Few things in life are truly free. If you are not the one paying or working for something, I can guarantee you that someone else is.

This applies to food as much as anything else. I see well-meaning posts encouraging people to plant gardens and share food because “food is free.” This is not true. Someone — whether it is you or someone else — is busting their butt to plant, maintain, harvest, forage, hunt, preserve, raise, kill, butcher, cook, or otherwise produce every single bite of food that goes into your mouth.

Food requires sacrifice. Sacrifice of money, time, energy, resources, physical labor, life.

Food is not free.

Do not plant a garden or pick up free (and likely sick or unproductive) livestock from craigslist and expect to have “free” food. You will be in for a very rude awakening. Money is not the only means by which things are paid for.

And while I think it is wonderful to share excess food with loved ones or charities, don’t expect the farmer at the market or the homesteader down the road to hand over their food to you for free or cheap. They may trade or barter with you, if you have something to give of equal value, but unless they like you a whole awful lot, they are not going to gift you with food they worked extremely hard for. I’ll say it again because it bears repeating: Food is not free!

The people who produce food for themselves and for others put in a huge investment to make it happen. They have to see a return on that investment just like anyone else.

Do you remember the story of the Little Red Hen?

It was one of my favorite stories as a child. I understand it more now than I did then. There are many different versions of the folk tale, but they all go something like this:

Once upon a time, there was a little red hen who lived in a cottage on a farm. She was friends with a goose, a cat, and a pig. One day the little red hen found some wheat seeds on the ground. The little red hen decided she would plant the seeds.

The little red hen asked her friends, “Who will help me plant the seeds ?”

“Not I,” said the goose.
“Not I,” said the cat.
“Not I,” said the pig.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen. So the little red hen  planted the seeds all by herself. When the seeds had grown, the little red hen asked her friends, “Who will help me cut the wheat ?”

“Not I,” said the goose.
“Not I,” said the cat.
“Not I,” said the pig.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen. So the little red hen cut the wheat all by herself. When all the wheat  was cut, the little red hen asked her friends, “Who will help me take the wheat  to the mill  to be ground into flour ?”

“Not I,” said the goose.
“Not I,” said the cat.
“Not I,” said the pig.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen. So the little red hen brought the wheat to the mill all by herself, ground the wheat into flour, and carried the heavy sack of flour back to the farm. The little red hen asked her friends, “Who will help me bake the bread ?”

“Not I,” said the goose.
“Not I,” said the cat.
“Not I,” said the pig.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen. So the little red hen baked  the bread all by herself. When the bread was finished, a heavenly aroma filled the air. Soon the goose, the cat, and the pig all came to the little red hen’s cottage and asked, “Will you share some of that bread with us?”

“Not I,” said the little red hen, and she ate the bread all by herself.

The moral of the story? Well, there are many, but the one fitting our theme today is this: producing food is work.

I‘m afraid the well-meaning sentiments that we should all produce food (we should!) on the premise that “food is free” (it isn’t!) is actually devaluing something very precious and valuable: healthy, humane, local food and the efforts it takes to produce it.

Don’t scoff at the cost of a dozen eggs from free ranging hens fed a non-GMO, soy free diet and then turn around and buy the pale-yolked impostors at the grocery store thinking that they are even in the same category. And definitely don’t go buy chicks thinking that you will get “free” or “cheap” eggs that way. You will be sorely surprised as you build the coop, buy the feed and supplies, fight the predators (and sometimes lose), and collect eggs which will sometimes be present in abundance and sometimes be rather scarce thanks to the weather, a molt, or a wave of broody hens (not to mention the six month wait before those chicks even lay).

Or perhaps do go buy those buy those chicks, because you might learn a very valuable lesson in the process.

Food is not free.

Cheers