WHY GROW YOUR OWN FOODS?

In September, 2014 my wife, on her way from work bought and brought home some groceries including this “fresh looking” vegetable called bologi (solaneceo biafrae). It is known as “worowo” in south west Nigeria. I love this vegetable because of its nutritional value and natural scent. But about four hours after dinner that fateful day all of us including my then 3 years old son started purging seriously. I felt for my boy and my wife because she did not know that what she brought home as food was actually contaminated and the young lad was seriously affected. My wife didn’t plan to poison us but it happened that we ended up eating something that had food poison. We had to throw away the whole pot of soup. But that experience was a “blessing” in disguise because it marked the beginning of our journey into urban gardening. I thank God I’m alive to share this experience.

In my last post, I promised to discuss how to get started in the urban gardening journey in my next post. But I think it is important you know “why” you need to go on the journey before you even take the first step. So I’ve decided to share with you in this post “WHY GROW YOUR OWN FOOD?” In other words, why do you need to get involved in urban gardening? Aside the horrible experience I just described, the following are some other reasons I decided to embark on the journey two years ago. I’m sharing them perhaps they may motivate you to start the journey too. And whether you start the journey or not these reasons are like laws – they cannot be broken!

REASON NO. 1: Better-Quality Food Safer Foods

Now I go to bed with peace of mind every night knowing that my family has not consumed contaminated foods or genetically modified foods that will harm their health someday. I take responsibility for my health and family’s and the environment by growing my foods organically and this gives me a sense of relief. Now I confidently share my garden produce with friends, family and neighbours knowing that their health cannot be compromised by what I give them. My family eat better quality and safe foods particularly fruits and veggies whenever we want to and in whatever quantity we want and we are not under the pressure of cost simply because we grow them in our compund. If it were to be a time such as this when the economy of our nation is in recession, we may have thought twice about throwing that whole pot of soup away. Perhaps we would have considered it wise to remove the already poisoned meat for another soup. I believe people can and should eat healthy and safe food that cost less. This is one of the goals of Grow Your Own food project. 

REASON NO.2: Better-Tasting Foods

Most foods particularly fruits and vegetables sold in fruit markets and supermarkets are grown with inorganic substances for the purpose of profit. These foods are harmful to health and the environment and do not taste good. Urban gardening enables urban dwellers to grow and enjoy better tasting foods.

REASON NO.3: Save Money on Food Bills

From personal experience, a family of 5 living in urban area spends a minimum of N800 (about $3) on vegetables weekly in wet seasons and a minimum of N1200 ($4) in dry seasons and these do not include the cost of fruits. When fruits are included the cost goes to about N1500 ($5) in season and N2000 ($7) during off season.

This high cost expended on fruits and vegetables alone accounts for the reason why many urban families lack nutritional vitamins and minerals in their diets which amounts to spending more on health bills due to ill health arising from the deficiency of these vital nutrients. With urban gardening, your family saves money on food and you are healthier because you grow what supplies some of the daily required amounts of vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids that your body and your family’s requires for optimum health.