Environmental Benefits of Growing Your Own Food
September 26, 2022
These days, we have all become used to buying food that is imported from other countries, like China and Brazil. The distance that food has to travel before reaching the consumer compromises its freshness – just one negative side of importing food. Some foods are harvested before they ripen and this compromises taste and nutrient content. You can take control today and plant your own food, do it yourself. Let us discuss how you can hold on to that original taste and nutrient content.
Population growth automatically translates to a higher demand for fresh produce. It is estimated that food supply will have to increase by about 70% by the year 2050 to accommodate the predicted population increase. This high demand will lead to the decline in quality of produce, as food producers cut corners in an attempt to meet the demand. So it’s inevitable that as the population grows, demand for high-quality fresh produce will increase. Unfortunately the laws of economics means the price will sky-rocket.
To cut a long story short, embracing technology when it comes to food production, and having more people growing food at home instead of buying it. There are cutting-edge agricultural technologies that can increase the quality of the food produced, reduce wastage, and drastically decrease food shortages. Globally, about a third of food produced every year is wasted. Imagine if we could reduce even just half the food lost to wastage!
Growing fresh fruits and vegetables has minimal impact on the environment and ecosystem, and they are very essential for a fully functional food chain. Foods like broccoli, brussels sprouts, lima beans and others are packed with nutrients and will give you the all-round nutrition that you need without negatively impacting the environment. Animal-based agriculture is extremely resource-intensive, and as always nature likes things in moderation. Plant-based farming is more scalable, though it still uses a lot of water and space. Technology-driven methods such as hydroponics and vertical farming can be a game-changer here, saving 90% of the water and 80% of the space required for growing in soil.
Food quality deteriorates over time during the transportation process. From farm in China to store shelves in the UAE. Molecules break down over time during transportation and cause changes in the food itself, reducing the quality and nutritional value of what you end up having on your dinner table. Some types of spinach, for example, lose up to 90% of their nutritional value within 24 hours of being harvested.
Most fresh foods require temperature control when being transported. Some fresh farm produce like potatoes or broccoli require pre-cooling before being transported in addition to cooling during the transportation process to minimize the quality loss. These types of foods have higher respiration rates in higher temperatures, which leads to reduction in carbohydrate content leading to a lower nutritional value.
The end result? You, at the end of that chain, will end up getting fresh produce that is lower in its nutritional value than what you would get by doing a bit of DIY in your own garden.
Yes! There is definitely a way you can help even if it’s a small contribution. Plan your meals and do not over-buy food that you will only end up disposing of later. Only buy food you know you are going to eat. Get creative with leftovers by incorporating them into new recipes and dishes. You can also freeze and store food in such a way that it will last longer and not go to waste. Growing your own vegetables isn’t as scary as it sounds. You don’t need a huge space to be able to do that, a small patch will work just fine. You can get seeds at your local stores and take control of the quality of the kind of food that you eat. Some seeds, or a few scraps of vegetables you might have otherwise thrown away, and some TLC will do the trick.
If your home or climate don’t really support an outdoor garden, look for an option to grow indoors year-round. The best smart home garden products will do all the thinking and most of the work for you, so you can just watch your plants grow, knowing you’re helping yourself and the planet just a little every day.
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