How much land to feed 4 vegetarians ?

[TheMidnightGrower]

Hi
This question actually arose from a pub discussion, with most of the participants including me, not having a clue. However I am genuinely interested in the answer. How much land (field or plots - not sure what plot standard sizes are) would be required to feed a vegetarian family with 4 adult sized people in it, without minimal buying in of food?

Thanks to anyone who can help out with my curiosity

[veggiechicken]

Impossible to answer - too many variables.
Depends on whether they want to grow proteins from pulses and soybeans and cereals - wheat, oats etc.
Some Veggies eat eggs and drink milk - so hens & cow/goat or grow soya beans/oats for "milk".

[Alison]

Wasn't the original plot size of 250m2 sized to feed a family of four. I assume that was two adults and an omnivore diet (admittedly likely to less meat than a lot of people do nowadays) so your answer must be more than that.

[Thelma Sanders]

It seems the amount per person was calculated in the 1970s

Research in the 1970s by John Jeavons and the Ecology Action Organisation found that 4000 square feet (about 370 square metres) of growing space was enough land to sustain one person on a vegetarian diet for a year, with about another 4000 square feet (370 square metres) for access paths and storage – so that’s a plot around 80 feet x 100 feet (24m x 30m).

https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/gro...feed-a-family/

[Kirk]

Guess Alison could be in the right area.
Sitting on my backside here I realise my living room is about 25m2. And at a playful guess that area growing two veg is a good target.

So at 20 areas of 10 -12m2. That should allow a reasonable spred and also enable early and lates to go in of the same thing. So pick 15 to 20 crops that mature and can be harvested at a reasonable spread of times of the year.

Fruit areas will be required.

Suppose that anyone would have to seriously aim at 10-20% more in case of falure of something.

I doubt I will do it as I would starve first, think I grow veg as a penance for some hideous crime I have committed in a previous life. At present I cannot see a "fruit" of any sort on anything I have growing. Most look healthy but all there is there to potentially eat are the leaves.

[Snadger]

Wasn't the original plot size of 250m2 sized to feed a family of four. I assume that was two adults and an omnivore diet (admittedly likely to less meat than a lot of people do nowadays) so your answer must be more than that.

I think this originated from the World War 11 Dig For Victory Campaign. You would need to be a fairly committed gardener and put in a lot of planning and time to achive this goal.

The allotment plots on our site are about 3/4 this size. They are more manageable by the average plotholder who doesn't need to feed the family from the plot. In the more affluant society of today allotments have evolved to be more liesure orientated methinks.

Just as an added note, our whole site area is calculated and we pay the appropriate insurance per 250m2 (something like £2.00 per 250m2 per annum) This proves that the 250m2 is still a benchmark for calculations.

If I had loads of time on my hands and was reasonably fit, I reckon I could probably feed OH and myself with fruit, Veg, flowers, eggs and chicken meat with about 400m2 of intensively cultivated land!

[Baldy]

Would they be 'working' the land themselves? That might make a difference

[Baldy]

and Mrs Balders and the dear daughter are vegetarians so I've been forced to add this https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...f974e98dfd.jpg

meh - no fun these days

[ecudc]

I think the 80ft by 100ft is a bit of an underestimate, perhaps looking at non organic gardening with plentiful access to water and only growing massively high yielding veg with no crop failures.

My 80ft by 30ft which is mixed veg, herbs and fruit, asparagus plus poly tunnel produces enough for one through the growing season with some left over for the freezer. I'm not sure that something three times the size would enable you to grow enough pulses, grains, nuts and other fruit/veg, plus if you also then add in chickens for eggs and a cow for butter, bees for honey........

You might be able to do it to subsist on. Not sure how varied and enjoyable the diet would be.

[veggiechicken]

How much land do you need to feed a family? - Brainiac

This says 1.76 acres for veg & a bit more for animals.

[Alison]

I think this originated from the World War 11 Dig For Victory Campaign. You would need to be a fairly committed gardener and put in a lot of planning and time to achive this goal.

The allotment plots on our site are about 3/4 this size. They are more manageable by the average plotholder who doesn't need to feed the family from the plot. In the more affluant society of today allotments have evolved to be more liesure orientated methinks.

Just as an added note, our whole site area is calculated and we pay the appropriate insurance per 250m2 (something like £2.00 per 250m2 per annum) This proves that the 250m2 is still a benchmark for calculations.

If I had loads of time on my hands and was reasonably fit, I reckon I could probably feed OH and myself with fruit, Veg, flowers, eggs and chicken meat with about 400m2 of intensively cultivated land!

Mine is 250m2 and I can easily keep us self sufficient in veggies and manage fruit for a few months every year but buy the meat and fish we eat about 4 nights a week. There's only two of us but I give away a fair bit and preserve loads.

[Thelma Sanders]

I think perhaps the theory is that vegetarians would need to grow more protein food crops, peas, beans, wheat for bread etc so would need more space to grow those, than you'd get on a full-size allotment plot.

[Snadger]

Mine is 250m2 and I can easily keep us self sufficient in veggies and manage fruit for a few months every year but buy the meat and fish we eat about 4 nights a week. There's only two of us but I give away a fair bit and preserve loads.

But you sound like a dedicated, well planned gardener Alison.Preserving is the key and trying to avoid gluts.Localised seasonal eating is also important

If you can do it, it just goes to prove that the 'Dig for Victory' boffins got it right way back then.

Just for my own interest, how many hours per week do you put into gardening/preserving?

[Jay-ell]

I'd imaging that when they were drawn up potatoes, cabbages and carrots were the main things people were expexcted to grow so nutrient/carb dense produce rather than salads and a wildly varied diet.

You could have a read up on biointensive farming which you would grow 60% as a carbon crop for compost (grains, pulses, etc which have a high amount of residual organic material or green manure), 30% calorie crop (carbohydrates like potato, parsnip, swede) and 10% everything else (all your cabbages, sprouts, salads, fruit, toms etc).

[Cadalot]

There was quite a range of vegetables and it was for a family of 5