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A Lifestyle That Gets Away From It All The trailer is situated on a mountainous plot of land. The occupants grow the bulk of their food in an organic garden, have a well that provides them with fresh water, a goat that supplies them with fresh milk, and all thhe kindling they'll ever need for their wood stove. Not an uncommon scenario among young couples these days, but this home belongs to calculator salesman and Montgomery School Board member John Lanum, wife Judith and their four children. His colleagues “think I’m stark raving mad,” John laughs. But the Lanums point to what they say are. the results of their way of living — better health from good food and exercise, time not wasted in front of the “boob tube,” and few worries about the rising costs of fuel and food. The Lanums slipped into their current lifestyle gradually. Several years ago their growing awareness about nutrition caused them to take that initial step of shunning white flour and sugar. Then came the decision to move to the country . . . They had to search for a few years to find the property they now have, but the result seems to have proved worth the trouble. Far from struggling to make it through the winter, the Lamuns’ only problem seems to be getting up their steep dirt driveway. Inside, the wood stove furnishes the trailer with so much heat they sometimes have to open windows to cool down the interior. If they had to, John says, they could do without electricity. The stove which provides heat could also serve to cook the food, they have lanterns ready and waiting for light and buckets can be used for hauling water from the well. “As we get a taste of what energy crisis-fuel shortage means,” John remarks, we're going to have to put a stop to “burning up huge amounts of irreplaceable resources.” They wanted a lifestyle that would be ‘‘on-going with nature,” he explains. On the porch, there's a pole just below the roof on which they hang the meat they butcher and cure. Their goat had babies which they raised for a few months then butchered, but tonight’s dinner features venison, not shevon (goat meat). The freezer shed holds the deer meal bagged on the Lamum’s property. A garden below the trailer yields beans, cabbage, tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes and other staples. Grains come from Eats, the natural foods’ store in Blacksburg. Packing lunches for five, as well as fixing breakfasts and dinners, Judith, estimates they still only spend $20 to $30 a week at the grocery store. The Lamums’ daily routine begins at 5 a.m. From then until 7:30 everyone gets dressed, Judith fixes lunches, John cooks cereal and they’re off for the day. Sunday is the time for baking bread and chopping wood. ‘The kids are getting awfully healthy,” John notes, *from “hauling Ugal wood.” By having the whole family participate in chores, the children realize ,“they’re con tributing something to the household,” John emphasizes. Without the dubious benefit of television, the children “literally read dozens of books a week,” John points out. Their children seem more contented and quiet, as well as healthier, due to their lifestyle, John says. For dinner, venison is only the beginning. The table overflows with a vegetable casserole, broccoli with cheese, homemade wheat bread and peach, preserves, churned butter. See AWAY, FC Lamum's Colleagues think he's ‘Stark Raving Mad! New River Newspapers Sunday, February 27, 19773:
Newspaper Details
Radford Times Journal
Radford, Virginia, US
Sun, Feb 27, 1977
Page 106
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 26 Apr 2026
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