Is progress such a real accomplishment? Once, a day's supply of milk would be supplied by a cow in the back yard. Now it's so much more convenient to hop in the car, head down to the supermarket, and buy two or three days' supply - presuming you are able to afford $4.00 plus the price of gas. The same applies to a dozen eggs as compared to looking after 3 or 4 range fed hens.

Of course stores don't sell food, they sell convenience. Cities are populated with folk from farm backgrounds who now know little of food production. Why should they when supplies are all conveniently available in a store just down the road.

Have we progressed too far? A local farm grows potatoes commercially every second year. At harvest time we walk through the fields immediately after the crop is harvested and pick up spuds rejected by the harvester.

If we time it correctly (there's only a window of one or two days) we can pick up enough potatoes to last us till the end of February.

It would be even simpler to plant a hundred hills in the spring, providing enough food for several meals for a small family though there are simpler ways to put spuds on the table.

My brother plants two or three large containers of tomatoes. Grown on the south side of the house, plants flourish and produce more fruit than he can handle for about three months of the year.

The same applies to a variety of plants in my son's back yard though work is involved in planting and tending peppers, beans etc.

We have the space to cultivate a small garden. According to 'State of the World 2007' over 40% of Vancouverites have rooftop gardens, potted plants on the balcony or a small plot in communal gardens or hydro right of ways. Cooking at home is cheaper and a healthier family activity than eating at a local restaurant.

Gardens require weeding and watering.

The first requires 'elbow grease' for energy. Watering is another matter. July and August often are dry months. Our grandparents relied on rain barrels, mainly for washing hair in soft water.

A garden opportunity exists to provide irrigation from rain barrels filled with run-off from the eaves on the house. Home watering the lawn or garden is less costly than using municipal water.

It also reduces the need for storm sewers.

Raspberry canes make good hedging. Collecting fruit may be time-consuming but there is no dessert better than garden-fresh raspberry pie.

The same applies to blueberries.

Of course picking up wild blueberries in northern Ontario would be a laborious alternative. I normally grow 200 to 300 stalks of rhubarb each year to put in the freezer and/or for supplying local families who make pies for fundraising projects in local churches or service clubs.

The list could be endless. For folk living in the tropics bananas in the front yard or coconuts growing overhead may be common.

I have picked oranges in Florida, stooped down to collect mangoes from the ground in Guyana and dates in the middle east.

We had neighbours clean out a bees nest full of honey in the attic in Kenya.

Closer to home there are plenty of pick-your-own fruit tree farms, a growing business in the Niagara fruit belt.

Our society developed on convenience which is fine during good times.

Many families face unemployment now, hence experiencing a financial crisis. It is all well and good to look back on 'the good old days' of our grandparents (and they weren't all that good then either!).

This for many is the time to cut corners.

Mother Nature still provides productive land and the personal energy to derive basic food resources at minimal cost. I doubt if we are about to see a massive movement back to the land but there are many chances to augment the empty pocket book.

Maybe the economic crisis has a silver lining, replacing the emphasis on money with healthy old time family living.