Many Americans are being forced to eat at home after food in flation hit its highest in 20 years.
It isn't easy to buy the brands we are used to and loyalty to our favorite grocery stores is being challenged.
Bread, ground beef, milk, chicken, apples, tomatoes, lettuce, coffee and orange juice are among the items that cost the most, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Making superstores like Walmart, now account for 24 percent of the market.
This need to eat at home can also be solved by growing some foods in your own garden. All of your produce can be grown organically in your back yard.
Helping to find a guide to organic gardening can help you determine what supplies you need and how to care for your plants.

Are you a locavore?

What is a locavore you ask, well it is the 2007 New Oxford American Dictionary of the year.

A locavore is someone who either buys all their food from farmers' markets and other fresh locally owned growers or grow and pick their own food.
Locavores also do not buy food from supermarkets because of the amount of fuel used to transport the food to the stores.
The guidelines for being a locavore are: buy foods that are locally produced, if not locally produced, then buy organic. If not organic, then buy from family farms or local businesses. If the food you want is not available, buy Terrior, "taste of the earth". Terrior foods are foods that are famous for the region they are grown in.
The term "locavore" was brought about two years ago by a group of women in San Fransisco. The women who coined the term, Lia McKinney, Jessica Prentice, Dede Sampson and Sage Van Wing, defined a 100-mile area around where they live, calling it a "foodshed", and began to encourage others to eat within their "foodshed" too.
The movement argues that locally-grown organic food is better tasting and more nutritious. The past year has seen the trend of eating seasonal foods without preservatives rise a lot.

Fair Trade making green tea a little greener

Green tea has been found to help with with all types of ailments, from depression to high cholesterol. Catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the key ingredient in green tea. EGCG is a very strong anti-oxidant. Can this stuff get any better for our health? Yes.
Many organic green tea merchants sell their product through Fair Trade, like choiceorganicteas.com. Choice Organic Teas tries to raise awareness about the benefits of using organic teas.
In 2000 Choice Organic Teas became the first tea distributor to adopt the Fair Trade practices. Fair Trade certification addresses unfair practices in traditional trade, which has been known to discriminate against low-income workers in third-world countries. Products from economically developed countries, including the United States, do not qualify for Fair Trade certification.
When shopping for your green tea check the lable and make sure that it is organic and part of Fair Trade. Simple thinks like changing the brand of tea you drink can improve the quality of your health and the quality of life for impoverished famers and their families across the world.