These days people are able to live and survive in a diversity of environments spread out from a deserted area somewhere in the mountains to densely populated cities in Asia. Obviously it is easier to get your daily nutrients in the big cities and much more difficult to find it in the rural areas. But is this as true as it sounds?
When living in a city you sometimes wonder where people living in rural areas get their food from. In cities one can find a supermarket around every corner of the street while in small (rural) villages there might not be one at all. Thereby distances to more inhabited areas might be long. Especially in harsh winter circumstances it seems impossible for them to and get any food at all.
It seems much easier for city dwellers to shop for their daily nutrients. After work they will definitely pass by a supermarket which has a wide but steady assortment of products on sale. It only takes some money and a little bit of time to get a basket full of food into your kitchen.
But facts might be different. Since cities grow bigger distances between supermarkets and farm land grow too. In some countries this has led to so called food deserts; areas in which there is no availability of fresh and affordable food.
The advantage of living in a rural area is space. Usually there is a lot of it, although it might not always been useful to grow food or keep animals. The available space gives people in rural areas the possibility to survive. In summer they grow lots of food which they eat immediately or conserve for scarce winter periods. Ok, it takes some effort, a freezer and a storage room, but at least they can enjoy their own grown food whenever they like.
Urban dwellers soon also have to find a way to fulfill in their own food needs. The increasing distance food has to be transported also has consequences for quality and prices consumers pay in supermarkets. Soon they will have to coop with similar problems as countrymen. What now mainly is done for the fun or out of an ideology might soon become a necessity. Balconies, rooftops, window sills and leftover spaces will all be used to grow one’s own food. Urban dwellers become urban farmers which are able to handle techniques and care for the plants. It might take some time until one gets’ the hang of it but in the end it will be satisfying.
The advantage of growing your own food is enormous. First of all will it make the city a bit greener and more comfortable to live in. The food you will grow and later eat is fresh and cheap and you as a person will receive great health benefits while being in the outside air, getting your hands dirty and your mind empty which in the ends will definitely give you a full stomach!
When are people self sufficient? Is this trend really helping to make a world greener and cleaner? Follow this discussion.
