The rise of 'Grow Your Own'

Firstly I'll say I am not sure whether this should go in this forum or a different one, so I put it here but if it needs to be moved then that's fine.

In the UK over the last couple of years there has been a massive surge in advertising, programming and government policies leaning towards people growing their own food. Now in 2011 with Global food prices on the rise and extreme weather in many areas of the world this would seem like a fortuanate coincidence. The question is, has the government been promoting these ideas because they think the UK should become more sustainable within itself, just incase or is it because they have anticipated an actual threat to food supplies.

If the latter is true and there is a true and real threat with an almost certainty of arising that the government saw coming then this sort of advertising and promotion would be an ideal way of preparing people without the very scary and possibly rioting caused by announcing we're all going to starve. Not to say this if was true would be some evil plot by the government but a sort of benign conspiracy to relieve the pressure of possibly food riots like seen in Africa in 2008.

Throughout the news in the past years there have been major pushes forward in the UK to promote these things such as:

• TV Programming promoting cooking with seasonal food
  
• TV Promoting growing more in the garden and allotments
  
• The government policies to increase land available for allotments
  
• The big push of the BBC 'Grow Your Own' Campaign - Including handing out free advice and seeds
  

For the Americans, and those who may not know what exactly allotments are (as i'm not sure if America have such a scheme?) these links explain the details of it:

Allotment History
Allotment policies and benefits of FoodVision
Also the BBC one as said of above: BBC Dig In


On the back of this new culture arising is also over the past 18 months there has seemingly been a number of new government infomercials sounding more and more like the war time advice they handed out. Also to mention the whole idea of the "The Big Society" which is been preached to us now in this country whereby citizens are encouraged to take on the running of the community themselves. Ideas like The People's Supermarket it seems to be geared towards people living without the interference of government. This could be a non-alarmist way of preparing people for a life without government also.

This could well be all speculation and just an increase in public interest in these "Back to basics" ideals but it does seem unlike many other trends to pop up in the past years the government has latched onto this one with clenched fists and shook it till all the coins dropped.

I'd be welcome to here if any other countries are having such a surge in this culture as from here i've heard very little, so it's possible it's more localised or it's just not the type of news to spread.

I think this is a great idea i've been planting a garden in my back yard for three years now and easily grow all the veggies my wife and i consume.Personally i get alota pride watching my garden grow its hard to explain,but the health benefits of an organic garden alone should convince alot more people to do this.

Another big part of growing your own food, is the health aspect. Too many people have gotten used to prepackaged convenience foods, which are not usually healthy, putting an additional strain on the healthcare industry. Especially with kids, the best way to get them to eat their vegies, is for them to be involved in the garden too.

It's a good idea, I even grow my herbs indoors in the winter, fresh herbs are a great source of antioxidants and vitamins. Seasonal means fresher, and less transportation problems. I used to watch a cooking show from the BBC, and there was a guy that was going around in the forested areas foraging for wild food. That's another good idea, to know what is edible in the wild.

With all the problems, droughts, floods, fires all around the world, I would be expecting a food shortage, or huge price increases.

I think it's a wonderful thing that your country is trying to 'push' this idea along. I wish the government here in the USA was doing the same. My family comes from a very very rural part of southern Virginia, hence, I come from a long line of home gardeners and preservers of the food they grow. For a long time when I was younger I refused to acknowledge the wisdom of the 'grow your own' movement here and now I embrace it for a wide variety of reasons.

When I first started digging up a large swath in my back yard a couple of years ago all of my neighbors thought I was a kook. "Why in the world would you do this to your back yard for crying out loud?"... I heard that, or a variation of that, several times. It would at least open the dialog into the poisoning of our food supplies by 3rd parties and at least I would have control over what went into my body to a great extent. I got tips from my Dad on the old ways of doing things and with a little trial and error my little garden took off like gang busters... to the point that I could share some of the bounty of my garden with my skeptical neighbors and still have more than enough for me to eat fresh and put away for the winter. Funny thing is... the next year I saw little gardens popping up in my neighbors yards and all through the neighborhood.

So keep up the good work...and you never know it could very well be your government's way of nudging those, like you, who are keen enough to pick up on the fact that they are trying to help you out on this one. Keep us posted on your garden!!!

Yeah it's not a bad thing at all, last year we grow mostly in pots in our large porch....

Just wondered if it was a subtle warning of things to come. There are so many conspiracy theories on this site and every one just about is negative - atleast if this were to be true it would have a positive spin on it!

reply to post by Okandetre


You are correct, there are a lot of conspiracy theories on this site and sometimes it just makes me want to sit down and have a good cry over it all but mostly I keep my ear to the ground but keep on plugging along with my life.

One thing about what you grow, (however you seem savvy and probably already know it), when you choose the seeds you are going to plant in your garden for food crops, be very sure that they are of heriloom quality and have not been genetically modified or are hybrid varieties. If you harvest the seeds from genetically modified or hybrid plants to overwinter for planting your garden next year they will not grow and if they do, what does grow will be of such poor quality that it won't be worth eating.

Just some information that I've learned that I thought I would pass along.