By Greta Bickford

What can we do to prevent the elimination of farming in the US, Al Colombo asks?

Sure, we can write to our representatives in Congress. Fortunately, however, there's a more practical solution: we can farm.

No matter how large or small your growing space, you personally can farm. Use your apartment window for sunlight and plant a windowbox with a few fresh herbs, if that's all the space you have. If you own or rent a house in a city, use your yard to grow vegetables. If your house is surrounded by cement, rocks, bricks, or other hard surfaces, and you own some of this surface, why not break up the impervious surface and get to the dirt underneath, or build planter boxes or raised beds atop the cement and grow food in these? You're not limited to vegetarian fare, either. In fact, there are many large urban areas where you can raise chickens or rabbits in small numbers; Seattle city laws allow up to 3 animals in a home, with few restrictions on what kinds they are, and owning a cat and two chickens is just as legal within city limits as owning two cats and a dog, though not as common.

If you're fortunate enough to live outside a city on at least a half-acre parcel, you already know you have plenty of room for small-scale farming. Check out your local land-use ordinances. Chances are very good that you can not only raise produce and fruit, but enough small animals to keep you in meat for quite some time (chickens, ducks, and rabbits are good choices).

Wherever you live, there's probably a thriving farmer's market somewhere nearby. Find out about what you need to do to sell your extra produce there as a "backyard farmer"; the table fees are usually very low, and will often be good through the entire farmer's market season. In my area, the local farmer's market charges $10 per year and $1 per week for a table for backyard farmers. You may choose to barter all your produce away to other backyard farmers who are selling theirs, trading for what you don't have, or sell to customers, or combine the two to bring home a little money and some fresh produce. You probably won't be able to sell fresh meat, so trade with your neighbors or raise only a little over what you need and give the extra to your favorite community or church group.

As long as there are backyard farmers who feed their families and communities in this way, the Federal government will never be able to eliminate farming in this country. A free society must be able to feed itself without dependence on outside forces; your family farm - even if it's as small as an apartment windowbox - is a tool for freedom.