Buying local grows independent, sustainable communities and pulls the plug on THE SYSTEM

'In the midst of an economy that's turning upside down, many people feel the loss of control and sovereignty in their communities and their lives. Many are concerned about where they can buy healthy food and other supplies and services without being pressured by large corporations whose interests differ from those of the individual. Others are worried about jobs disappearing, finances shrinking and a loss of human-to-human connections in the face of multinational indifference.


Buying local from independent businesses and with group purchasing power means providing local business support to neighborhood suppliers and using local resources to promote independent, sustainable communities. Buying local helps individuals become more self-sufficient and less dependent on large corporations.'




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'Food Freedom, Free Choice, Private Contract, Food Sovereignty, Local Foods - call it what you will but something big is growing in Maine!


In 2011 five Maine towns passed the Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance and two more passed Local Food Resolutions. A sixth town passed the same Ordinance in early March of 2012. Then on June 13th of this year two more towns, Appleton and Livermore passed Local Food Ordinances. 


This brings it to a total of ten towns spanning four counties or 1/4th of Maine's sixteen counties with towns that have put in place some form of legislation regarding Food Sovereignty. Currently, as many as twenty-five additional towns are looking at placing the Ordinance on their warrants which, if passed, would involve almost 2/3 of the counties in Maine.'




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The Silent Time Bomb on Your Plate: Watch FRESH for free till March 3rd

by Dr. Mercola

Free Viewing of FRESH until March 3rd at Dr. Mercola's web site HERE

'The "faster, bigger, cheaper" approach to food is slowly draining dry our planet's resources and compromising your health. The Earth's soil is depleting at more than 13 percent the rate it can be replaced. The documentary "FRESH" celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. 

 The film demonstrates how we can collectively transform the current "industrial agricultural paradigm" into a healthier, more sustainable way of feeding the world, while restoring the health of our ailing planet. I hope you will set aside the time to watch it, as it will be time well spent. 

We have already lost 75 percent of the world's crop varieties over the last century. Over the past 10 years, we've had 100 million tons of herbicides dumped onto our crops, polluting our soil and streams. The agriculture industry now tries to convince us that housing 110,000 to more than one million chickens or 20,000 hogs in a warehouse is a necessary practice to feed the masses.' 

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'Lunatic' farmer Joel Salatin in B.C.

'Joel Salatin is probably the most influential farmer of the modern day. Making headlines from the New York Times to the Stockman Grass Farmer, he is articulate, passionate, controversial and entertaining. He was recently in B. C. where the B. C. Association of Farmers’ Markets teamed up with the Richmond Food Security Society for a conference called “Working Together to Strengthen Our Local Food System”


“This is a moment in history in which we can change the way we farm to be transparent and sustainable, creating nutrient-dense, ecologically friendly food,” he said in an interview. Salatin touts the decentralization of food systems from the global and continental scale to what he calls “local food sheds.”

Up to half of all the food grown in North America is lost to spoilage due to processing, packaging, storage and shipping, all products of a food system that is overly centralized, he said.

“By creating local food sheds, with a smaller geographical footprint, what we will end up with is a symbiotic, integrated, collaborative relationship between food systems, the people and the place we live,” he said. Boulevards and yards are spaces that could grow food, space that you seldom see wasted on lawns in countries such as Italy where land is scarce and precious.

“In the U.S. we have 35 billion acres of lawn,” he laughed, but not too hard.'

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4 Ways to Regain Control of Your Food

'Where is your food from? What happened to it before it reached your plate? More people are asking these questions, in large part because it is increasingly difficult to answer them. We now know so little about our food, particularly its ecological and social impacts, that it’s easy to feel like we’ve lost control over it.'

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Whole Foods and Organic Produce From China

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Beginner’s guide to seasonal eating

'“The closer we eat to the source, and the less processing and shipping, the more nutritional value we can access. And there is less risk of contamination, less fuel used, and less waste in the environment,” says Terry Walters, author of the seasonal cookbook Clean Food (Sterling Epicure, 2009).'

'As Walters points out, imported produce usually travels thousands of miles to reach your local grocery store. The next time you reach for a tomato in December, look at the label. Imported tomatoes travel an average of 1,569 miles, whereas one grown in your region in season may have traveled just 60 miles. And in-season, locally grown produce isn’t just tastier and better for the environment—it’s better for you, too. For example, one Penn State study found that spinach lost most of its folate and carotenoid concentrations after eight days of storage.'


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