Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

The Freedom Blueprints

By John Hoffman

Module #3 part A

Food Freedom
- The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food from the Menu-

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

2009 by John Hoffman. All rights reserved. Published by http://www.freedomblueprints.org/. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in an ad database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of John Hoffman. The Author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and the document contained herein. However, the author and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, wit regard to the informational content, documentation, or files contained in this book or in any accompanying media files such as CDs or DVD, and specifically disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to program listings in the book, the techniques described in the book, and/or the use of files. In no event shall the author or publisher be responsible or liable for loss of profit, or any commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special incidental, consequential, or any other damages in connection with or arising out of furnishing, performance, or use of this book, program files, instruction, audio or video connected with this information.

Further, the author and publisher have used their best efforts to proof and confirm the content of the files, but you should proof and confirm information such as dates, measurements, and any other content for yourself. The author and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to that content or its accuracy.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

SQUARE-FOOT GARDENING THE BASICS

Gardening stops being a chore for more and more of us. A while ago it was seen as a hobby only by the high classes. To the western culture though, gardening was mostly reserved to peasants and later on farmers. The 20th century seemed to be one of leisure and mass production. But from scarce, the number of those who nowadays want to grow their own vegetables or fruits becomes larger.

People do not have the same trust in the food industry now that all those GMO scandals going on. All of us that actually grew up, or have relatives in the countryside see or have seen until recently, gardening as planting seeds on large plots. The plot had to be plowed and raked. Then it was planted with long, widely-space rows. This sort of gardening meant a lot of weeding and hoeing and few of us remember these chores as truly pleasant activities.

New types of gardening have been developed during the last decades using but the simplest or the basic activities and tools required in gardening. Experienced gardeners, horticulturists and botanists changed their point of interest towards the small farmer, the hobby farmer, the lost son, this city-boy that returns to nature in order to grow his/her own veggies. Most of these people do not have the required amount of land to organize what we refer as a classical vegetable garden. Nor do they want the drudgery that comes along with it.

The square-foot gardening concept was born in this context. Its philosophy is simple: build a raised bed (like the ones we have shown you how to build in the previous chapter), divide the space into sections of one square-foot each, and then plant in just the amount of space plants need to develop.

There are many advantages to this way of gardening. These advantages include:

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

reduced workload, less watering, easy weeding, easy access to your crops.

This is actually nothing more than a great way to learn to grow some of your own food!

The raised bed we have shown you how to build are rather sophisticated ones. Even though you might not be a repairperson, you can build a simpler one in just a few hours. All you need are a few boards; four of them for each bed. Just follow the instructions bellow. Do not use pressure-treated lumber! It has arsenic and other toxins in it.

Most commonly, raised beds come in sizes of twelve feet long, four feet wide, and twelve inches tall. One square foot garden occupies a surface of 16 sq ft (1.5 sq meters). It holds an average of 130 plants and produces enough for one grownup. Thus, a family of four can have fresh greens from only 64 sq ft of growing space (6 sq meters). Avoid using creosote to weather proof the bed box because it is a plant poison. Just paint or spray them with vegetable oil or linseed oil. Some linseed oil has toxic preservatives added, but you should check the labels to the products you buy, do you not?

After all of this, comes the digging. We will not go through that again, so we will just say that after you will move the frames into place, leveled them an filled them with rich

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

mixtures, the new element in the picture, is the grid. You will need to create a grid over each bed using tacks and twine. If you do not have the time or space to construct raised beds, consider starting a container garden.

A. How to build your own square foot garden

Square foot gardens are raised bed or container gardens. What differentiates them from the others is, in fact, just their sizes. We have shown above that a square foot garden unit occupies a surface of 16 sq ft.

Well, the original square foot unit is 4 by 4 feet (16 sq ft), but many gardeners have found this square block unwieldy so they switched to 3 by 3 feet beds instead. Indeed, these work well and this dimensions have started being used by schools that use the square foot garden system.

Another particularity that needs to be taken under consideration is the distribution of the units width and length. Experts recommend long beds: units consisting of two parallel beds, each 2 feet wide and 8 feet long, with a minimum 15 inch-wide path between and around them. This is enough for two people, or if you want more or there are three of you, make two units with 6 feet-long beds instead of 8feet, or two units with 8 feet-long beds. The raised beds should face the Sun (towards South in the Northern Hemisphere and towards North in the Southern Hemisphere). You can use whatever you want as trellises from wires running from an electrical pipe to the other to fishing wire running from a bamboo tube to the other. The standard height for such supports is 6 feet, but makes them as high as 10 since sometimes plants grow taller than expected.

In addition, if you live in the city and have no garden at all, you can simply make one on the roof or in the balcony. All you need is to consider these facts and, of course, the local legislation regarding home gardening. Depending on the soil, the water content etcetera, a standard square

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

foot unit 12 inches deep will weigh somewhere around 650 pounds (300 kg), or 40 pounds per square foot (200 kg per sq meter).

These are the ten acknowledged steps of square-foot gardening:

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Arrange your garden in squares of 4 by 4 (or 3 by 3), not rows. The boxes you build need to hold the new soil mix above ground. The boxes need to be spaced 3 apart to form the walking aisles. The boxes need to be filled with: a. 1/3 blended compost, b. 1/3 peat moss c. 1/3 coarse vermiculite. (Mels special soil mix) The square foot grid you make needs to be permanent. Never walk on your growing soil. Tend your garden from the aisles. Plant a different flower, vegetable, or herb crop in each square foot, using 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square foot. Conserve the seeds and plant only 2 or 3 seeds per hole. Place transplants in a slight saucer-shaped depression, to better collect water. Use sun-warmed water and water by hand from a bucket. After harvesting, add compost and replant with a new and different crop.

FIVE TOP BUG REPELLENTS RECIPES (CHEMICAL FREE!)

Insects can ruin that perfect picnic you have been planning for the week or that perfect crop you have been tending for up to nine months. You avoid using chemical sprays because of the effects they might have on your body or the environment so what can you do? Well, there are several ways to keep bugs away without toxic chemicals. With the examples you will see bellow hopefully you will understand that we actually do not need to use sprays and harmful chemicals to keep pests away. There are plenty of natural, chemical free solutions, you can use to control the insects that haunt or hunt us during the wonderful summer evenings or days.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

1. The Pepper Spray is something that works best on small pests, such as ants. This is what you need and how you can cook your own pepper spray.

Step 1: Boil 3 cups of water Step 2: Add a half (1/2) or two thirds (2/3) of a cup of chopped/powder of hot pepper. Step 3: Sieve the soup so all the pepper parts are removed. Step 4: Put the juice into a squirt bottle Step 5: Use when necessary and DO NOT spray directly on the foliage

2. The Minty Soap Spray is a spray that also works great on ants.

All you have to do is to mix 2 tbsp of Dr. Bonners mint soap with a gallon of water, then put it into a squirt bottle, and try to spray the ants directly. This recipe also works as a ward against other insects that might try to eat the leaves,

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

but only if you spray the juice directly on the plant. CAREFUL not to use to much of it on your plant or you will BURN it!

3. You can also use a Pure Vanilla Extract to keep a lot of insects AWAY FROM YOU when you go hiking or fishing or so.

All you have to do is to dab a little vanilla extract on your wrists, neck and behind the ears, and pests will stay away because many insects hate the smell of vanilla. If you also hate it, it is best to forget this tip.

4. The Chemical-Free Bug-off Mist is a substance you can use against miscellaneous types of bugs.

In order to obtain this mixture you must put together in a squirt bottle witch hazel with a few drops of tea-tree oil, lavender oil, or peppermint. It also works best to keep insects away from you if you mist your body with it in a lightly way. If you add one of those essential oils to an unscented organic lotion for a bug repelling moisturizer you will get a similar effect.

5. The Lavender does miracles against Mosquitoes!

You can stop the bites by rubbing a lavender flower behind your ears, wrists and neck. You will also smell wonderful and those damn mosquitoes will stay away.

LUNAR GARDENING

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

This must seem far-fetched but the people that tried it and actually confirmed it works are not just a few. Indeed, plants seem to have their own zodiac signs, according to which they grow and develop. Planting gardens during certain phases of the Moon may increase the chances of fortunate growth.

Source: http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/download/Coll_Athabasca/Unit4Lesson3PhasesoftheMoon/phasesMoon2.jpg

The gardening techniques are the same as the ones described in the previous chapters, so we will pass this lesson and get to the main thing: what, in fact, is Lunar Gardening. Well, first thing you need to know is that we are not the ones who invented it. It is around for centuries and there are more modern ideas about this technique than just mixed contemporary concepts on the subjects of gardening and astrology.

The Moons cycle (see picture) starts with the New Moon (A stage), which grows to a Full Moon (E stage). Afterwards, it decreases until it seems to have disappeared, but another New Moon arises. Halfway between the New and the Full Moon we have the First Quarter and the Last Quarter.

1. The First Quarter is the best period to grow vegetables. If you happen to plant at this time, we recommended you choose crops that grow their results outside of the plant:

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, cucumbers (even if different, the time is right for them) etc.

2. During the Second Quarter is the best time to plant annuals that grow their harvested parts above the ground: vines, pulses, beans, peas, onions, peppers, cereals, tomatoes and grains.

3. Third Quarter is best for planting bulb and root crops: trees, shrubs, bushes, some of the berry plants, grapes, potatoes, onion sets, radishes, turnips and carrots.

4. The energy of the Moon is now waning, during the Last Quarter; This fourth one has little influence until the next New Moon and the best thing to plant is well nothing. This is the time you should start thinking about digging, weeding, burning garden waste. Keep the ashes to use, as they may prove useful when you need to make a fertile mixed soil.

More improvements can be made to the way you garden if you adhere to the astrological signs as the Moon passes through each of them.

SELF SUFFICIENCY OUT OF HOME GARDENING

There are a lot of tips and tricks out there that show you how to make thousands of dollars over night out of gardening. Well, there is one thing you should know from the start about gardening: plants do not grow over night. You need to thoroughly follow through the growing process and only afterwards gather the fruit of success. But most of the millionaires out there did not get that far because of their talent in gardening. Farming is more about passion and living a healthier life. And when it comes to money, indeed, it can at least turn you into a self sufficient person.

A. A way to make some savings

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Most popular square foot gardening methods give fantastic results! But some of them have a couple or so drawbacks that other gardeners managed to solve. Basically all references lead to the same thing. It is also up to you how you manage your costs. The only investment you should make, if you manage to gather all materials from around your house, is the right fertilizer. But you can make your own, using the methods shown above.

If you dont plan to make a business out of raised bed gardening, than at least you can make some savings. If you ever happen to calculate your grocery bill, you will find out that it is about $3,500 a year. This amount you can save simply by preserving the output of our 640 square feet of raised beds.

If you live in the city, or you do not have the right tools, it might cost you about $200 to build a raised bed. And if you did them as we showed you, they should last, in normal conditions, 8 to 10 years. Your expenses will vary by location and choice of materials. And how long they last will also vary, depending on how you care them. If you ever think of selling what you produce on your raised bed farm, well, its best not to, unless you have a large plot.

If you pay about $20 per bed during a year and 80 (horizontal) square feet per bed, you will find an amortized cost of about 25 cents per square foot, which is a reasonable expense for organic produce tended while standing. But at an average garden there is an additional 160 square feet of trellis space per bed so the amortized cost per square foot of growing surface is only about 3 cents per year.

If you research the market a bit you will find out that by canning the food you add about 10 cents per quart while your total expense for the garden for a year come out to less than $50 for a yield of at least $3,500. And this investment return. Every year. If you have larger surfaces of ground, you can even try selling what you produce. Some may say you do this because you dont have money to buy food. If this would be true, it would not be a thing to be ashamed of. But it is not true. One thing is, though: you found out a better way to use your money than spend it on things you can provide yourself.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

B. A way to make some profit

During the following chapter, we will guide you through becoming self-sufficient on a single acre of ground. You can also get yields of at least $3,500 on yearly expenses of just $50! It is very simple and less time-consuming than just about any kind of gardening). Nevertheless, at first you need to consider carefully the following: your family size; the standard of living expected; the debt load you expect the garden to carry. A home mortgage plus car and credit card payments of $3,000 per month requires a much greater effort to cover than if you are debt-free.

You also need to consider warm climates may require lots of water and even a little shade at the hottest times, while cold climates often require more greenhouse seedling production and the covering of garden crops in spring and fall to extend the growing season.

Plants are not like instant soup. There is commitment involved with market gardening; you need to know this from the start. If you need motivation, try to picture the ways our grandparents grew gardens: they worked every day of their lives weed, water, and care for their plants. There will be less time available for vacations during the growing season, since a market garden requires your daily attention.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

(source: http://www.raw-food-health.net/images/RaisedBedGardenFarm.jpg)

A century ago, most growers used manure and it was what most farmers used, but today you will have to face a competition that includes hydroponics growers with over $1,000,000 per acre in buildings and equipment and growing 330 tons of tomatoes per acre each year!

Tips for Getting Started

1. Think small at first! Do not get over excited and plant more than you can care for properly. 2. Keep in mind that you will sell to: a. wholesalers b. small grocery stores, c. restaurants, d. farmers' market, e. roadside stand f. home delivery. 3. Research what vegetables you should grow by finding out: a. you can grow readily, b. sell well, and

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

c. at a good price. 4. Build proper facilities including a. a seedling greenhouse with tables, b. T-Frames for growing vertically c. a good watering system. 5. Hire an accountant and also set up an accounting system, including account names and numbers for every category of asset, liability, equity, income, and expense. 6. Build up your stock of tools, seeds and fertilizers. Provide for pest and disease control.

Include all those costs (labor also), in figuring your market prices and your expected net return. Moreover, remember that you are not the first one to do this job. There are already others, may be even more experienced than you are, doing the same thing you do. You may have to beat them to the costumer. However, by growing more, bigger, fresher, tastier, and healthier produce than others, you will develop a loyal customer base, and then you can adjust your prices as needed. Sounds easy and you think it is not that easy. Well, it never truly is easy at the beginning. Only the strong ones make it to the end.

We will try to make your race even simpler by helping you choose what to grow, based on the products prices, growth time and so on. In fact, these criteria help you choose what to grow:

the ease of growing the cost and risk of loss the value of the crop.

Try to keep informed what sort of vegetables do the restaurants you want to sell to use and how much of it. Try to stay away, as much as possible, from the single crop varieties since multi-crops are more profitable. Depending on your costumer, you might want to focus on either quick-growing crops or slow-growing ones.

RAISING POULTRY: SOME ADVICES

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

It is easy to raise poultry. Some say it is the easiest. And theyre good to have around since even a small flock of laying hens will keep the family supplied with the best eggs theyve ever eaten for much of the year.

The birds are best kept on a pasture during the green season and if you can only keep them in a hen house, it is best bringing fresh-cut green forage every day for them to eat and practice. Grass grains and crucifers are good forage for your flock. Mostly, chicken eat everything that is plant and not poisonous. If there is no greenery in winter where you live, just sprout grains and other seeds for them (as you do to the pigeons in the park). Dont overfeed them, since even a small amount will boost not only the vitamins and minerals they are getting, but the enzymes as well.

It is best not to keep them on concrete or other rough surfaces. In the absence of a living sod to digest the manure, as happens on pasture, they accumulate on the site, with the potential to transmit pathogens and even pollute groundwater when it rains. If your only option for releasing your flock from the hen house is a chicken run, I recommend you make a covered run and utilize a sand litter system: build under the chicken run a raised bet of sand and isolate it with plastic material. That will avoid the negative effects of manure buildup and leaching.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Even if you have the space to keep the chicken on a pasture, it is best you use an electric net fence; it allows the birds to free-range, but within the limits and it protects them from anything on the ground with a nervous system.

You can build your own fence, but it is best to get advice from an electrician. The initial investment in the netting and the fence charger is significant but it will pay off and last for years if you take good care of it. Remember to keep the fence line mowed; as grass grows over the bottom charged wire, the charge in the net begins to ground out and the system may become pointless. Nothing more than a wire fence between your chicks and the predator.

CONCLUSION

If you ever try to move to the countryside and plan to live freely, no system strings attached, there are some things you need to consider. First, you will need any size yard, from small to XXL, and adjust what you are able to do with it. But maybe the most important thing you will need is determination and a hard work.

1. The first step in beginning a self sufficient lifestyle is organizing a garden. You need to arrange a kitchen garden according to your space and you may want to start small. When you start planting include veggies that your family regularly eats and that recommended to the soil specifications and climate of your zone.

2. After finishing the first step the garden - you will need to learn how to preserve since there is no point in having a large country garden if you forget all about it the next day and it does not live to the harvest day. Inform yourself about the ways that each vegetable keeps best and when D-Day comes harvest the seeds also.

3. There is nothing more delicious than berries or other wild fruit trees or bushes. This would be step four of your adventure. Do not cut them down in any way. Use them as parts of your garden. If you have none in your garden, learn how to plant some. See if neighbors have some that they are not using or have a lot of extra of.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Usually people can find a lot of wild berries, cherries, plums and apples or find them growing nearby. This will give you the supply for jams, jellies and juices as well as dehydrated fruit and frozen fruit to use throughout the winter. Your children will probably love them. Just make sure you have permission to gather the fruit if it is on someone else's land.

4. This is when animals com into play. Do not get over excited and start small. Chickens would be a good idea. Use the tips and tricks presented in the chapters above. Depending on your tastes and preferences, you can raise laying chickens for their eggs or chickens to eat. But until you get along with countryside life avoid killing your animals. You will probably not be able to prepare them properly. It might turn difficult to learn how to prepare your chickens. Read some books about how to do it.

5. First chicken, then pigs. It would be a good idea, after you have settled and started feeling at home in your new property, to step up and raise some hogs. They are not difficult to care for, but they do smell bad, so try not to build their shelter between the direction the wind blows and your house. It is best to keep them as far from your home as possible. Also, if you are uncomfortable with the fall slaughter you might want to contact someone who does that for you for a fee a professional butcher.

There are many packinghouses that will do this for you or you. You might even have some neighbors that are planning on slaughtering their own and would add yours to their work. Then all you would need to do is "work the meat": cut and package it for freezer storage or canning. That part is usually pretty satisfying because when you pull a pack of meat out of the freezer you know that you did it yourself. A hog will usually feed a family for almost a year.

6. So if you managed with hogs, why not with goats, also. You can raise them for milk and cheese. As a bonus, did you know that they are great for keeping brush cleared off? Experts advice: at first, try goat milk and cheese before you buy goats. You might not like the stuff. Indeed, it is easier to raise a milking goat than a cow. But its milk has an unfamiliar taste.

7. So even if you decide to or not to purchase a goat, if you have completed all or most of the steps above, the one animal you need to fill up your portfolio is the cow. Try to buy a milking cow that gives milk twice a day. With the milk you can make cheeses, sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt and you can also want to raise a steer.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Later on, these bulls will be used for eating. Like a hog, a steers meet will feed a family for close to a year. They do need more room and more care than goats, but will make an excellent choice if you have tasted goat milk and did not find it tasty. Cattle require more experience though, so it is best to let a year or to pass and gather some experience before jumping into this adventure and get more familiar with your land and raising livestock.

8. Honey bees can be another addition to your farm, if you have no fear of them. This may turn out to be more than just a chore. Bees would provide yearly honey to use for sweetening in recipes. Inform yourself thoroughly before purchasing bees. Their honey tastes differently, according to the type of pollen they are eating. Place their hives close to your orchard.

Ever thought about having your own garden but not having enough time or space for one? Well, you might try some of the following:

1. Any space you have available is precious space; plant in containers on your porch, patio, or window. 2. Any resources you have (even recycled stuff) can be used to make containers. You can also go to thrift stores and look for old pots. 3. Do not get cheap on your plants and share them! If you dont have the space, a friend of yours might have it. Look for a community garden that will give you a designated spot or plot to garden. 4. Play around with your imagination and make your own wonderland; find a small secret place to garden at a local park. 5. Plants do not get jealous! Volunteer to work your neighbors garden in exchange for half the produce if he/she is too old or because of any other reason cannot garden anymore. 6. If you cannot find any way to garden then support local farmers or gardeners. Buy from local farms directly!

This last point we want to insist on a little bit more before we let you put in practice what you have learned during the last few chapters. So, the main message at point 6 was Buy from local farms directly!. Why is this important? Well, honestly it is not important at all if you do not see it as such. But we strongly recommend you to go local, and bellow are the reasons

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

why. In the attached picture, you can see the factors you need to regard when getting food. Local food is all about two things:

1. efficient nutrition 2. guilt-free indulgence

The secret to produce sustainable food efficiently on the homestead is to establish patterns that blend with the habitat. Traditional homesteads are characterized one major word: integration. It fits into the picture without harming the eye. It is there because it looks, tastes, smells and feels good. It is pure. There is nothing particularly mysterious about the goal, since all you will be doing is to do your part in webbing life courses: plants and animals. You are practically also closing open cycles. You are doing your small part in this huge equation called life. Remember that if we rip particular strands out of that web, we inherit their work.

We are where we eat, it is what most gardeners say. We need to understand nature, to understand the specifics of the place we grow our gardens, whether the place is on our balcony in the heart of the city or in the heart of a forest. If we work with our piece of ground we will be attuned to the spirit of our surroundings and understand its needs and place in the world.

Some say freedom means self-sufficiency. But if you cannot manage to grow vegetables, fruits or animals the way described above, there is one thing you can do to improve things. Most of the people concerned about the environment buy and use food from local growers. This is, indeed, a first step in going organic. One of the main benefits in buying local is that its cheaper: you do not pay for the gasoline needed for transport goods from thousands of miles.

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

Most of the local growers do not bother using chemicals at the same scale commercial farms do and it turns out that you are eating healthier food. When you purchase local organic, you do not have to worry about the chemicals and pesticides that you are putting into your body and into the bodies of family members. And nothing compares to actually talk to the man that grew those plants and find out straight from the source what was used to grow the vegetables or what they fed their cattle. Local goods are also, most of the times, fresher. It came from the field to the market and then to your table. It did not spend several days in trucks or warehouses.
Here are some reasons to go local: 1. Eating local helps sustainability. If we manage to understand the relationship between economical and social integrity inside local food systems, we will start healing our societies ecological and social wounds.

2. Local is fresher. Most of the meat and fruit sold in supermarkets is older than local market goods, for the simple fact that large masses of food cannot be exactly calculated or sold entirely. Also, the transportation time is smaller

3. Eating local means more for the local economy. Studies show that $1 spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy. American farmers, on average, only gain 20 cents of each dollar spent for food, the rest going for packing,

Module 3 Food Freedom: The Easy Way to Cut Dangerous Industrialized Food From The Menu

processing, transportation and other marketing costs. If they manage to sell directly to local customers, they receive the full retail value, a dollar for each food dollar spent.

4. Eating local provides more meaningful food choices. We brag about the incredible range of choices that consumers have in the modern supermarket today. But we only refer to sizes, shapes, and colors of foods. Choice exist, no lie told there, but is also severely limited; all food items in supermarkets and franchise restaurants today are produced using the same mass-production, industrial methods, with the same negative consequences for the natural environment and for civil society. Choice is, thus, superficial. By eating local, food buyers can get the food they actually prefer rather than accept whatever is offered in the supermarket. Local means authentic.

5. Eating local improves food quality. Produce picked and eaten at the height of freshness tastes better, and local farmers are not as pressed to pick to early in order to make it to the shelf. Eating local also encourages eating seasonally, in harmony with the natural energy of a particular place.

6. Environmental Protection. Eating local promotes biodiversity and is better for air quality and pollution because no fuel is burn for transportation. The average fresh food item travels about 1,500 miles from its points of production to final point of purchase. Reducing transportation does not save much money, but the ecological savings may be far more significant.