CoAbode

Personally, I like to 'grow my own.' When those little cherry tomatoes start disappearing from the supermarkets in the fall my little pots of a cool weather variety are just starting to blossom. But most of us couldn't possibly feed ourselves with the meager amount of growing room we have. Backyard gardens have all but disappeared in cities and even the homes in rural areas tend to be surrounded by lush green lawns rather than neat rows of carrots and peas. No heads of lettuce line the walkways, it's barbecues instead of beans and basil is easy to find in the grocery store but not by the back door. In college I had friends who could grow amazing things in dorm room closets. They used a purple gro-light and though we never 'ate' any of what they grew I understand they 'consumed' a great deal of it. But even if you were willing to sacrifice your closets, your garage and that space under your bed where the dust gathers, just how much food could you realistically grow? I'd never make it through a season with my tiny square footage (although I'm willing to bet that my Honda would make a hell of green house -- if I could just keep the plants from tipping over). Just thinking about it makes me hungry -- and nervous because I know people who behave very badly when when their blood sugar dips even slightly. They are likely to do some pretty nasty things when food is scarce. So -- what to do?