Photo Credit: Jon Roberts, Flickr.com
We have reached a point where people are so accustomed to processed, denatured foods that they don’t even recognize food in its natural state. This was highlighted in a television episode of Jamie’s Food Revolution program where kindergarten children could not spot a tomato.
One reason for the growing decline of health in the United States is a general lack of knowledge about fresh foods and how to cook from scratch.
It may be time to go green literally and enjoy the benefits of knowing where your food comes from. Perhaps, it’s time for you to grow your own food.
7 Reasons to Grow Your Own Food
Here are 7 reasons why you may just want to take up backyard gardening:
- It’s good for the planet.
By growing your own organic food, you’ll be contributing to the environment. The use of pesticides and herbicides pollute air, soil, and water, and the air is also polluted by fossil fuels as it’s transported by refrigerated trucks to grocery stores around the country.
- It’s good for your wallet.
You will spend less money at the supermarket. Instead of filling up your shopping cart with processed foods, you’ll fill up your pantry with fresh food grown from your own garden.
It costs less than a buck to buy a packet of seeds. Heirloom seeds are the best. These non-hybrid seeds come from the best growers. Since these are dried seeds, they can be used for years.
By learning to can and dry your produce, you can enjoy preserved fruits and vegetables after the growing season.
- It’s good for mind and body.
If you don’t enjoy regular exercise, you probably don’t spend any time stretching, doing aerobics, or lifting weights. However, as a gardener, you’ll be doing all three as you weed, water, plant, and harvest your own food. Not only does gardening make exercise fun, but your children may also enjoy working on the garden with you.
Additionally, the fruits of your labor will provide your family with vitamin-rich, high-fiber foods during dinner. According to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, young children who eat homegrown produce are twice as likely as other preschool children to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
What’s good for the body is also good for the mind. By gardening, you’ll learn to relax, enjoy the fresh air, bask in the sunshine, and calm your mind.
- It’s good for your taste buds.
There is a big difference between fresh fruits and vegetables from your own backyard compared to those you buy in a grocery store. The produce you grow will be bursting with flavor while the produce you buy will be bland. This huge discrepancy is due to the use of herbicides and refrigeration, as well as how long it sometimes takes for the produce to get to your grocery shelf.
Here are three tips for growing a vegetable garden that will give you a tasty selection of vegetables for your salad: first, ensure that you expose your vegetables to the right amount of sunshine; second, plant your vegetables in good soil, and third, wait patiently for Mother Nature to do her work.
- It’s good during a food crisis.
When produce is being pulled off the grocery shelves because of contamination issues at a farm, manufacturing facility, or transportation company, you won’t be affected. While the rest of the country is panicking over the latest spinach scare, you’ll be serving your family double helpings of fresh, clean spinach over dinner.
- It’s good for reducing food wastage.
It’s not always easy to detect spoiled foods when you buy them in large bags at the grocery store. It’s hard to notice the moldy mushroom at the bottom of a cardboard box when the fresh ones cover them up. It’s also hard to eat all the vegetables you enthusiastically buy, and some may be rotten by the time you get to them. With your own garden, everything will always be fresh. It’s estimated that the average American family tosses rotten fruits and vegetables worth $600 a year.
- It’s good for your self-esteem.
It’s hard not to take pride in growing your own garden food. Patiently caring for your plants will give you an amazing sense of accomplishment.
The good news is that you’re not alone. There has been a 200% spike over the past few years in gardening in America. Awareness about the benefits of avoiding artificial ingredients in foods is growing, resulting in a corresponding interest in backyard gardening, community gardens, and gardening organizations.
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