Give Thanks!_IRC New Roots Community Garden

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New Roots Community Farm

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where we shop matters -

American vs. Malian Grocery store:
American grocery store = overwhelming although very clean
3rd world grocery store = accessible although kinda dirty
local farmers market = clean and accessible = win-win!

After returning from Mali at the end of last year, one of the first places we stopped was at a big box grocery store. It was overwhelming how much we really have and the reality of what that means to our culture and planet. This is where I will posit that responsibility and stewardship mean going local or eating from your own plot.

packaged waste...

Consumerism has the potential to motivate how we eat and the products of what we eat. access to healthy food can be construed as stores providing healthy products which include products that are labeled USDA Organic, non-GMO, and not from cows treated with rBST, become increasingly popular. This is not meant to convey that grocery stores are bad... just how we use them and the "stuff" we generate because of them.

visit:
The Story of Stuff
to hear and read more about "stuff".

the consumerism argument, put forth by "The Story of Stuff", overlooks how we contribute to this at the grocery store.
Have you ever stopped to tally how many items you've purchased come in disposable containers and of those, how many are plastic? In other other cultures, if you need to purchase bread, you go to the baker for fresh bread. In the states, we go to the bread aisle.

we can do more to stem our impact on our planet simply by relying more on local farmers and our own backyards (and/or front yard for some!)

If possible, plant what you eat or know where what you eat was planted.

Farmers' Market Fakeries:

Farmers' Sneaky Vendors and Supermarkets : Scandals : Eater National

A Tale of Two Women: Crossing L.A.'s Grocery Divide

"A Tale of Two Women: Crossing L.A.'s Grocery Divide" features two women--one who lives in a food desert, the other who lives in a neighborhood with full-service supermarkets--as they switch places. The video also highlights LAANE's effort to pass a citywide policy that will bring supermarkets to underserved communities.

Mudtown Farms in Watts was the site of a series of proposals for urban agriculture to interface with a series of infrastructural challenges inhibiting the free access to healthy food choices. The exhibition shows the products of the research for the site and the surrounding urban area.