Now's a good time as any

So we'll be moving back to the inland empire this summer and we have alot of things we would like to do so i thought now is a good a time as any to start writing down the ideas so we don't forget.

Alot of why we're doing this comes from the slow food movement and there's a pretty good documentary called Food, Inc. that talks about our food system and how convoluted and unnatural it is. One of the people interviewed is Michael Pollan who has written several books on the same topic such as In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.  Go check them out at the local library, they're worth the read.

But really, the book that really pointed out the stupidity of our situation was Food Not Lawns which points out that we have over 25 million acres of residential lawns in the United States.  We spend 30 BILLION dollars a year on fertilizer, herbicide, etc to take care of these lawns.  We mow these lawns with lawnmowers that spew more pollution in an hour than a car driving 50 miles.   In southern california, we water these lawns with sprinkler systems and this represents more water use in the average household than everything else combined.  And for what?  Mainly, it's to conform to societal norms that tell us that we all must have uniform green lawns around our house.  Lawns serve little purpose than a forced aesthetics.  Most people in surburbia have enough yardspace to grow the majority of food they eat.  When done right, home gardens take less work, less money, and less water than lawns and can provide several thousand pounds of food that is fresher, tastes better, and is healthier for you and the planet.  Seems like a no brainer doesn't it?