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mat redsell's avatar

While it is very concerning about getting good food for anyone in a poor nation there is a great problem in places like Canada and the states where many people do not get a good diet. So much processed food and so much of it refined to a point where there is little value. Most people know this but do not do anything about it. Our visitors always being food to share but again the food being shared is not organic nor raw. At my age of 76 one needs a good diet to survive and do the work of farming with animals and lots of diverse crops in small fields that are mainly based on things one eats. In our area the main crop is corn or soya beans both of which have very little use in a healthy diet.

We grow sunflowers and camelina for oils, spelt for flour, oats for the animals and some corn for the chickens..... and hay and pastures for the horses and cow.

The problem we have is finding someone to take over the farm. It is hard work and very little profit but we can eat well and have a relaxed lifestyle using horses for most of the work.

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bluejay's avatar

The problem with vegetables from the farmer's side (as another veg grower) is that the vegetables can't feed the farmer. It's easy to still grow a lot of calories with veg/non-sweet fruit but the relatively low energy density makes it hard to eat enough to sustain several hours of manual labor each day. The other problem is that they are also the most valuable crops so the first to be sold off, unless you subsidize the farm with a day job and self provision outside the market. (but then you won't show up in these stats)

There are plenty more consumers in the US who could pay more to eat better but don't for either convenience or cultural reasons. Sometimes they'll change after a health scare and you can pick up a good customer for a couple years but they tend to revert to the mean.

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