Lately I've been very attracted to the self-sufficency movement. Grow my own veggies! Raise hens for eggs! Put out a rain barrel! Ride my bike instead of driving!
There are a lot of reasons this type of homesteading is attractive. Because my food doesn't need to be trucked to my supermarket, I reduce my carbon footprint. I'm sure my food is pesticide and petro-fertilizer free. I can break free of the corn-based industrial food economy. It's sustainable. That's all good, right?
But there are also reasons I'm concerned about my affinity for self-sufficiency. Read on:
It's not just reading Omnivore's Dilemma. It's not just about food security or the idyllic pastoral myth of American bootstrapping.
It's about fear. Fear of industrial domination of our food supply. Fear of collapse due to pandemic flu/civic unrest/coup d'etat. Fear of not knowing what's in my food. Fear of not being able to get/afford food. Fear of our food system being practically entirely dependent on oil.
And that bothers me. I don't like basing life decisions on fear.
And suppose this scary future happens and I'm perfectly self-sufficient, but I can't help my starving neighbors?
As much as I adore the idea of self-sufficiency, I think we need to think in broader terms of community sustainability. Is individual/family sustainability meaningless outside the context of community sustainability?
I live in the most densely populated city in Massachusetts. There are a few community vegetable gardens, and some have turned urban yards into veggie gardens. But they supplement the diet of a few residents. It won't do much for the community as a whole.
So, ideas, please! How does community sustainability arise?
And what are the keys to community sustainability?
For me they are:
<list>
* Food Security
* Access to Health Care
* Working Water Supply/Sewer
* Alternative Energy Solutions
* Alternative Transportation Solutions
</list>
Without attention to all these factors, I think our communities (our densely and sparsely populated communities alike) are destined for collapse.
Or am I being a Gloomy Gus?