There is a lot we can do to reduce the carbon footprint of our food, while also supporting the kind of farming practices that build the soil and local food resilience.

• Shop the farmers market. The closest one is the Midtown market, across from the YWCA on Lake Street.

• Buy Minnesota-grown produce, fruits, honey and meat. The Seward Co-op labels local food so you can choose to eat local.

• Join a CSA (community-supported agriculture, with deliveries direct from the farm into the neighborhood)

• Join a local buying club. Ask folks on the Transition Facebook group if they participate in a buying club. There are at least two that deliver nearby.

YOU CAN GROW YOUR OWN!

If you have a sunny space in your yard, you're in luck! Transition Longfellow helps neighbors in the 55406 zip code install raised-bed gardens each May with our CHARD YOUR YARD program (see below). If your yard is too shady, consider:

• Asking a neighbor with a sunny yard if you can grow in their space, sharing the bounty.

• Joining a community garden:

  • The oldest remaining Victory garden in the US - the Dowling Garden.

  • Minnehaha Ave Community (MAC) garden at at 3128 Minnehaha Ave S

  • 32nd St Community Garden at 3209 29th Ave S. (contact Eric Hart)

  • Hiawatha Community Garden

Help us determine the fate of Chard Your Yard 2020

Visit www.Chardyouryard.com to contribute to our discussion about this threatened annual neighborhood event.

Transition Longfellow partners with Hennepin County master gardeners to bring their 4-part series, "Veggie Growing Basics" to our neighborhood in April.

If you've got a gardening, food growing, cooking, preserving, sewing, repair, building skill that you'd like to share, contact us.

Occasionally, small groups get together to take a field trip. We've gone berry picking and visited a farm with pasture-raised cows and free-range chickens. We've attended movies, talks and conferences together.