How much food does a family need: needs and goals

In short

• Count your family in adult equivalents: adult 1.0, child aged 7–14 0.7, child up to 6 0.4.
• One adult eats roughly 120 kg of vegetables, 80 kg of potatoes, 75 kg of fruit, 220 eggs, 150 L of milk, 35 kg of meat and 4 kg of honey a year.
• Allow about 56 m² of vegetable garden per adult (paths included) and about 32 m² of potatoes. Beginners need up to 1.5 times more in the first two years.
• Set your goal as a percentage and raise it step by step: 30 % in the first year is an excellent start.
• Grain, oil and sugar are the hardest to produce on a small plot. Start with vegetables, eggs and fruit.

What's inside

Chapters

1. Adult equivalents: how to count your family
2. How much one adult eats
3. What you can realistically produce: goals in percent
4. From kilograms to square metres: vegetables and potatoes
5. Fruit: trees and soft fruit
6. Eggs, meat, milk and honey: from need to head of livestock
7. Calories: what really feeds a family
8. Food through the year: fresh and from the pantry
9. Example: a family of 3.1 AE and a 60 % goal
10. Common mistakes
11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Food needs calculator
• Area calculator
• Animal feed calculator
• Calendar of food on the table
• Record: what we really eat
• What we buy and what could replace it
• Family goals year by year