"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry
Subject: Amount of land required to grow a person's food patmeadows
Woo-hoo! I found some numbers (in addition to those of
Jeavons, Duhon, et al.) on the amount of land required to
grow all of a person's food - more or less. (See below.)
The table below is from 'The Integral Urban House -
Self-Reliant Living in the City,' Helga Olkowski, Bill
Olkowski, Tom Javits, and the Farallones Institute Staff,
Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1979.
I have copied a portion of Table 3.4, page 58, from this
book.
Notes:
1. These numbers are for Berkeley, CA - an ideal, or very
close to ideal, gardening climate, with year-round
gardening.
2. The table purports to show the requirements for 'a
family of two adults and two children having a total
food-energy requirement of 8000 kilocalories per year and
consuming a proportionately higher percentage of fresh
vegetables than the average family.'
I do not know how to break this down into the numbers for
one adult. Maybe two adults plus two children equals three
adults? Three and a half adults? ??
3. Note that the table consists of cumulative numbers
(i.e., the second equals the first number PLUS an addition,
the third number equals the second number PLUS an addition,
etc). Subtraction can of course get the individual numbers
for each category of food grown.
I've added a few notes to the table - these are explained in
the text of the book.
Item Square Feet Required
A) Leafy greens (eaten fresh) 150 sf
B) Dinner vegetables (cooked 600 sf
veggies eaten fresh) plus (A)
C) Entire vegetable supply 2500 sf
(includes storage vegs such as
potatoes, onions, winter squash,
canned tomatoes, beets, etc.)
plus (B)
(D) Entire fruit supply plus (C) 3500 sf
(E) Grains and cereals plus (D) 25,000 sf
(entire supply of fruits and veggies)
(F) Forage crops for livestock 100,000 sf
plus (E)
Note that an acre is 43,560 sf.
And there you have it!
I have no experience with growing grain (other than as a
cover crop) or forage for livestock, but I think the salad
greens, fruit, and veggie requirements look fairly
realistic, as near as I can judge from my own gardening
experience - which is all in a very much less favorable
climate than that of Berkeley, CA.
Cheers,
Pat
-- northern Pennsylvania
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry
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