Karin, we in this leafy suburb may grow the odd lettuce or turnip, if we can protect them from the possums. And if we could persuade our greenie neighbours, we'd knock down all the big trees that prevent the sunshine from getting onto our back yard. But, really, that piece of real estate is worth $200k, and could we afford to commit it to long-term small-scale agriculture? And can we afford to pay a peasant to hoe and water during those long periods when we are unavoidably detained in the Swiss Alps or in Queenstown?
You did mention the values of self-support that flourished in the Depression of the 30s. Karin, my father grew up on that era, and, believe me, he wanted his family to be as far away from those conditions as he could put them. The same goes for third world agriculturalists. Do they really want their grandchildren to be out in the fields every day, bent over a hoe and ladling out nightsoil-enriched water?
The best strategy for us in the over-privileged, over-indulged West is to fund, directly, the educational needs of poor people in poor countries. That way, they may not flood into the cities looking for a better life so rapidly. That way, some of the upward pressure on my property value may be lessened, so that I may feel more inclined to grow my own food.