> implies you're solving a problem for yourself, not the world.

But I don't have to solve the problem of feeding the entire world sustainably¹. I just have to make sure that my contribution to a more sustainable world is net positive. It is.

The same argument often comes up in "Being vegetarian": my personal choice won't solve animal welfare or carbon emissions of food production. But all the vegetarians in the world do make a large difference.

> 80% of the resources you are buying to support your hobby farm

That's a bold statement to make and one that I know, for a fact, to be untrue. I source most myself. You truly don't need that much to grow 20kg of apples or 10kg of tomatoes in a year. Nearly all of what it needs is provided by "nature" and my direct surroundings. From compost to seeds to sun, water and CO2. I really don't need that much to grow this. Same for keeping bees. Some wood for their hives - less wood per hive than the pallet used for shipping your honey from China into Europe. Some tools and some (reusable) packaging. But non of that compares to what's needed to get that plastic squeezy jar of honey into your cabinet. I'm certain my net emission is far less - per jar, per tomato, per apple than when I'd buy them in a supermarket.

¹ And that ignores the fact that the current model of food production also cannot feed the entire world population on generational timescale. So to argue that my "contribution" won't feed the world is a strange one.

>The same argument often comes up in "Being vegetarian": my personal choice won't solve animal welfare or carbon emissions of food production. But all the vegetarians in the world do make a large difference.

Here's how I think about it.

You reducing carbon emissions by reducing your agri footprint by going vegan is an improvement over the alternative even if I wouldn't. Everyone doing this is a major improvement over the alternative.

Me not using tarps, pesticides, not using synthetic fertilizers and caring about runoff, etc and being a backyard farmer rather than having a lawn in this endless suburb like i'm already doing is an improvement over the alternative. (even tho i need more time and land to cover most of my carbs and a bit more than some quail too)

But spreading out 8 billion people and making everyone backyard farmers is probably an ecological disaster.

If everyone just solved the problem for themselves there wouldn’t be any problem for the world.

The real problem is that a lot of people use everyone else as an excuse to do nothing, and then nothing gets done.