Food Independence Day!

It’s Nearly Independence Day Weekend! This Fourth of July, try declaring your Food Independence.  Kitchen Gardeners International started an initiative a couple years ago to encourage “first families” or governor’s families to “eat by example” by sourcing their meals locally.  You can find out more information here http://www.facebook.com/FoodIndependenceDay and petition your first family here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/153. 

Purchase your Fourth of July feast locally, it's patriotic!  The editorial “Dangerous Imports" in the New York Times on June 24, highlighted the dangers of importing food from abroad.  Nearly two-thirds of the fruits and vegetables and 80% of the sea food we eat here in the US is from abroad.  These concerns are mainly in response to the E Coli infections in Europe and North America which were first blamed on organic growing methods.  It has become clear, as more E. Coli cases are discovered, that the international, unregulated nature of global food imports and exports is to blame. 

Buying local supports the American economy, buying local organic improves environmental quality where you live, and both benefit you and your families’ health.   

Having trouble planning a local July fourth meal? Think about local brews instead of imported beer, local grass-fed beef if you eat meat, local potatoes for your potato salad and Mother Nature Network can provide you with a couple more ideas: http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/connecticut/local-blog/best-july-4th-recipes

Happy Independence Day!