Growing up, quite a few members of my family were farmers. Full-time. My Grandparents worked full-time, and on their one acre piece of land in “town” produced an amazing amount of food, partly driven by how they grew up, their desire to put up their own food, and their own frugal ways. If you had grown up during the Great Depression, you would do the same thing.
As such, where my food comes from and how it’s produced has always been a concern of mine. I grew up seeing food produced and, now that I am a homeowner, am looking forward to not having a super-manicured lawn, but a lush garden. My yard is currently filled with the finest red clay soil North Carolina produces and it’s going to take a long time to get it to the fertile soil that is ready for planting stage.
I started thinking more and more about the world of food, feeding the world, and doing it sustainably after I toured pork farms in Eastern North Carolina last year. With every farmer I talk to, every meal I cook, I am considering the hard work and dedicated people who are tasked with this enormous endeavor.
We have a large burden to carry in this world, and a great responsibility to our fellow man. So many will disagree with that statement, but it seems we no longer “do unto others” in a quest to not look much further than the mobile devices being held in front of our faces.
This topic is so difficult. I think the best people covering the world of food are over at National Geographic. “By 2050 we will need to feed 2 billion more people without overwhelming the planet.” They tackled this growing issue head on as part of an eight month series. It is long form, investigative journalism at its best. A fascinating series that, as I gear up for another foray into modern animal husbandry in another month, is causing me to think deeper about global issues and how to advocate and do what is right. The world depends on us.