Non-update, update : Victory Garden

Most of the posts here have the flavor of the developments in and around our home and farm. This one is a little different - as it speaks to some of the fundamentals behind why we are trying to achieve a state where more than just a little bit of food on our table is produced for just a couple of months each year.
When I was a young boy I asked my dad why he started a garden every spring and why he spent so much time keeping it up and nice. I recall a lot of information in his answer, but pieces of a story were about how back in WWI and WWII, citizens of the US were encouraged to assist in the war effort by planting their very own Victory Garden. This concept helped with rationing, supply based economics and contributed to the pride every citizen had in helping the US aggressively defend the freedoms of the world. So, as a boy I helped, excited to see what the "fruits of my labor" would produce. I remember one summer growing my own peanuts - fresh - they tasted terrible... but I can now also say - I know what fresh, raw, unroasted peanuts look AND taste like. Point is - I learned a lot of lessons from the summer rituals around the planting, tending and harvesting in our small backyard garden.
Certainly the US is currently engaged in military actions around the world and as citizens we have not yet been called upon to burnish our plows in the name of liberty and a Victory Garden... but every year at this time both my dad and I ask each other "you got your peas in yet", "how big are your seedlings", "did you get frost last night"...
Absolutely, the world IS a different place than it was 70 years ago, but there may be other reasons to become a little more self sufficient than simply always believing that there will always be milk, bread and eggs, every day at the local grocery store.
For instance - here's an article written in October of 2006 - about the shrinking surplus of global food reserves... and the more recent revision at the end is not any better.
Sure - there's also a lot of FUD around the concepts of evil in "the food chain" and edible origins, shipping costs (like paying for all that energy to bottle WATER and send it somewhere that has WATER), global warming, right-ohh - NOT POLITICAL here! Not going to start a compound... not going to go "off the grid" (although it would be cool to play with small scale alternative energy for so many other technical reasons)... No - all I'm saying is - I would encourage everyone to take some time to think about planting their own little "Victory Garden" - as your own way to help keep your family well fed, save a couple of dollars of cash in exchange for a few hours of your time, keep gas prices down by shipping less food, and experience the pride and superior taste associated with that pride - in eating your own hard work.