Growing up in the 1960s I was every bit the city girl. I didn’t belong to 4-H and farming was not in my future. In college we all read “Silent Spring” and “Diet for a Small Planet“. We wouldn’t have described ourselves as environmentalists although looking back, both books projected a tone of concern for the environment. And sustainability was certainly not in our vocabulary. At least not in 1978.

Over the years I have had small gardens, usually not successful. It is only in the last 5 years or so that I learned about nematodes in the Florida soil. Many things I have planted in pots or containers because one of my dogs likes to lie in turned over dirt or fresh mulch, thereby squashing all of my hard work.

Now I have Earth Boxes and if I time my planting right, we actually get peppers and green beans. Right now I have pineapples and so-called “heat-tolerant” tomato plants in the boxes, and have started pumpkin and zucchini seeds in pots. With any luck I will be picking bananas this fall; tomatoes will be ripening in November; I will have lemons in December and tangerines in January; I will be picking strawberries in February and blueberries/blackberries in April/May. Wow! When I see this in writing I am really impressed with myself!

I am sure that you have heard the advice on ” sustainability” like buy seasonal and local. But there are other things that we can do that have an impact as well. I collect rain water in a barrel to use on my plants and flowers. Last year when my daughter moved home from college we started composting and kicked our recycling up a notch.

In the spring of 2013, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics adopted Sustainable agriculture as a solution to food insecurity for a mega issue. You don’t have to be a farmer to support sustainable farming. I am helping the Florida farmer by raising bees; that’s right–bees!

Most crops depend upon bee pollination so you can thank a bee for every third bite of delicious produce that you enjoy. But since about 1988 there has been a marked shortage of bees caused by “Bee Colony Collapse Disorder“. The exact cause of the disorder is still up for debate but it could be a result of pesticide use, viruses, cell phone towers or a combination of factors. Bees are responsible for crop yield along with temperature, sun and rain and by the year 2050 the world’s population will be 9 billion.

.                                                                                                                                                                Not only are my plants benefiting but so are local farmers.

What are you doing to alleviate food insecurity or promote sustainable agriculture?

Post by Nadine