I couldn't think of a better name for this section, but to be honest, its not really right. I am not, nor intend to be self sufficient.
He has some valid points there. Is selfsufficiency to not use things i.e. coffee and spices etc. if you can't produce them yourself?
Our approach is, if we go shopping, before we go to the check out, just go through the contents of your trolley or basket and think about each item and if you could make it yourself.
Is this selfsufficientish enough?
Cheers
Peter
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter, don't mind.
Dr. Seuss (1904 - 1991)
Being self sufficient is at best difficult and worst impossible......but everyone can be self sufficientish because essentially you set your own level. So really the answer (I think!) is whatever is self sufficientish for you.......
well like i said on that bit..... it's a matter of steps in the right direction I think.
I first started eating seasonal local food when I learned that swedes (turnips not the people) were being airfreighted in - duh! why? I dont have to have that particular veg out of season. and as I also said - I have yet to give up some things that are not local.. such as coffee.
As I also said, I'm not sure society is a bad thing.... for example our local butcher - is it not better if he cuts up one cow - stores it, and we all buy a bit, than we all bump off a cow and try to store it and each have 2 chest freezers going all the time. But using the butcher is not being self sufficient. But using the local butcher,, who has local beef - is more self sufficient (ie depends on less people and resources) and much better than importing meat from the other side of the world.
its a balance somewhere.
oh btw - I'm a she not a he.
Red
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
I think everyone can do their little bit and don't worry that your not doing enough. I think its important to do what works for you and within the area you live etc, it's not about being making yourself miserable or needing to work 24 hours a day just to eat. I can't keep livestock other than bird so we have chickens and ducks and I try to buy any other meat from the best sources I can afford. I just bought some lamb from a farmer I know on another forum which I really pleased about. Not only am I told it taste delicious but I'm pleased to be able to give all the money to the person who's done the most work and its great to know where the meat came from and how it was raised. its not self sufficent but I feel it supports the way of thinking and of course is helping independant farmers alive rather than putting money in a supermarkets pocket
I saw a quote that said "You can't be self-sufficient in wellington boots".
To be wholly self-sufficient and rely on no outside inputs whatever, you'd probably be living a stone-age existence. Which is one way to go if you really want to, but why would you want to?
Humankind is inherently social. We rely on other people. We form communities which help each other. That's a *good thing*. So complete self-sufficiency in that sense doesn't seem like a desirable goal to me.
But it is good to be self-sufficient in some things. Self-sufficientISH is a great way of describing it. I have a personal goal to be self sufficient in fruit and veg. It will take a few years but it's do-able. If we ever get more land I'd like to be self-sufficient in meat and dairy. That's a bigger goal. I'd love to be self-sufficient in energy and water. That would mean solar water heating, pv, a suitable site for a good-sized turbine, and a borehole I expect. It's definitely a long-term goal but it's in my mind.
Until then I try to get my fruit and veg and meat and dairy from local (organic, where possible) producers. We try to reduce our use of electricity and water, because that would be part of being self-sufficient in those things anyway, and we get our electricity from a "green" supplier.
It's not about the destination, it's more about the journey. It's about being aware of the impact of your lifestyle on the planet, and trying to make that impact as benign as possible. At the moment even the whole planet isn't self-sufficient, i.e. we can't sustain this way of living without bringing in resources from elsewhere, but there is no elsewhere. If I aim for self sufficiency, it's at the planet-wide level.
.
