Food security/sustainability
Environmental Construction has helped "The Garden Project" as it helps our community and the world in general.
We want to share with you an organization that our company has helped, and we thoroughly enjoyed our experience. It's called The Garden Project. We helpedin building a garden for The Chicken Soup Brigade. (Take a moment to read all about this wonderful organization)
The gardens made by JGP are for people under 200% of the poverty line, and for community projects such as churches and organizations that help feed people. This is in part along the lines of "Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you will feed him for life". The garden projects create more independent people and greatly benefits our community. Did you know that Seattle is the first city to plan to build an edible forest. It is located at 15TH Ave. S and South Dakota St. in Seattle, Washington. This exemplifies living in the Pacific Northwest -- forward thinking and on the cutting edge of improvements to the environment and the well-being of people.
Growing and consuming local foods and products is one of the most important changes we in the Pacific Northwest can and should be working towards. We can improve the economics of this state by supporting local farmers and improve our own health and ecology by growing our own food. If we grow flowers, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and herbs, we will benefit by increasing our bee populations (see our article on bees ), and improve our environment.
The best tasting and healthiest foods are usually not going to be found in a grocery store. The reason for this is because foods generally have a limited shelf life. This is because they are grown for economic reasons…not taste. Most fruit cannot be allowed to fully ripen on the vine lest it spoil by the time it is purchased in the supermarket. (See our article about edible gardens). The lemon-peppery flower of the cilantro, which has an amazing flavor, is something you can't buy at a grocery store. Grow cilantro and pick the flowers fresh and put them onto a salad, or into a salsa. Yum! And many tomato varieties that you can grow in the garden, such as most beefsteak tomatoes, are not available in grocery stores because their skins are too thin and they bruise and spoil too easily; they are one of the most flavorful tomatoes.
Heirloom plants are bred not for how well the transport or their shelf-life or yield but generally for how they taste. Consider in-sourcing your food for this reason alone, but know that you'll be making a bigger impact on the world.
Corporate farming practices have changed over the last 20 years to a mono-culture method in order to maximize profit and allow for dirt cheap prices at the grocery store and at eating establishments. These changes may not be the best for our health because they cannot be done organically and strip the soil of valuable nutrients over time. Generally, purchasing locally grown and organic foods is only slightly more expensive, but still much less than going out to eat, and growing our own food costs even less. So eat at home with foods from the local farmer’s market or your own delicious garden. The taste is worth it.
We, at Environmental Construction, would love to help you make a difference in the world, like the Just Garden Project is doing -- one sustainable garden at a time. Call us and we can help you plan a sustainable garden in your corner of the world, reduce your grocery bill, enjoy tastier food, and help make the world a better place..
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Category: Landscape Ecology