Infographic: How Much Backyard Is Needed to Feed a Family of Four?

Big backyard vegetable garden

fotolinchen / Getty Images 

With food prices at an all-time high (and stirring up social unrest worldwide), you might be considering growing your own food, but wondering how much land is actually needed to provide you and your family food for a year. Though the precise figure of acreage to feed a family of four can vary from one source to another, from One Block Off The Grid (1BOG), now part of Energy Geeks, comes this helpful infographic showing approximately how much backyard would be needed to provide the alimentary basics for a year.

Infographic showing how much land a person needs to live off it
1BOG

If you don't have two acres of land, even with a vegetarian diet that has the lowest ecological footprint, you can still maximize what space you do have by growing vertically or in containers, or also by using methods like square foot gardening.

But eating meat isn't out of the question, though more land is required if you want to add in extras like eggs, meat and dairy.

(Note: 1BOG is a "community-based program that organizes group deals on residential solar panels" -- so it has also included the square footage of solar panelling needed for a family's annual electricity use. An interesting concept if you can't afford to buy on your own.)