Why I am so obsessed with self-sufficiency

Over the last couple of years, a large number of issues have raised their heads, and begged to be addressed. I think that as life goes on, we have a duty to ourselves to stop and think where we stand on them. I think it's all part of the getting to know ourselves process, in figuring out what we believe. So as part of that process, I thought I would spend a few moments spewing out random thoughts on the subject, in the hope that by the end, it would help me think things through to one or two logical conclusions.

First of all, I eat meat. I don't eat too much of it, but I do it eat it. I don't have a problem with that. I believe that I'm doctrinally solid on that point. However, I totally agree with the arguments put forward by PETA in their literature, and frankly I wouldn't go near any of those animals with a bargepole. I think that the kind of practices they are trying to outlaw are utterly barbaric, and that those who perpetrate them should be subjected to it themselves.

That said, I don't have a problem with the eating of meat, nor for that matter, the wearing of fur as clothing, or the use of that wonderful material leather. I believe as does Ray Mears that if an animal is going to give its life for us, then out of respect, we must make every single use of it that we can. I believe that properly raised animals and birds taste delicious, and that it is incumbent upon any eater of meat to get to know the process by which that animal has become your food, what breed it was, what it was fed etc. I would like to know that the meat on my plate had been dispatched humanely, that it was butchered with skill and respect, and that every possible use was made of its carcass, so that none of it went to waste. In reality, what I believe in is self-sufficiency, for this is the only real way to ensure the quality of the food we are eating.

Secondly, I am appalled by the short-termist thinking which "society" would lull us into when it comes to the way we grow our foods. Our entire future depends on how we use the soil today. In our obsession to produce more crops, faster we have forgotten that the quality of the soil = the quality of our food. We feed chemical pesticides to keep away the nasties, then have to add chemical fertilisers to make the soil work again. Then we grow the same crop on the same patch year after year because our customer pays well for it, every season robbing the earth of what precious little nutrients it has left. But what happens when the top-soil is all gone? What will we be able to grow when all of the nutrients have gone?

When it comes to growing top-quality crops, there is only one solution: and that is to do it nature's way. It means that we put all of the natural material back into the earth that we can in order to maintain a good quality soil. It also means rotating crops from field to field so that each crop leaves behind a different set of nutrients for the following crop to thrive on. This way, when our children's children plant their crops, their soil will be even better than ours through years of constant giving and enrichment.

Thirdly, and I suppose that this is really the icing on the cake, the only way that I can see for these things to happen is for people to rebuild their relationship with the soil! There is no taste quite like your first sip of cold elderflower cordial on a hot summer's day, when it was of your own making. No bite is more glorious than home-baked bread spread with your own strawberry jam. We have so long forgotten where our food even comes from, let alone how it is made. We buy on the appearance of the packaging and not on the quality of the produce inside. We've no idea of the seasons any more, because we have pap flown in from so many other countries all year round that we've lost the plot altogether.

For instance, when do elderflowers blossom? When are brambles ready for picking? When are sprouts at their best? When did you last go strawberry picking? Exactly. And I don't mean to point the finger at you - this is an epidemic that's riddling our society, our world.

We started off all being farmers, each tending his own small flock, each tilling his own piece of the earth to provide the needs of his family. Now personally, I'd like us all to go right back to those times, but I realise that that might be a bit tricky... As time went on, one person began to achieve a greater yield when it came to harvest time, just as another was able to raise fabulous pigs. Another produced baskets that no other could match, and another was skilled with an anvil and a bellows. On a small scale, such as existed between families in "the village", this kind of specialism was wonderful, and allowed each to look after his own immediate affairs, by trading with his neighbours.

And then that nasty metal stuff came into force... and everybody started to chase it, like it was the be-all and end-all of their lives. No longer did they do favours for each other, but instead, they delivered a product or service in exchange for a crisp note or a shiny coin. With that came the realisation that the potential to earn money was limited to the number of residents in the village, and the only way to increase that potential for money was to go where more people were. Hence the development of cities. Money, money, money. How quickly we have lost the plot, and how tragically. For with the love of money comes separation from the reality of our existence, of our own place in the balance of the earth. We rape the soil in the hope of a fast buck. We are happy to trap animals in tiny cages in order to test new make-up, because we insecure with who we really are inside. Interestingly enough, neither my wife, nor my mother, nor my sisters or my sisters-in-law wear make-up, and yet they are some of the most beautiful women in the world. I don't personally think that's a coincidence.

I fourthly believe that man has a tremendous responsibility to this earth and to all that lives in it. I believe that the commandment given to Adam to "tend the garden and make it fruitful" is as valid now as it was then. I believe that we must make the most of what we are given, make it bloom and blossom and fruit. There is none who cannot grow herbs on a windowsill, or tomatoes in a hanging basket by the door. If more land is given, then more should be produced: potatoes in barrels, chickens kept for eggs, fruit trees planted. When I see a typical urban garden, of a grass lawn surrounded by hardy perennials, I can't help but think of the parable of the three servants, and of the poor chap who buried his talent. What will we say when the Master returns? "Look Lord, I kept the grass really tidy!"

I hope that some of this makes sense to you. I hope you don't feel that you've been lectured to. This is why I feel so passionately about things like the Chicken Out campaign. Or using recycled paper. Or cloth nappies. Or organic fruit and veg. Because if we consume it, we have a stewardship over it - to know where it comes from, and to see that our desire to consume it does not leave the earth worse off.

So I do want to evangelise to you really, because I used to be a heathen and I've "seen the light"!! Please do change your lightbulbs over to energy savers. Please do grow some of your own veg. Please do cut up old sheets and use them as toilet wipes. Please do buy organic veg, free-range chicken and recycled paper. Because you and I are stewards. We have been given SOOOOO much. And where much is given, much is also required.

Thank you for listening.

Rant over ;)