How much land does it take to feed a person for a year?

[fancie217]

Wow it has been a little bit since I visited, I did a bit of research, but hadn't made it that far in... been... um.... busyish on the chicken forum.... haven't read all the posts but promise I will.

So far I found out that:

The US Dept. Of Agriculture estimates that the average person in the United States eats .5 lbs of meat, 1.6 lbs of dairy products, .2 lbs of fats and oils, .8 lbs of fruits, .7 lbs. Of vegetables, .5 lbs of grains, and .4 lbs of sugars per day for a total of 4.7 lbs. of food per day. To see the USDA study, follow this link


The average beef consumption in the US is approximately 67lbs per year per person.
An average steer will weigh about 1200lbs live. After slaughter and initial processing, the carcass will weigh about 720lbs. After further processing, it will yield about 490 to 560 lbs of edible meat.

I haven't worked out the math of all of that yet.... I was trying to find out more about the meat consumed. But came to a dead end and hadn't got back to it.

will post more and read what you guys had to say shortly

 

[mjdtexan]

All land is not created equal,.

You've hit the nail on the head right there. Soil, weather, and the time you are willing to put into the land are all factors. Money at first can be a huge issue.

 

[freemotion]

Don't forget that the average American has, or will have, "lifestyle diseases" like diabetes and heart disease.......from what they eat. :/ So what the average American eats is not really what we should be stocking up, not in those proportions, if we want to remain free of lifestyle diseases.

Fortunately, the ss lifestyle means we tend to grow and consume more plant materials and get more exercise doing so! And eat healthier meats, too, if we are raising our own on pasture and browse, or eating what we hunt.

 

[Beekissed]

I imagine it would take some time to gather in all the diversity of plants, trees, etc. that one would really need to have a diverse diet and feed one's family off their own small acreage.

Imagine, though, if one were to not have any "yard" and use square foot gardening principles to grow up and do companion plantings, planting short term crops, then more of the same in a rotation in the same row. Salatin mentioned this somewhat when talking of growing corn....said something about how one could grow three or four different crops of certain veggies in the time it took to grow one crop of corn in the same space.

I would like to see a place like that, where every spare inch of ground was growing food crops.