed nothing else about the food system matters.