CNN iReport

How many trips have you made to Wal Mart in the last week?  Where would you get milk, bread, cheese, cereal and chicken if Wal Mart could no longer provide them or they became too expensive for your family?

Even if you live in the city, there is a lot you can do to become less dependent on your local branch of the international conglomerate.  Back yard gardening is a huge help.  Even a small patch of peas, carrots, tomatoes and green beans will help eliminate the need to buy everything at the grocery store. 

Those who are not as faint of heart should consider keeping rabbits as a supplement to the meat in their diet.  They are quiet, low maintenance and highly nutritous.  Learning to butcher them is not difficult, but requires a level of determination.  I would propose that those who know that they lack the will to take an animal's life to make dinner might consider economic vegetarianism.  There are wonderful recipes for chick peas and lentils that will balance a diet with sufficient protein.

I am not going to propose that everyone should get a cow, grow wheat to grind for bread and make their own soap, but I will say that we, as an increasingly urban society, should learn how to do those things because we have forgotten.  Knowing how to do these things will ensure the quality of our lives.

In addition to reducing our dependence on  our society's supply chain for food, home grown food is far better for the environment.  Instead of driving a diesel tractor (which is exempt from air polution laws) to till, synthetically fertilize and harvest, a home garden is largely done by hand.  The result is a negative carbon footprint.  Your plants consumed carbon dioxide.  You didn't drive to the store to get it.  It wasn't trucked across the country for you to buy.  It is a win for the the planet, too.

When a family eats food that was grown in their own yard (or community garden), they have control over what is used to treat it.  Genetically engineered plants are not usually the varieties grown in home gardens.  Toxic pesticides are not the first choice of a gardener.  Those who raise their won meat animals do not, usually employ growth hormones.  In short, you know what went into what you harvested.  You don't know what went into that juicy steak you bought.

Please comment on what you are doing to reduce your need for the corporate grocery store, reduce your carbon footprint and end up with a healthier diet as a side effect!