(Transcript)
Hi everyone, and welcome to the Smart Garden show.
So as well as following us through this new season in our Smart Garden, we also want to look at what Food Security really means and its implications on our collective future.
These episodes will have 3 parts. We will look at our current food system’s cost or negative impact. Then we will look at the practical actions you can make with your Smart Garden that removes or lessens those negative impacts. Lastly, we will review what positive personal and global benefits from that action.
So let's get started with this episode where we will look at "What is Food Security".
In dictionary definition terms, Food Security is 'the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.'
Over the next few weeks, I want to take a deeper look at the reality of Food Security in our current global context. We will look at the terms of this definition like reliability, access, quantity, affordability and nutrition. Many current issues like the Covid 19 pandemic, climate change, environmental destruction and an ever-increasing global population dramatically affect what these terms will mean to us as part of the changing reality of food security.
For the vast majority of food consumers, there is one undeniable fact that we all must face: we are profoundly disconnected from the food we eat. By that, I mean that we do not play an active role in the creation process of it. Unfortunately, we are all so disconnected from this process that we no longer know simple things about our food like, how was it grown or, where was it grown? My research over the last few years has shown me that we are all blissfully unaware of the actual cost of our current food system. By cost, I don't just mean the prices we pay at the checkout (which are going up as I write this), but what are the actual costs to our environment, our health and perhaps most importantly, our future?
Obviously, that is a lot to cover.
So, we will look at the reality of specific issues to better understand them each week. I realise we are being bombarded by so much doom and gloom at this time. The media is driving more and more fear in every news cycle.
That is not what this series will be about.
As I am sure many of you are, I am now just mentally switching off to all the negativity. It has simply become too soul corroding and overwhelming. Let's be honest, this descent into negativity has been going on for years now, if not decades and certainly well before the invention of Covid 19!
I have a young family, and I know that I am finding it harder and harder to look into my children's eyes and see the fear they are carrying concerning their future. We really need to stop maybe highlighting all of the insurmountable problems and things we CAN'T do and actually start a discussion about the real world things we all CAN do that will make a difference, not only for ourselves but also for the planet.
So as we deep dive into the current food system and food security issues, I want to also present to you some simple ideas, concepts and options we all have at our disposal that can make a difference.
I want this series to create hope, but understand that until that switch is flicked and we see, read or hear something that motivates us to "make the change or be the change", we simply won't or don't change. The overwhelm and anxiety we are all suffering is driven mainly by the apparent hopelessness of every news report we see and hear. But the news is not the whole truth. I think we can all agree on that by now. Yes, we have many serious issues we all face. Still, the way we feed ourselves and our families are one of the most important to our health, security, and our future.
Our Smart Garden concept is about this hope. The Technograrian approach is about our future. We can use it to move the needle back in our favour. We can all easily do it in our own backyards or as part of a community. It doesn't take some global bilateral agreement between nation-states. It doesn't take the mobilisation of millions of people or the disruption and collapse of entire industries. All it takes is to genuinely understand the actual cost of our current food system and know there is a better way to feed yourself and your family.
Creating your own Smart Garden is a simple and easy way you can start today and be on a path to a healthier, more secure and truly sustainable food future.
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So until our next episode, take care and remember – our food, our responsibility.