Sunday June 14, 2009, 8:59 am
Grow or share a garden, buy locally learn to set aside the ideas of plentiful amounts of food forever. We can handle this if we are smart, and take care of each other, or we can expect some mega-conglomerate to save the day. Think and eat locally, think of need over want. California is not and will not be the only area in trouble.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 11:23 am
We always have a garden. We just came in from staking tomatoes...it's HOT out there. We have tomatoes, peppers (3 types), squash, cantelope, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, cucumbers, oranges, cherries, plums, kumquats, grapefruit, pecans, satsumas, figs, and a pear tree. Lots of work but very rewarding.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 11:55 am
Nancy your garden sounds wonderful. You're right it is hot, and gardens are so rewarding, beyond the food value. I didn't try for corn this year but might again next season and green beans, I wish I could grow the berries you do, I do love them. I haven't grown a herb garden in years but think I will start one soon. Fresh healthy food and yummy spices, even living in apartments people could co-op a garden. I think all schools should have a garden on the property as well, think of all churches and organizations working for the single purpose of growing toward a healthy independent community -- and country.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 12:22 pm
There is nothing like a good homegrown tomato. You are in Texas right? You should be able to grow the berries. I ordered them from Sprinhill Nurseries. I pick a handful of raspberries everyday and eat them right off the vine. I have 2 raspberry plants in the ground that I am training to grow up a chainlink fence, but I also grow one in a pot with a tomato cage around it...it is on my patio. The blackberry is a no thorn variety also purchased from Sprinhill Nursery. It is not doing as well but it is coming along. I have never had much luck with corn. I may try it again but they always seem to feed the worms more than us...lol.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 12:25 pm
opps...that should be Springhill Nursery.

Here is the link

http://springhillnursery.com/fruit-bonanza/p/71626/

Sunday June 14, 2009, 12:27 pm
We tried a co-op deal in the neighborhood but we were the only ones working it while everyone took from it. We now just do our own thing and share with family and friends.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 12:43 pm
I love going to the local farmer's market (especially to buy the homemade jams and jellies.) Although I'm frankly suspicious about some of the produce being sold there (a couple of the sellers I've seen didn't talk or act like people who knew diddly about farming) - after all, there's no way to know if it really is "locally grown" or not.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 12:59 pm
There is a local farmer's market here too Lindsey but like you I am skeptical of a lot of them. In our area there are farmers on many of our backroads that set up and sell from the back of their pick up trucks. I know some of them persoanlly and what we don't grow we buy from them. I'm sure at some point someone will come in and try to shut them down. It would be a shame because it is how they have made their living most of their lives.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 1:01 pm
Thanks Nancy I will check out the site, maybe I can get some berries after all. Corn usually takes at least 2 seasons to get going well, but I've had good luck in the past. Lindsey, check out the farmers if it is local it should be easy enough to find out.

Sunday June 14, 2009, 3:14 pm
I if had room to grow my own food I would, but I chance it at the Farmers Market using caution., thanks Kit

Monday June 15, 2009, 8:23 am
I've seen plans for a raised garden that allows a person maximum use of available space around Care 2 News. Another news item passing by, though, indicated Monsanto distributing its trash through other labels.
http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/?p=963

Monday June 15, 2009, 8:44 am
We have 2 raised, 3 tier beds that we grow some of our veggies in to save space. I also have severl things in containers on my patio. Mainly for convience because we do have acerage we could plant on but I like to keep them close as I am more apt to tend them if they are close by and I don't have to walk the entire property.

Monday June 15, 2009, 7:28 pm
Preview for Movie Night: Food, Inc.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Robert Kenner (producer/director)
Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner worked for over six years to bring Food, Inc. to the screen. Kenner’s previous films have played theatrically, on television, and to President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore at the White House.Prior to directing Food, Inc., Robert Kenner received the 2006 Peabody, the Emmy for exceptional merit in Non-Fiction Film-Making, and the Greirson (British Documentary) for his previous film Two Days in October. Two Days is characteristic of Kenner’s keen sense of authenticity and his passionate quest to present the truth. His brilliant interviews highlight a director who creates a compassionate atmosphere for his subjects to reveal their intimate stories. The Boston Globe review noted that, “If you could watch only one program to grasp what the Vietnam War did to the U.S….Two Days…would be a great choice…. It is profound.” (http://www.foodincmovie.com/)

A companion book is available - Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It

Monday June 15, 2009, 8:18 pm
I am hoping that people are finally willing hear the truth about the dangerous state of food in America and in the world. Can we really afford to continue to allow our food supply to be dominated by a few corporations? Even salt and milk are processed with sugar, it is any wonder we have fat, sick people, who btw are blamed for their illness. Like so many other things, this too we can take back -- if we just will. Plant a garden, or share in planting and up keep and reap the rewards. One step at time and we can take it all back, if we want it back.

Thanks for the helpful information, Blue.

Tuesday June 16, 2009, 4:29 pm
I am not so much worried about the water supply as I am what goes inside our foods. The Future of FOOD http://www.care2.com/news/member/593971236/1164769 it is long, has a few 20 second commercials but well worth the info.

We not only have an organic garden with fresh veggies but lots of fruit trees we also buy from the farmers markets. We have a huge garbage can that we leave open when it rains to collect the water and use that on our plants instead of hose water. We have filters on the tap water otherwise it tastes like chlorine and are looking at several other beneficial possibilities. It is obvious our government could not care less so the responsibility is ours as it should be if we want to have a healthy life style and survive.

A quick note about the milk there Kit. My niece and 3 other of my girlfriends kids and 4 others I do not know personally all have drank gobs of milk since birth, all have grown pubics at age 5yrs old started their periods at age 6 - 7yrs. While I cannot say for sure it is the milk but those hormones are in their for a reason along with the meats etc., and that reason is not good enough while we wonder how our children are having to cope with this at such a young age. Under age sex is becoming earlier and earlier and we wonder why.

Thursday June 18, 2009, 11:37 am
California DreamersThe latest volume of Kevin Starr’s history chronicles the triumph—and points toward the tragedy—of the Golden State’s Good Life