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FamilyFarmed.org is a revolutionary system connecting consumers and trade buyers with a network of organic farmers and artisanal food producers. Consumers meet their farmers and re-establish connections with their food, community, and the land.
The goal of FamilyFarmed.org is to fully develop the site into an interactive web community. Content expansion will include improved farmer bios and product descriptions, a photo “album” or video tour of the farm instead of a single photo, and an “Ask a Farmer” column. Producers will also be given the oppportunity to manage the content on their site. More advanced changes will focus on building community by creating an environment where visitors can not only find information, but also share it. This could include the opportunity for consumers to rate and give feedback on the farms and artisinal food producers in our network.We will also develop blogs for farmers, users, and familyfarmed.org staff and may add regular news feeds and other means to keep site content fresh in order to encourage more traffic and participation.

The Massachusetts-based nonprofit, the Food Project is putting on it's annual Eat In, Act Out Week, and you can participate! Next Week (July 31st-August 6th) make an effort to, eat in (use local food and cook food yourself instead of going out), and act out (speak up and take action to promote local food).
You can find places selling local food near you through the Local Harvest site, search for Eat In, Act Out events near you, or add your own, on the Eat In, Act Out Frappr Map, and read more about the Food Project on their blog.
I've been reading a lot about food lately because earlier this week I had the opportunity to interview Anna Lappé, author of Grub, and co-author, with her mother, Frances Moore Lappé, of Hope's Edge.
Here are are some links from the Community Food Audit form in the back of Grub (you can download it on their web site, too) to help you find your local:
* Farmer's market: Sustainable Table
* CSA Farm: Local Harvest and CSA & Robin Van En Center
* Food Coop: Cooperative Grocer
* Grocery Store with Local Foods: Foodroutes.org
* Organic Meat & Dairy/Egg Provider: Eat Well Guide
* Community Garden: American Community Garden Association
* Elected Officials: Congress.org
* School Food Resources: Farm to School and Farm to College
* & Other Community Food Resources: Community Food Security Commission
Happy Eating!
Abby Rosenheck is the Executive Director of Urban Sprouts, a San Francisco non profit that teaches young students how to grow, harvest and prepare organic vegetables in their school gardens. (See their profile in Net Squared In Action)
For the past 5 months, Rosenheck has been blogging as part of the organization's larger communications strategy. She has found the medium to be a very effective use of her time and the Urban Sprouts blog is a great example of how a small organization can build community and visibility with new web tools.