Self-sufficiency deals with equitable access to the resources
needed by people to feel they have control over their lives. The
most basic needs are for material goods and social arrangements
to provide survival and security. Only after the basics are met
does the opportunity arise for people to socialize, express individual
creativity and participate in self-actualizing activity. While
many people take these for granted, their availability is not
guaranteed. Much of what we use to meet basic needs is imported
and our waste materials are frequently exported. Even in well-off
societies, poverty and deprivation are present.
One of the primary reasons to practice permaculture is to gain
a degree of self-sufficiency, to not become fully dependent upon
the commercial and global market for food, shelter, clothing,
energy, economic support, care and entertainment. This is not
to say that we are disconnected, particularly on the social level.
One of the keys to self-sufficiency is connection to community
and bioregion. To the highest degree possible we act as locally
as we can for any given need.
Connected to self-sufficiency is self-responsibility and commitment
to doing things for ones-self that one can do. One of the most
available commitments is to "growing something" useful,
a vegetable or an herb as a starting point. From there we can
begin to look at ways in our life that we can become more self
and community sufficient.
Several years ago I was working on a design project for a neighborhood
in what would be considered an economically depressed area. The
house lots were small, maybe 20 by 50 feet, and much of the lot
was taken up by the house. Here in this neighborhood we found
the most wonderful garden. Every square foot that could support
plants had something growing in it. There were even pots on the
porch and along the paved part of the drive. We found the owner
had been growing her garden for years and that in this little
space she had been able to grow all the vegetables her family
needed. She only relied on the market for commodities she couldn't
grow.
In many developed areas of the world the population has become
so dependent upon the commercial marketplace that the idea of
being more self-sufficient is not even thought of. Food is independent
of growing it, clothing of making it, housing of building it,
work of enjoying it, and entertainment of doing it. Life is disconnected
from its sources of support. In fact, people dependent upon high
levels of money exchange to obtain their sources of life support
may look down upon the seemingly less well off people practicing
self-sufficient life styles.
Permaculture offers an opportunity to live and produce by example.
While the doing and showing is for individual satisfaction, techniques
and lessons of permaculture are transferable to others who may
want to know about and participate in more direct connection to
the things they need for physical and spiritual sustenance. Some
of the things we can do are: