Locally Grown Food

[zach]

Buying locally grown food supports local farmers and minimizes the environmental costs of transporting the food to market.
Do we really need to eat asparagus flown in from Argentina in the dead of winter?
You can also skip the buying part and grow the food yourself. Some of my favorite memories from being a kid are in the garden. This also gives you a piece of mind if you are concerned about chemicals that might have been used in growing the food you buy at the store. You can’t get any fresher food than picking it right off the vine yourself!
Here’s a link to find a farmer’s market in your area: http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/localfood_dir.php


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[Matt Johnson]

I hear you about the locally grown food. We do our best to shop at farmers markets. In the dead of winter, though, I am thankful for the food that is transported in from areas that grow the food that we can't.

[tecoyah]

We are in the process of starting a large comminity garden on our double lot in the city...hopefully, we will support 10 people in two years...and 10 families in 5.

[*lisa1*]

Or you could even grow your own food such as vegetables and herbs!!

[B.G._schmid]

My wife and I are planning on starting a garden at our new home this summer! I just started liking Asparagus, too. Maybe we should grow a lot and freeze it for the winter.

[b-baby]

If you're in the UK, then BigBarn - The Virtual Farmer's Market does the same thing as Zach's Attra.org link above

[Prismseed]

Amen to Local purchasing and gardening.

Farmers when dealing with big corporations don't make much money. I once witnessed a protest of farm produce prices. The farmers hosted a fantastic breakfast of Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, cereals, fruits. The whole nine yards. How much a farmer makes off a meal that could easily sell for $5-$12? -43 cents- Cutting out the middlemen besides the basic environmental benefits of shipping may also save you a little money and get a farmer a little more money than he would normally make.

Home gardening is a down to earth disipline, and I would much rather spend a few hours a week providing for myself rather than working for the money under some douchebag supervisor that gets the big money for working me like a dog. Also the best home gardeners COMPOST. I began composting my organic waste in the winter of last year after some internet browsing and reading a few books from the local library. I can proudly say I have prevented atleast 5 bags of garbage from bloating the landfill and made a healthy soil for my garden.

Some information I would like to share from my recent investigations into organic gardening...

CSAs
Community supported agriculture is a trend I've just become aware of. Farming is hard and sometimes sporadic work. Farmers are banding together to build more community awareness of their business and offer labor exchange programs. A farm not far from where I live is organic and sells shares. Each share gets a certain percentage of crop yield. They also offer reduced share prices to people who contribute a certain amount of labor in running the farm. They also offer the option of working for a day and at the end of the day having a pick of the harvested vegetables.
**Note** Not all CSAs are organic operations.

WWOOF
World Wide Organic Opportunities Foundation is a loosely organized network. It offers internship at organic operations. You get hands on training and room and board in exchange for working on the farm. Some people use this as a means of travelling crossed country, and as it is a international movement you could even find an internship in the caribean or england, or italy, all over the world. I am hoping to experiment with some local WWOOF operations next year before eventually going abroad.

[littlegreenmonster]

We are growing our own veg, this is the first year it has really been successful, but it is the most satisfying feeling eating something that you have seen from seed to your plate. And we only have a very tiny garden, so it can been done, just relying on the rubbish british weather!!

[Prismseed]

I've read a book or two by John Seymour. A British man who lived green before green was recognized. Just sensible living. Anyway one of the methods he mentioned was using clotches and green houses to give you a leg up over the weather.

I strongly recommend his books 'The Self Sufficient Gardner' and 'The Self-Sufficient Life and How to live it' The latter offers basic insight and information into many green living practices. Solar, wind, water power. And the good old fashioned practices of rearing your own animals, how to butcher them, how to preserve your own food, and a host of other interesting 'old fashioned efficiency' I can't stress it enough. His books are fantastic, and gives a good run down on the soil plants like. growth tips, and pest spotting/control

[littlegreenmonster]

Is it easy to get hold of these books, it would be good to read them.
Rachel