About every 50 years, the
earth experiences a severe drought lasting from three to six years. Sometimes
these can occur as frequently as every 20 to 30 years. The last one in the United States
was during the 50s, so we’re overdue now, and 2012 seems to be the year of the
beginning. How long -- no one knows. How severe -- no one knows. But it is
Mother Nature’s warning to stop wasting water, especially for gardening
and agriculture with traditional water-wasting methods.
And here are some startling
facts: Of all the water in the world, only 20% is fresh, the rest
salt. Of that 20%, half is locked up and unavailable. That
leaves little for all our domestic uses, including manufacturing. Little
wonder then that all the experts preach water conservation. Of all the
crops grown, grass and all types of grain, including rice, take the most
water to produce. Guess what takes the least water of all foods? Vegetables
and fruits! Since most meats live off grass and gains, you can see the
advantages, as far as water is concerned, of living on a low-meat diet.
Now if row gardening
takes 10 times as much water to produce the same harvest as our
SFG system does, it shouldn't take too much noodling to decide which
method to use. The government, in its role as guardian and adviser, could and
should be the leader of a movement to encourage only water-saving methods. This
could apply to both home gardens and small-scale farming. How many gallons
would be saved? The answer is easily enough to make it worthwhile, especially
if it’s a better method that is kinder to the environment and has all the
advantages of curing many other ills of the world. But you'll find out
more about that in my next book, SFG to
the Rescue. What do you think we can do to spread the word to the
places and people that do the decision-making? Please write me and tell me your
ideas!
Resources:
For more on the current state
of drought in the United
States, see the SFGF Newsletter, August
issue
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