Archived Features August 07
Buy Fresh, Buy Local, Eat Well, Sleep Well
The average food item travels 1550-2480 miles in the U.S.! –The WorldWatch Institute, "Home Grown," 2002
The simple choice to support your local farmers has a harvest of benefits aside from putting fresh, high quality food on your table.
You are support your local economy, by keeping dollars close to home. You buy produce, meat, herbs, etc from a local farmer, s/he takes the money and spends it in local shops or puts it back into his business.
You're helping to protect the environment. The further food travels, the more fuel is needed for transport and the more chemicals are needed to preserve the food on its long journey.
If local farmers can turn a profit on their land, they are less likely to sell it to developers who will put up mini-malls or hoosing developments. Buying local protects open spaces from development.
Not only will the food you feed yourself and your family taste better, you will know how it was grown or raised. Many local farmers are more than willing to chat with you about how they farm or will even invite you out to the homestead to see for yourself. It's a wonderful feeling of security and peace of mind plus you might just learn something along the way that will inspire you to plant a garden of your own.
September - The Month to Eat Local
In association with the Locavores, this Eat Local Challenge will sponsor an international month-long event in which over 1000 participants will challenge themselves to eat within a pre-determined radius of their home. Because this challenge will be occurring during the harvest season in most locations, there will be a particular emphasis on canning, preserving, and learning to put food up for the winter.
If you are interested in participating in this challenge or need hints and tips on how to go about eating locally, check out Eat Local Challenge If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area,get local eating tips from the Locavores!
Full Moon Feast
In Full Moon Feast, Jessica Prentice professional chef, food activist, speaker, and founder of Wise Food Ways champions locally grown, humanely raised, nutrient-rich foods and traditional cooking methods. The book follows the thirteen lunar cycles of an agrarian year, from the midwinter Hunger Moon and the springtime sweetness of the Sap Moon to the bounty of the Moon When Salmon Return to Earth in autumn. Each chapter includes recipes that display the richly satisfying flavors of foods tied to the ancient rhythm of the seasons.
For followers of nature-based religions, the book will have a special appeal. The recipes will provide a wonderful feast for esbat rituals the whole year through and by focusing using the foods that nature provides at certain times of the year, like pumpkins in autumn or sweet corn in summer, diners will be made cognizant of the wheel of the year in a very material and sustaining way.
Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice is available directly from Wise Food Ways and can be purchased using Paypal.
WARNING: If you are disturbed by graphic images, there is no need to play the video. Instead simply read the text to find out why you should and how you can contact Amazon and/or Jeffrey Bezos.