Compassionate Crofting

I shed a lot of labels in 2012, the one that bothered me most was  "Vegan".

I guess its human nature to want to belong to a tribe and tribes come with labels and although I still say vegan from time to time for easiness (sometimes its just too dull or inappropriate to explain in minute detail the what/why/when/how of your dietary habits) I pretty much don't identify with the label anymore.

A lot of the time I found my Vegan persona over lapping with my Green one.... And although it is perfectly possible to have an animal free crofting life I also feel its missing an important link in the chain to cut them out completely.

Don't get me wrong.. I'm not looking to start a thing here, I just want to lay out what I see as Compassionate Crofting.

You see, although I strongly believe that its possible to thrive on a 100% plant based diet I also have to look at the fact that I live in the NE of Scotland and a lot of my food is from other countries (like soya) or is fortified with vitamins.

This leaves me with a conundrum.  

You see, I'm a planner (or worrier... either way ;)... And one of the reasons I got into self sufficiency was all the "what ifs".

So you see, the last few years I've been "What if"-ing... like

• What if... there's a war and food can't be shipped to the UK?
• What if ... Global warming fucks up things so much that we no longer get fortified food?
• What if... Prices get so high that I can't afford to buy all the foods we need to stay healthy!

So right now.. this very second... its all good.
Most of my food is happily cheaper or the same price as carnivorous fair...

But....

So anyway, the whole point of crofting is to be as self sufficient as possible, which means, in theory, being able to live healthily off the land without having for fortify our diet (in theory) with added vitamins and supplements.

I have 99% of all this covered, the vast majority of essential vitamins and minerals are found in the food I can grow, even this far north. I'm not short on leafy veg, beans, peas, salads, berries...  Of course I can't grow bananas, but if I get the house sorted I MIGHT even be able to grow a handful of lemons inside every year!

Its with all this in mind that I continue to eat eggs.

They carry all the B vitamins and vitamin D that else where I have to get fortified.

Besides, if you've read any of my blog you'll know about  the chickens here, and yes, in the spring I'm hoping to have a few more rescue hens to the flock.

Chickens are perfect at turning kitchen waste and garden pests into food, even without eating them (NEVER!! Little ladies live in comfort till they die of natural causes!) they give back nutritionally and monetary wise, more than you lay out on additional grain and bedding.

They seem to me to bridge the gap between being truly self sufficient in this country and having to rely on big businesses to plug the vitamin gap.

Or I may just continue to play the lottery, win it and then move to a warmer country where I can grow all my own soya and chick peas ;)