Sustainable Thursday

It has been a while since I posted anything for Sustainable Thursday, so I thought I better get back into the saddle. I found this article and thought it was very interesting.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-559580/The-real-Good-Life-An-entire-village-turns-supermarkets-grows-food.html

This article makes me wonder what would happen if more places did this? Can you imagine how wonderful it must be to live in this village and go to the village hall each Saturday to shop for homegrown veggies, honey and meat? They are going to be adding dairy and beef to their offerings as well. This would be a dream come true for me. We are so dependent on supermarkets and stores to feed us. While supermarkets can't be eliminated altogether, we could substantially reduce our dependence on them if we tried. Living in a remote area, we should always be mindful of how just how dependent we are on supermarkets and how we would pretty much be left to fend for ourselves should a disaster occur.

If delivery trucks couldn't get up here, how long do you think it would be until all the markets and restaurants up here would run out of food? I would hate to think it would happen up here, but in cases of emergency, people with the most money would be able to buy up what supplies are available, leaving nothing for those who don't have as much at their disposal. Then once they are all gone, what would happen?

If we lived sustainably, chances are we would have some chickens to provide eggs, a couple of small goats for milk, which could then be used to make a variety of other things such as yogurt, cheese and omelets. You might have food growing in your garden or have canned the fruits of your labors and that could provide for your needs. Knowing a few basic skills, such as bread baking, and having a pantry well stocked with staples, such as flour and sugar, would mean that you could be self sufficient for a period of time. Being 100% dependent on a supermarket for our food needs will leave us in trouble should that chain of deliveries be interrupted for any length of time.

Buying local, organic vegetables, fruits, eggs, milk, honey and meat would not only support local farmers, but the food would be so much healthier and tastier. I applaud this town's efforts and wish them much success.

Climbing down off my soapbox now.