Gardening Alone Won't Fix a Broken Food System (Thinking Economically‪)‬

Now that food shortages are in the headlines, too many people are getting the idea that the solution to the world's food problems is for all of us in cities and suburbia to grow our own. It's not. Don't get me wrong: Growing food just outside your front or back door is an extraordinarily good idea, and if it's done without soil erosion or toxic chemicals, I can think of no downside. Edible landscaping can look good, and it saves money on groceries; it's a direct provocation to the toxic lawn culture; gardening is quieter and less polluting than running a power mower; the harvest provides a substitute for industrially grown produce raised and picked by underpaid, oversprayed workers; and tending a garden takes a lot of time, time that might otherwise be spent in a supermarket or shopping mall.