organic, home grown food and home cooking

Organic food, it's all the rage these days as though it is some new invention.  As the caption says in the image below, our grandparents called it food.  Organic and home grown food went out of fashion when farms and food growing became a huge money making venture rather than something that everybody did in their own back yard, courtyard or balcony.  Controlling pests naturally over large cropped areas became next to impossible using the traditional methods of using diverse and companion plantings, it was much easier to use insecticide.  Compost and mulching were not viable or economical in large scale operations either so the need for an easy to disperse fertilizers and weed killing chemicals were born.  It does all seem rather removed from what the growing of food is supposed to be about, something natural.

Source:  http://www.wrecklessfaith.com/debunked-ridiculous-study-claims-organic-same-as-conventional-video/

When visiting Italy in 2012, one of the things that continually amazed us was the use of almost every available space for the growing of food.  Whether that was a vegetable patch, fruit tree, olives or vines, there was something being grown even in what appeared to be the most difficult terrain or unlikely places like in the photos below taken in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre.  It is lovely to see that at least in some countries, the tradition of growing your own food remains a significant and important part of life.

Terracing is used as a means of growing things in the steepest terrain.

This little terraced plot of land backed onto a main road.

I was recently directed to this link http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/04/13/watch-this-video-youll-never-eat-mcdonalds-french-fries-again/ about the relationship and psychology we have with food, in particular how large food manufacturing and food processing corporations have whittled away our confidence and relationship with food.  The speaker is succinct in his explanation, does a far better job than what I can do in my writings here and is well worth taking the time to read.

As the interest in growing at least some of our food and the principals of permaculture continue to resonate with me, some more posts on this theme will be forthcoming.

Until then happy home cooking,

Anne

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