While I don't disagree with you overall, I'm not willing to throw in the towel, shrug my shoulders and walk away.
I know that you know that there is no 'one size fits all' solution to this problem or any problem, but that doesn't mean that solutions that fit part of the problem shouldn't be found or implemented. I had forgotten the term 'victory gardens' for what I was describing, but if these 'Victory Gardens' implemented brought 5, 10, 15% of the population out of their basements/family rooms and growing veggies for 4 months of the year that had a net overall reduction of 5% or 7% in the amount of veggies/fruits that we import from June-Oct would that be a bad thing? If it resulted in lower blood pressure, weight loss and more sense of community belonging among those 5 or 10 or 15% of the population, would that be a 'success' or a 'failure?'
I counted up how many community garden plots my city of Burlington has available every year, its around 225. These are only available for 1yr and then you give it up and have to go back into the lottery system for the following year to see if you are lucky enough to get a plot next season. As a result there is no 'pride of ownership', no real 'connection' to the land because one year you have it and next year you don't. I have little doubt that it Burlington tripled the number available to 600 plots a year they'd all be gone. This program needs to be scaled up to them have 2,000 plots available, with multi-year leases available. The demand is there and they need to incentivize it even more.
We will always have those among us that believe in the Welfare State (that is why the NDP exist in its current form - I know a cheap shot, but am I really wrong?), so we just have to accept this fact and to address the needs of those who are willing to 'change', to 'help', to 'stand on their own two feet', with some help and direction.
