Organic Backyard Vegie Production

Our food production systems of a hundred years ago were such that our diet did not need supplementation. Most current food production systems are unsustainable and lead to nutritionally depleted foods, often carrying a toxic load that is harmful to our bodies and the environment, in both the short and long term. The food chain, existing in what is now a largely urban society has become deficient in essential ingredients and is unsustainable. Not all the blame can be attributed to the farming systems, we need to take responsibility for our choices. Changes in patterns of food consumption have resulted in a largely malnourished Western society. We eat more processed, junk or synthetic food than ever before, and by so doing, are challenging our body's ability to continue to function adequately.

Food is one of our most basic needs. However, in our modern society fresh food is a thing of the past. The so-called fresh fruits and vegetables we buy in shops and supermarkets are grown in nutrient-deficient soil, picked before they ripen naturally, are gassed, irradiated, artificially ripened, stored for days, weeks, months, or even years. Most of us live on a diet dominated by fruit, vegetables, grains, animal products and seeds that have been cooked, frozen, canned, processed, refined, pasteurised, and genetically engineered etc.

Our diets lack the essential building blocks of functional foods vital for our health, wellness and well being. Our body has a miraculous ability to heal, repair, regenerate, regulate and protect itself, but without functional foods the body cannot continue this miracle of healing. Functional foods are foods that are thought to prevent disease and they provide the raw materials needed for the body to carry out its role or function. What we must have in our diet to have optimal health and prevent disease are: 8 essential amino acids, 2 essential fatty acids, 8 essential saccharides, plentiful antioxidants, and 13 vitamins and 6 minerals. Our body cannot function properly without them. We also need fibre, clean water, exercise, and a non-toxic environment.

Changes in food production that have caused inferior food to be available to us as consumers include:

green harvesting
transport and storage
food processing
soil depletion
chemical pest, weed, fungi, and disease control products

These practices are not sustainable - neither for the environment, society nor for humans. The environmental, social and human costs are high.

Consider the tomato:

Green harvesting loses up to 25% of its nutrients
Transporting loses up to 25% of its remaining nutrients
Storage loses up to 50% of its remaining nutrients
Canning loses up to 83% of its remaining nutrients
Cooking loses up to 50% of its remaining nutrients.

This leaves the tomato with 2.39% of it original nutrient content.

Clearly buying fruit and veggies from the shops is unlikely to delivers our nutrient requirements. It is only in the last 25 years that very few people grow veggies in their backyard. Before then most people had a few fruit trees in the backyard and a garden growing their own veggies. Currently, we have far more reason to grow our own veggies than in the past, yet fewer of us do it. If we want nutrients delivered to our table we need to set about growing as much of our own food as we can. We don't need a large backyard to do this. Even if we live in a unit, we can still have tubs on the balcony or on the kitchen window sill. Even a little is better than none at all.

Organic Backyard Vegie Production

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