4/7/10 (written when our internet was too slow to do anything)
I’m slowly going through my library book on permaculture. I like what I’ve read so far. I’m starting to list the plant and animal species in the yard. I realise I’m focusing 90% of my thoughts on the back yard. I think part of that is because it’s where I have the most space, have invested the most energy and it’s ‘protected’ & my safe haven. Out front I have a tiny strip that is definitely mine (about 6 or 7 feet long by about 1 foot wide) & some shared areas that I don’t know who it belongs to. Out back I’ve got places for pots, I’ve got grass and stuff I can put in the ground.
Maybe once I’ve got the permaculture idea down and the back yard is in better shape I’ll get serious about the front. No plunking down the odd plant just because I like it and hope it grows. I won’t tear out what’s there but will look at other options to put in. And I’ll need to get better at watering so things actually survive the summer heat and sun.
I did realise that I have some biodiversity in the back, which is nice. It would be nice to have more and I want to look at ways to increase it. It’s hard, to really do this right I need to do a series of observations over a full year. The upside is that because I’ve been living here for about 9 years so I have a rough idea of the birds and some insects as well as the plants. I haven’t looked too closely at insects though so I do need to do a better inventory of both beneficial and harmful insects.
I saw this article about massive vegetable markups today and it pisses me off. 75 growers have “revealed that supermarkets put up to 500 per cent on to the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables, while growers were often forced to sell their produce for less than it cost to produce”.
It pisses me off as a consumer, knowing that families are struggling to feed themselves. We have a new GST rise coming in, the Emissions Trading Scheme bumping petrol (which will increase the cost of transportation at least, if not production so that's going to increase food costs). I understand marking things up. That’s business. But up to 500%?! That’s not on. Our supermarkets are owned by what? 2 main companies? Not cool: “Ms Kedgley said it appeared that the two main supermarket chains, Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises, used their duopoly position to play growers off against each other and drive prices down to unsustainable levels.” I understand it costs money to run a business, and that isn't cheap. But when processed foods usually have a 23% markup and growers are being forced by the largest supermarket owners to sell at a loss that isn't just about business practice, it's about greed.
It really pisses me off that growers are forced to sell their products at a loss. Farmers don’t exactly have it easy & the more this kind of thing goes on then small farmers will have to sell their farms. And that harms me as a consumer also because it means less local, freshly grown produce. It also means that I’ll be eating produce that maybe treated with pesticides that our government doesn’t allow but others do.
What are our options?
It would be nice to say boycott them but it’s not that easy when I can’t grow everything myself. There are things I do like to eat that are imported (bananas & fresh ginger for example). I want to hit the farmers markets come spring/summer but don’t think there are any right now. I need to check that out when our internet is up and running.
So Farmer’s Markets are a yes, but what about those fruit & veg shops we have here? I think some of those would be a possibility. Some do grow at least some of their own stuff, others don’t.
And growing my own is of course another option. One of the things I want to do before spring is think about what fruits/veg we eat and see what I can grow. Due to our garden-size constraints I won’t be able to grow everything we eat, nor will it be enough to completely wean us off the supermarket. It will be enough to supplement our food and to hopefully reduce our costs.
Along similar lines, here’s an article![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith linked to, 20 of the Healthiest Foods for under $1. Take note this may be different for where you live & seasonal variations.
I’m slowly going through my library book on permaculture. I like what I’ve read so far. I’m starting to list the plant and animal species in the yard. I realise I’m focusing 90% of my thoughts on the back yard. I think part of that is because it’s where I have the most space, have invested the most energy and it’s ‘protected’ & my safe haven. Out front I have a tiny strip that is definitely mine (about 6 or 7 feet long by about 1 foot wide) & some shared areas that I don’t know who it belongs to. Out back I’ve got places for pots, I’ve got grass and stuff I can put in the ground.
Maybe once I’ve got the permaculture idea down and the back yard is in better shape I’ll get serious about the front. No plunking down the odd plant just because I like it and hope it grows. I won’t tear out what’s there but will look at other options to put in. And I’ll need to get better at watering so things actually survive the summer heat and sun.
I did realise that I have some biodiversity in the back, which is nice. It would be nice to have more and I want to look at ways to increase it. It’s hard, to really do this right I need to do a series of observations over a full year. The upside is that because I’ve been living here for about 9 years so I have a rough idea of the birds and some insects as well as the plants. I haven’t looked too closely at insects though so I do need to do a better inventory of both beneficial and harmful insects.
I saw this article about massive vegetable markups today and it pisses me off. 75 growers have “revealed that supermarkets put up to 500 per cent on to the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables, while growers were often forced to sell their produce for less than it cost to produce”.
It pisses me off as a consumer, knowing that families are struggling to feed themselves. We have a new GST rise coming in, the Emissions Trading Scheme bumping petrol (which will increase the cost of transportation at least, if not production so that's going to increase food costs). I understand marking things up. That’s business. But up to 500%?! That’s not on. Our supermarkets are owned by what? 2 main companies? Not cool: “Ms Kedgley said it appeared that the two main supermarket chains, Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises, used their duopoly position to play growers off against each other and drive prices down to unsustainable levels.” I understand it costs money to run a business, and that isn't cheap. But when processed foods usually have a 23% markup and growers are being forced by the largest supermarket owners to sell at a loss that isn't just about business practice, it's about greed.
It really pisses me off that growers are forced to sell their products at a loss. Farmers don’t exactly have it easy & the more this kind of thing goes on then small farmers will have to sell their farms. And that harms me as a consumer also because it means less local, freshly grown produce. It also means that I’ll be eating produce that maybe treated with pesticides that our government doesn’t allow but others do.
What are our options?
It would be nice to say boycott them but it’s not that easy when I can’t grow everything myself. There are things I do like to eat that are imported (bananas & fresh ginger for example). I want to hit the farmers markets come spring/summer but don’t think there are any right now. I need to check that out when our internet is up and running.
So Farmer’s Markets are a yes, but what about those fruit & veg shops we have here? I think some of those would be a possibility. Some do grow at least some of their own stuff, others don’t.
And growing my own is of course another option. One of the things I want to do before spring is think about what fruits/veg we eat and see what I can grow. Due to our garden-size constraints I won’t be able to grow everything we eat, nor will it be enough to completely wean us off the supermarket. It will be enough to supplement our food and to hopefully reduce our costs.
Along similar lines, here’s an article
ysabetwordsmith linked to, 20 of the Healthiest Foods for under $1. Take note this may be different for where you live & seasonal variations.