Reducing Food Dependence

Many governments are talking about reducing dependence on fossil fuels and thereby increasing the state’s autonomy but I have a new idea. Why don’t we try to produce 80% of our own food by 2013?

What is we started making preserves and other foods to last through the next winter? We could grow basil and make pesto, we could jar our own applesauce, etc. and we could then use these to barter for the things we don’t have, like eggs.

If we get a goat we could make goat’s cheese and trade that for mountain herbs with Maurizio up in his chalet. We could then trade the herbs for other things we need.

The easiest way to translate labour into tangible objects is by producing food. Food can be traded for other commodities based not on monetary value but on personal value. You could then trade your labour for pasta from a local producer of pasta, or we could even start making our own pasta!

Wednesdays the town square is filled with traveling vendors, what if we could set up a stand on another day trading what our community produces with other producers of surplus commodities.

The value is in the ceremony of the exchange when currency is taken out of the equation. Get to know the producer and the food will be infinitely more valuable than any packaging could ever imply. The producer has a vested interest in feeding you good food because in this case the consumer is not separated by thousands of miles.

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