Time to grow food

People often ask how much space is needed per person for growing food. I’m wondering if anyone (maybe someone who has done that million calorie challenge?) has kept track of how much time it would take per person to grow all their own food. I know there are a huge number of variables, but wondering what peoples’ thoughts are on the topic. What is say, the minimum time an individual could spend working on the homestead to provide most of their own food. Let’s assume that things are fairly established on this hypothetical homestead- trees and perennials are planted.

I'll say that......  it depends :)

I'd probably budget around an hour a day to grow all my food in a system that has some permaculture perennials and a heavy reliance on an annual garden.  That's from seed starting through to harvest.  Food preservation would probably add an hour a day (on average) from harvest through early winter.  Animals would probably add to that time but I suspect when you say "grow" you mean plants.

I suspect that if you're on a tropical island it would take less time since your systems may produce food year round and in a variety that satisfies your needs.  If you're in a short growing season you have fewer perennial choices and you need more annuals to grow during those three months to get you through the year.

I would think that the answer is highly dependent on where you live and how you eat, and variety of foods eaten too. Growing a nutritionally balanced diet is obviously going to take more work than growing a bunch of potatoes and beans. Vegan vs Omni too....raising animals on pasture likely requires less overall time than growing an equivalent amount of calories in plant form.

Plan for this coming year is to note down start and finish times for all garden visits, and to calculate yield for major crops in an established garden.