The Farmer's Wife

gardenbetty@earthlink.net
Fri, 25 Sep 1998 14:31:33 -0400

One thing that struck me about "The Farmer's Wife" was that the family had no
garden. Juanita would constantly fret over feeding her family and having
enough money for groceries. She got involved in a Catholic charity volunteer
food program and even endured the humiliating process of getting food stamps
when for the same amount of time spent and very little investment, she and her
kids (especially her kids) could have planted and maintained a substantial
vegetable garden next to the house.

I also wondered why they didn't eat meat from their own livestock. Is it not
as economical to take a pig to the butcher as it is to buy meat already
packaged at the store? —I don't know.

I am puzzled and dismayed by the all-too-common farm irony of producing acres
and acres of food and then going to the store to feed yourself. For me, part
of farm and family sustainability is being as self-sufficient (zero-input) as
is reasonable/feasible/practical.

-- 
dawn 
aka gardenbetty


Garden Resources of Washington
Washington, D.C.
gardenbetty@earthlink.net


We will be known by the tracks we leave behind... —Dakota proverb


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