Thank you for your thorough and informative response. Your “village” in Finland sounds to be promoting just the ideas, Food, Inc discusses, and I wish you success with this venture!

You are quite right, buying as locally as possible is a very important part of looking at what we are eating. And yes, turning the mirror towards ourselves really is the main goal, because the big companies will continue to produce what is in demand, so until we, as consumers, change that demand, no real change will be made.

Here in America, produce, meat, and goods, often travel thousands of miles to reach consumers. By shopping at farmers markets, from stores that stock local products, and from local farms, you are ensuring both a better quality product, and one that hasn’t undergone changes to allow it withstand the wear and tear from long distance travel. You are supporting your local economy, and using your dollars to vote for sustainable, responsible living.

Thanks for reading and again I wish you luck with your ventures in Finland!

Katherine

I think that transportation is not only about wasting (if there is a solution nearer) fossile fuels, but also a ‘time-question’ = fresher food. I’ve been in the straw-berry business and long transportation ruined (40 years ago) the straw-berries.
The answer then, was not shorter transportation, but new sorts of berries, harder and more durable. Unfortunately they do not taste as good as the ‘sloppy ones’

I live in Finland, and we are building a “Artisan- and Handicraft-village”. Beside that, we will have a free Fairy Tale-forest for kids and local meat walking around: Cows, pigs, hen, lamb. [You did not think about anything else, did you?]

We are not “hippies moving back to the country-side”, but people that wants other people to know about art, handycraft, the culture of old building-methods, and what they really eat; courses but also “just walking around” as the small persons, the kids, are climbing the Pirate-ship or visiting Red Riding Hood’s grand-mothers house.
That is about our goal.
There is a good book, [Äkta vara], in Swedish only, about “what are these e-numbers and other chemical stuff in the food”. Quite shocking that we do not have any real food anymore, as everything has to last, through the chain, as long as possible. And people do not buy, if it does not.
So, I think that the question should not be, that we blame the companies, but that we should use the mirror and think a little bit.
And above all we should find the ‘gray facts’, not only the shocking head-lines. The facts can be found in the net, unsorted, but more sorted in the nearest library. Or book-shop.
But we also need international cooperation, because the facts can be nicely sorted and documented, but in the “wrong” language.

Anyhow, I put here my “How to reach us”-info, if you do not mind:

Here in Finland, we will build straw-bale houses. The original idea comes from USA, some hundred year back.
If you would like to see pictures and drawings from our project [partly Underground straw bale house], you find pdf-files in English and Finnish here:

http://provillage.wordpress.com/

More rendered 3D-drawings and pics, a lot about building straw-bale houses and all kind of related stuff. We discuss here:

http://henry.blogit.uusisuomi.fi

Even if it is in Finnish, you will understand most of the 3D-drawings and what they are connected to.
You can also comment in English, Russian, Chinese, Swedish, Norwegian or Arabic.
It does not matter which of these languages.

We are interested in all kind of international cooperation.

Henry Björklid