Issue:

Current commercial food distribution ships food around the world, lowering quality, wasting fuel, and disrupting local markets.  Oil reserves are being depleted to move food to lower cost production facilities.  Local agriculture suffers when imported food is brought in at a lower cost.  The hidden price of pollution, war, natural resources, and human suffering are not visible in the cheaper products from abroad.

Local agriculture is one fifth that of just 50 years ago.  If we are to survive when the true cost of food production has to be paid, we must act now to preserve small farms and markets.   

To recap the issues: 

• Widespread food imports are seen as a threat to food safety
• Food imports are growing and using an increasing amount of fuel
• Imports result in costs to those least able to afford it
• The current agricultural system is an unsustainable drain on natural resources

Belief:

I believe there is an intrinsic value in knowing where the food I eat comes from. The safest and best food I have ever eaten comes from farmers and food producers who I know.

I believe there has to be a change in the way America produces its food supply.  To continue along the current path will cause irreparable harm to the environment and, eventually, human society.

I believe that change is possible one person at a time, and despite the large scale of the current food crisis, each and every one of us can make a difference.