[ProtectOurFreedom]

I've often wondered about our food supply and where it comes from. My curiosity is increasing with all the absolutely insane and nonsensical WEF / Commie attacks on our farms and farmers around the world in the name of the fictitious "Manmade Global Warming." So far, these people are working to take farms out of production starting in the Netherlands, Ireland and Canada to supposedly reduce nitrogen "pollution," but you know such bad ideas will spread farther. Sri Lanka tried their horrible ideas with terrible results and the toppling of the government. Good for the Sri Lankan people!

I started baking sourdough bread a few months ago. My wife asked if my fermented pizza dough making experience this summer could be applied to bread, so I dove in. I've been enjoying sourdough since I moved to the San Fran Bay Area in 1973. In New York and Missouri back in the 50s to 1973, I'd never even HEARD of sourdough. Mom would buy Wonder Bread for sandwiches when I was a kid and I thought that was bread. I sure learned otherwise when I got to SF and learned about sourdough (as well as about Anchor Steam craft beer). So, naturally, my attention turned to sourdough bread.

Being an engineer, I naturally wondered "how much land does it take to produce our food?" I found the above article I posted answers all my questions. Using the information in the article, I calculated the area required to produce a one pound one loaf of artisan sourdough bread. Turns out it takes 26 square feet of land (about 5 ft x 5 ft) to produce that loaf

I was surprised to learn that such a small plot of land can make a loaf of bread. Of course, you have to grow wheat on that land for a full year to produce the flour for that single loaf.

I'm making bread for my wife and I about once a week, so I need about 1,400 square feet of land to grow that amount of wheat to produce the flour I am using (slightly less than the floor area of our 1,650 sq ft ranch house). That's 0.03 acres of land to produce bread for our two-person family for a year.

Note that smaller "sustainable and organic" farms rotate crops (unlike Big Ag massive farms), so the land only grows wheat every two or three years.

I've discovered a bunch of small flour mills here in the west buying wheat from such farms for their flour: Hayden Flour Mills, Central Milling, Cairnspring Mills, Palouse Brand, Bluebird Grain Farms, Giusto's, Ethos Stone Mill, and Grist & Toll. So far, I've bought flour from Hayden and Cairnspring so far and have been real happy with the results. Our local natural foods store (called "The Flour Mill" of all things) carries a generic "strong" (i.e., high protein) bread flour that I like, too.

[marktwain]

You only consume 1 loaf of bread a week for your entire family?

Many people consume a 1 lb loaf of bread a day per person. For a "standard" two adult, two child family, that would be 4x7x52, about 25 times as much wheat as you consume.

[AnglePark]

Interesting article — thanks!

I’ve been wondering (for a while now) how much acreage would be needed to produce an equivalent amount of plant-based meat that one beef cow provides.

[PeterPrinciple]

That’s 0.03 acres of land to produce bread for our two-person family for a year.

---

multiply by number of people in the world divided by two.

Now what number do you get?

Grains are used for MUCH MORE than making bread. Looking at one small part of a larger system is what liberals do.

The points may be valid, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

[Jane Long]

No grains, here.

[jigsaw]

Very Interesting. Thanks for posting. :-)

[PGR88]

The USA is different from many other countries I have visited. In most countries, population density is high and agricultural land is relatively scarce. Farms are small and there are very strict rules about maintenance of agricultural land and limiting development.

The USA on the other hand, has never had a farmland “shortage.” Even as the country doubled in population over the last 60 years, farmers simply brought more land (in the midwest and plains mostly) into production and of course, employed technology to increase yields. The USA is still a large grain exporter.

For comparison sake, look at the USA, vs. places like China, India or even France

The economics of agriculture production always then defaulted to the lowest-cost producers on Megafarms in the midwest. Its good to smaller scale farms, particularly in the East, becoming popular and economical.

Might we ever face an agriculture land shortage in the USA?

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Interesting small Farm article on raising grain.

[dadfly]

interesting. thx for the post.

[outofsalt]

“How much grain does it take to make a gallon of whiskey?”
https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+much+grain+does+it+take+to+make+a+gallon+of+whiskey&form=ANNTH1&refig=6bc07103ece14519ae5e7af0ef30d14f&pc=HCTS

[minnesota_bound]

I watch some farmer videos and see the work that goes into growing wheat and soybeans. One farm family in Nebraska makes about $465,000 from youtube videos selling ads and t-shirts, hats, mugs. Another in Minnesota makes $1.5 million doing the same. They are also farming youtube : )

[CFW]

Interesting calculations.

When people say they will just grow a garden should the SHTF and grocery stories shut down, you know they have never worked a garden in their entire life. It takes a lot of land and a lot of knowledge and very, very HARD work to produce garden products enough to make a dent in the amount of calories an adult person needs to consume each day. That hard clay soil covered by sod on the .8 acre ain’t gonna do it!

[linMcHlp]

IIRC, Kellogg needs 3,000 acres for 1 year of cereal product.