Jack,

Another interesting podcast. I can’t check out the YouTube video (due to firewall/proxy restrictions at work); but if you know of or are interested (they might be the same family) there are the Devraes family in California (http://www.pathtofreedom.com/) who do something similar and producing tonnes of food (and selling it as well) and have been doing so for about as long. Something else to look at might be the SPIN style of urban farming (http://www.spinfarming.com/) or getting inspiration from an urban farmer like the Garden Girl (http://www.gardengirltv.com/). Both would help people get started in producing their own food (a good idea, to get some distance from the current agro-business food model) and learning skills to help us if times get tough and go “south”.

Beyond that, I was reading over a number of international news sites and saw that Ben Bernanke (head of the Federal Reserve) is saying there (in effect) is unsteadiness and risk in the future (the time-frame was not specified; but I’m thinking a year or more). This makes me revisit the urgency of food growth and getting partially off the grid (or good backup power/heating) for my family. I think Canada might not be affected by a housing issue as it was in the US (thinking of your recent topic on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); but we are still at risk and need to buttress ourselves against the economic downturn.