For what value of “self sufficient” does this apply? Most people simply don’t have the land required to obtain anything in that column. Even acquiring enough water to drink is quite impossible for many. The idea that everyone not living on a farm would be self sufficient enough to provide tomatoes, fruit, water, energy, etc for themselves is rather unreasonable, no? This is after all one of the big benefits of specialisation.
This isn’t really about “You can only be one of the cool kids if you’re at least 89.5% self sufficient.” It’s more on the line of “Hey, try to grow at least one sad plant in the best way you can manage, it’s going to make everything a little better.” Back when I only had a balcony I had boxes and bags with sad plants, now I have a garden with happier plants. We learn while our plants keep us company, and maybe one day can apply what we’ve learned in luckier circumstances. No attempt of caring for life is ever really lost.
By the way, if light conditions where you live are really bad you can always grow mushrooms instead of plants, they are not as demanding as plants.
Or hell, here’s a dodgy pro-tip if you are a die-hard bacon fan but can’t handle the environmental impact: go for a mealworm farm in a drawer. I promise the buggers taste similar to bacon and are the most sustainable animal protein you can imagine. All they need is food scraps and a dark space where they can crawl around. (Don’t let them escape into your kitchen)
mealworm drawer
And people think I’m eccentric with my onion drawer…
A interesting idea though.
I’m sure these drawers can be combined in an ecologically useful way!
Also who are those weirdos having neither an onion nor a mealworm drawer? Whatever is it people keep in their drawers these days, socks? Cutlery?
Land is hard to get now because of overpopulation.
Once your neighbors start dying off in the mass famines of the next few years you’ll have plenty of opportunity to expand.
And if you make the best of the land you have now, you’ll have more calories than your neighbors and be better suited to take their land. So it’s win-win.
