A few days ago, I overheard my mom lamenting about the high cost of living, especially food items. Each day, new prices are added to them, making it extremely difficult to purchase all budgeted items. As she was complaining about getting foodstuffs at an outrageous amount for a little quantity, she called my sister and me to help her fill some empty bags of cement with sand so she could plant some yams in them. Growing yams at home means we'll have our own fresh supply and save money on buying them. When they're ready to harvest, we can use the money we would have spent on yams for other things we need.
The benefits of growing your own food are too numerous, and no matter how they are mentioned, they can never be overemphasized.
One of such benefits is having a fresh supply of food at home, with an emphasis on fresh. Getting fresh foods in the local market can be challenging sometimes. Some traders do expose food items to flies, thereby contaminating them and making them unhealthy to consume. In most cases, traders do buy large quantities of fresh foods and fruits, which of course are prone to easy spoilage, and when they fail to sell out quickly, they preserve them with certain chemicals that can be damaging to human health. Other times, chemicals such as calcium carbide are being used to stimulate the ripening process of some fruits, such as mangoes, which, of course, can be harmful to the body. Growing one's food provides the opportunity to get fresh food items free from chemical preservatives.
In our garden, we grow various food items such as tomatoes, vegetables, plantains, bananas, and mangoes. This practice allows us to enjoy fresh produce without worrying about contamination by pests or chemical preservatives.
When one goes to purchase some food items, it is common to find that many of them have been partially eaten by pests. Instead of farmers discarding this damaged produce, they often choose to sell it to consumers.
Growing one's own food offers the opportunity to obtain fresh produce that has not been contaminated by pests and is free from chemical preservatives.
Additionally, money that could have been spent on purchasing such food items would be saved. Because if one has certain foods grown at home, the shopping list for things to buy reduces. For instance, if tomatoes are always on the list of items to purchase, once an individual starts growing and harvesting tomatoes at home, there is no doubt that tomatoes will be missing from the list because they are readily available at home, so automatically, tomatoes are out.
And when they grown in a large way, they can also be sold in the market and make some money, which can either be saved or redirected to other necessities or needs.
As the prices of food items continue to escalate, the ultimate goal is to look for ways to trim down expenses and continue to survive. One of such ways is to grow some foods at home. Even though it might not be an easy task, having a small garden where one can get some foods can significantly reduce the amount of money spent on grocery shopping.
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In essence, growing your own food offers big benefits. Having fresh food free from contamination and chemical preservatives is a flex. Plus, you save money by not buying food from the store. One can even sell some of the extra food for more cash; extra food items equal extra income. With food prices going up, it is smart to have your own garden. It might require huge effort and time, but in the end, it is worth it.
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first image from freepik
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