Tori has asked me to expand on my hatred of food security…

Say you really like farming but you live in a city, even an apartment building. You note that there is not that much opportunity for you to do farming around you. So you think, “is there any way I can convince policy makers and influential residents to support my hobby?” You decide that farming is the solution and start looking for problems it can fix:

Emergency management

In the event of an apocalyptic disaster, we should be stockpiling oil or grain, not growing plants that could be months away from harvest.

Carbon emissions

If you want to reduce the carbon footprint of food, the most savings are in the transportation chain from boat to grocery store to fridge. Growing ultralight lettuce won’t make any difference.

Feeding the homeless

There’s plentiful free food in Victoria, whether from soup kitchens or dumpsters. I’ll never forget what a homeless guy told me when I offered him half a dozen eggs while cleaning out my fridge: homeless people need homes.

Educating children

Farming on school grounds is a great idea. But since children are not allowed to wander around unsupervised, they’ll never be exposed to any farming that’s off school grounds.

By offering itself up as a solution to all these issues, food security distracts from real solutions.

I think farming is a great hobby. Allotment gardens are a legitimate recreational use of green space. Everyone should have the right to keep bees or raise chickens on their private property. Roofs and boulevards covered by indigenous plants have many benefits. But don’t try to pretend that your hobby is going to save the world and demand the community subsidizes it.

After all, I like climbing things but I don’t think buildering should be in the plan. Although now that you mention it…