Guest Columnist
Should more of us have a vegetable garden? Yes, because growing food crops seems to be a dying art. Agriculture used to provide a major portion of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but now, it's only about 1% of the GDP. Services make up about 77% of our GDP and manufacturing about 22%. Basically, agriculture is rapidly becoming a forgotten career path.
Add to this the fact that farm operators over 65 outnumber those under 35 by more than seven to one. In a little over 15 years, some 400 million acres of agricultural lands will be transferred to new owners. This is an area more than five times the size of all our national parks combined. Who will these new owners be? Youth? Not likely. They recognize that though gambling is illegal, farming is the biggest gamble there is. Corporations, many of which will be foreign are much more likely. Will the land still be used for farming? Yes, but probably much less so. We already import more than $80 billion agricultural products every year.
Basically, we don't have enough people farming right now, and imports are filling the gap. Yet while we scream bloody murder about oil imports, how often do you hear complaints about food imports? Usually only when there's a problem with a specific product, such as tainted orange juice. Small gardens can provide self sufficiency in many areas. We have two small gardens (11 X 23 & 9 X 17) that provide tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn, okra, cabbage and lettuce. In years past, we have often taken the excess to charitable organizations. You can even grow these vegetables in 5 gallon buckets. In other words, small gardens produce BIG results.
A final reason for a garden is the satisfaction you get from growing your own.
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