Hi! My name is Colette Cope and I am a college student. I have a class on the sixties and I am doing a 20 page paper which I chose to focus on natural, organic, and vegetarian food in the sixties. A major part of my topic is theories of food in certain communities (i.e. how they attained it, was it vegetarian, etc.). I will also be exploring concepts of free food from groups like the Diggers. I was wondering if anyone in this forum knew of reliable sources (books, articles, web pages) on communes and food in the sixties specifically that I could use as sources for my research. I appreciate your time and help. Thanks in advance! Peace, Colette
The only thing that I know about this is that in the late sixties and early seventies there was a commune in central PA called only "The Farm". They decided to go 100% self sufficient, at least in terms of food. This worked out well in terms of total caloric availability. Unfortunately they did not have a nutritionist with them. After about one month of this 100% self sufficiency they all ended up having vitamen deficiencies such as scurvy and berri-berri.
proffessor jumbo should go eat a twinkie while he's lookin up the facts to substantiate that story...... man that was just to fucked up funny,,,a whole month an they was diseased an shit on a farm.. wow... im sorry ,, id just like to see more on this "farm",,on account dont much sound like anythin id call a "farm"... but thats just,, "another worthless opinion from a uneducated hippie!"
how did they get so fucked up in one month i dont get it i agree with hhb and i want to see proof i,m not doubting you but i find it hard to believe i lived in Pa for a long time and i havent heard about it yet ~*The Farm*~ they could have ate some pine needles and got all the vitamin C they needed ect. in the Pa woods! just let me now when you got some sites about this sixties group
One month of sevear viatmen deficiency is more than enough to cause all sorts of problems, you can try it for your self. Go one month without having any form of vitamen C or ascorbic acid and you too can have all the fun of scurvy. Oh, and don't get this "The farm" confused with the "The Farm" in Tennesse, they are conpletley different but were founded at about the same time. Why didn't they eat pine needles? Well gee why do you think? Most people including hippies don't go around eating pine needles, and since they didn't have anybody who knew squat about nutrition (This is what got them into trouble in the first place) they probably didn't know that pine needles have vitamen C.
The only "The Farm" I've ever heard of in PA is a member's only adult swing club. Doesn't mean that it didn't exist, though it does sound suspect... The hippy culture of the 60s was, with the limited information at the time, more nutrition savvy, mostly vegetarian, therefore scurvy was unlikely. Beriberi, which is basically a thiamine deficiency (lack of B1) has been unheard of in this hemisphere since WWII. OTOH, There are resources on the web that can show you how to suffiently feed a family of four on one acre of land.
I remember that nearly all dedicated Veggies in the 60's and early 70's looked really bad. Today we are better informed and such people are mostly models of good health. Like it or not, that is what I saw.
