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The New Allotmenteer

By James Middleton - Added 1st of July 2008

With souring food prices and environmental awareness, is it any wonder that allotmenting is making a come back?

Allotment crime is on the increase, people are really starting to feel the pinch of the credit crunch and back gardens are starting to yield vegetables! Apart from the thieving 'no-goods' that break in to plots to steal and vandalise, it's starting to seem that the British public are resulting to 'war effort' style food production to counter the many demands and pressures of 21st century living.

Growing your own for Britain

Now I don't wont to upset or worry any body by talking about the following, but I believe that we should all be prepared for the worst.

In the UK, our entire social infrastructure is based around our consumption and energy requirements. Cars, buses and trains are needed to take us to work, lorries deliver food and other vitals to our supermarkets and electricity/gas/oil 'fulfils' our need for lighting, heating and entertainment. We really are hooked on our energy requirements.

Now, imagine this terrible but frighteningly possible scenario: The oil and gas pipelines between Russia and Europe are cut, for what ever reason (be the result of political, environmental or the action of terrorists). What impact will that have on our lives? I dare not think about it!

We Brits are a surprising bunch of people. I'm sure if the worst ever did happen, the majority of us would find it in ourselves to pull together as we did during the 2nd world war.

A lot can be learnt of social survival by looking at the way in which communities react to crisis. Take Cuba for instance. The Cuban Missile Crisis left the people of Cuba in an impoverished state. Rather than starve, they made use of their fertile soils and developed their own food supplies. The country today is largely independent of food imports. The Cubans are very much an allotmenteer nation. Every available patch of earth is used for growing crops; when ever a building falls, a garden springs up!

So what can we do?

Try and be as self-sufficient as possible. I know that sounds a little simplistic and idealistic, but I believe that we all have it in us to live a simpler life, one that is ideally suitable and far more fulfilling than our current consumer-lead existence.

Producing your own fresh food:

Tastes so much better than supermarket groceries.
Is far better for you.
Hasn't been shipped around the world - better for the environment.
Provides a sense of achievement.
(Take it from me) Keep you fit.

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Article written by James Middleton - www.theallotmentgarden.co.uk.

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