Greetings Liberty Lovers,
If you couldn't go to the local convenience store and purchase food what would you do? If the shelfs looked like powdered milk selection in Venezuela where would you go? What if it wasn't just the local store that was wiped clean, what if it was all of them? What then?
Now I'm not gonna doom and gloom about what could happen in our future in regards to the failures of statism and the eventual fuckery that is coming our way. But think about the first couple lines I wrote. How many people do you know that are self sufficient? How many people do you know that would be forced to resort to violence if they couldn't just go to some store and buy food? The sad reality is not many people know how to be self sufficient. Autonomy has been replaced with convenience. Convenience over the years has robbed many of us of knowledge. And that knowledge is no longer mainstream. And like many things in our modern society that are not popular, they are forgotten.
Every anarchist should know how to grow. Every anarchist should teach their children how to grow. Obviously I'm the weed guy but I'm not talking strictly cannabis, I mean anything that will grow in your climate outdoors or that which you can grown in a greenhouse or under lights. Tomatoes, bell peppers, chives, potatoes, broccoli, lettuce, apple trees, cannabis, cucumbers, kale, cilantro, mint, rosemary, corn, carrots, basil, rhubarb, onions, jalapeños, anything. Some plants you can only harvest once, others you can continue to pull from until the end of the season.
Now as you can see, I'm not working with a ton of space here. I wish I had much more but I can make do with what I have. Now obviously if you live in an apartment complex growing is more difficult than if you have a house and can just go out in the backyard, but that doesn't mean you can't use indoor space either. For the most part, plants are easy. Water and sunlight. That's not to say growing doesn't enhance or require skill, just simply its not the most difficult task in the world. All you really need is some soil and a quick consultation with google. What is the reward? Why so important? Well, if you make preparations and do some canning you can significantly lower your food costs that are devoted to groceries. Any excuse to cut down on any unfortunate trips to Walmart is a good one, especially if its good for you. If you don't add any chemicals you will have organic produce. Garden fresh goods taste fucking amazing. You also don't need to plant too many different things to get a good variety of stuff that you can cook which will also taste awesome. Its a very rewarding activity that you can take pride in.
This is also an activity that you don't necessarily need to dive into head first. I didn't wake up one day and just decide growing was something I wanted to get really good at. Although, I wish I had when I was much younger. I slowly got more and more involved in growing year after year. I started with cannabis and have been trying more and more things. Now in the late summer and fall 2 out of 3 of all my meals comes from the garden. I have chickens and I'm buying more soon so there will be many more eggs. The more responsibility that I choose to take on in the form of caring for plants and animals, the less dependent I am on other people to sustain myself. I'm able to sell extra items that I can or don't eat during the grow season so not only do I not have to depend on anyone to survive, the endeavor now pays for itself. From a monetary standpoint you get much more back than what is required to put in.
This system is self perpetuating. I have food scraps that I can feed to the chickens which in turn cuts down on the store bought feed I give them which in turn cuts down on the unnatural additives that are in their diet which helps them to be healthier and produce healthier eggs. I have to trim the cannabis plants regularly so they also get fed shade leaves which is also very healthy for them. I will feed them strictly hemp feed when I have the ability to. When I no longer live in the city I will get a rooster and my chickens will multiply on their own providing me with more food and I can sell extra chickens.
This does require a commitment of effort from myself. If I don't tend to the plants and animals they will die or perform poorly. But the effort and minor monetary investment is minimal. The trade off is liberty. I don't have to go to Walmart and deal with all the morons there all in line at the 3 cashiers running the self checkouts next to 100 empty lanes. I don't have to pay an arm and a leg to get organic food from Whole Foods. I don't have to worry about running out of food when I'm growing year round. I can store many more years of food behind what I will need this year if I want to put in the extra effort to grow more. I know what is in my food because I put it in there. It doesn't matter if it is an apple or a chicken. I know the animal that made its way to my plate wasn't abused and that it got to live and die with dignity. Since I have been vending the farmers markets now, I have met others that I can trade with which greatly enhances my ability to easily obtain things I want in exchange for things I don't necessarily need. I also can grow my own medicine that treats ailments that modern science via pharma can't (or won't) but that's a different discussion. But you can grow your own medicine too, as well as other useful things that people typically don't have in mind when they picture a garden.
These are all reasons why every anarchist needs to grow. This is why you need to teach your children to grow. Everything you need to survive can be coaxed from the Earth. Food for you, food for your animals too if you don't want to be a vegetarian. (I don't) Freedom from chemical laden foods. Freedom from genetically manipulated products. Freedom from terrible shopping environments. Freedom from terrible prices. Freedom from the modern corporate "food" system. Individual autonomy. Monetary incentive. Restoration of the connection humans have with the land. There is no reason not to grow. Growing even cuts into corporate food profits that do sell trash and that will incentivize them to create products that people will consume.
Now if you take up growing and even get yourself a system together where you can live off of the land do you need to worry if the shelves at the store are empty? Will you have to worry about where your next meal will come from should the currency fail? Will you need to wonder what's really in your food? Will you have to worry what your animals are eating? Will you have to depend on others to survive? Will you have to ever worry about running out of food? No, no you won't.
-Kush Freeman