Some people dream of a self -sufficient existence. War, pandemic and news reports about PFAS and pesticides in our food are the desire to do things differently: a house with a piece of land in the countryside, where you grow your own vegetables and lives on what nature has to offer. Self -sufficient life, how realistic is that? And above all: how much land do you need for that?
“That is one of those questions that you ask so easily, but difficult to answer,” says Petra Berkhout, researcher Dutch agriculture and horticulture in Wageningen. How many square meters you need depends strongly on the choices you make: do you use fertilizer and pesticides, do you keep animals or do you live vegan? In addition, you not only need soil, but soil that is suitable for agriculture, enough sunlight, enough water and crops that match the season and the place.
Researchers in Wageningen Calculated in 2013 How much agricultural land the Netherlands would need to eat self -sufficient in a crisis situation. Shared by the number of inhabitants you end up with around five hundred to a thousand square meters per person. A rough estimate, Berkhout emphasizes.
Scientific research into the required square meters for self -supply is rare. An exception comes from Australia, where researchers How much land an average household of 2.5 person needs for the recommended daily amount of vegetables. Here the required space turned out to be strongly dependent on the yield per square meter. With a low yield, they estimate that 1,407 m2 is needed, with an average 67 m2and with a high only 21 m2.
According to figures that on Blogs from hobby gardeners circulateyou would 35 to 40 m2 need meter for fruit and vegetables and 250 m2 For bread, potatoes and legumes.
Animals are ‘a buffer’
Those who also want to keep animals opts best for chickens – they take up little space and also lay eggs. “Animals are partly a buffer,” says Berkhout. “If your harvest fails and you still have animals walking around, then you will have something to eat.” Moreover, animals produce manure, which comes in handy. Because those who really want to live completely self -sufficient must also take care of fertilization.
You can also use your own ‘manure’ for that, says Berkhout. “There are all kinds of valuable nutrients in our stools.”
Hannah Thwaites from South Australia did research on collective self -supply. “The moment you start growing your own food, you suddenly notice how much work it is,” she says. According to her, self -sufficient life is a lot more feasible in community than on your own. Not only because you can share and exchange food, but also because you can divide the work among themselves.
“Limited availability of resources – time, money, land – makes it impossible for many people to eat completely self -sufficient on their own,” says Thwaites.
Maybe you don’t have to. Even if you cannot completely avoid the supermarket, a tomato plant on the balcony or a small vegetable garden behind the house can yield a lot of pleasure and a little self -supply.
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