Cultivating my own gardenby | 01-08-2013 15:00 |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() With decreasing amount of arable land, and a exponentially growing population to feed, countries are facing serious problems regarding agriculture. I have been an eager environmentalist since I was a little girl devouring books on the environmental science section in the library. My interest in protecting the environment led me to understanding that the current food production and distribution system is unsustainable, and that there must be a innovative change. Otherwise, the debate on the proper method of environmental protection would be in vain.
As a person who wanted to major in agricultural economics, I thought it was imperative to have an experience as a farmer. How can a person who have never had a green thumb, manage an entire country's agriculture? I started to search for people whom wanted to farm with me. However, no one wanted to work with an inexperienced student. It was only months later that I found people who were more than willing to share their land with me.
I have been farming for more than a year with the help of farmers who were more than happy to educate me on farming. It was a valuable experience because I was able to learn the basic mechanisms of farming. I was also contributing to environmental protection because I was practicing local farming rather than buying food that are produced in a swamp of pesticides. When I am farming, there are hordes of bugs around me. A year ago, I would have freaked out but now, these bugs are my friends. I don't care when they chew my eggplants or nest on my tomatoes because humans must share what the earth bears with other creatures. We don't have the exclusive right on earth's properties.
Although this topic is not related to DMZ, I uploaded it because I wanted to show how rewarding and enriching a farming experience could be. I know where my food was grown and I know what kind of food goes up on my dinner table. What can be better than that? |