Tomorrow, declare your Food Independence

If you’re an organized person, you planned your Fourth of July menu weeks ago. You have a little menu card, a shopping list. Actually, you probably already shopped.

But if you’re the rest of us, there’s still time to prepare properly for the Fourth of July. And by properly, I mean, there’s time to declare your Food Independence.

Kitchen Gardeners International is the instigator and sponsor of Food Independence Day, along with the IATP Food and Society Fellows and the Mother Nature Network. You can participate by simply preparing your Fourth of July feast using locally-sourced ingredients.

At the Food Independence Day site, you can also sign a petition asking the nation’s 50 governors and their families to help with this effort. Signing the petition will put you on the map…literally…of people who are participating on the holiday.

After seeing Food Inc. last month, I became even more determined to do what I can to heal our broken national food systems. Taking a day—or, just a meal—or, just one dish on your holiday table—to eat locally makes a statement. This is not shouting into the wind. If anything, it’s a resounding shout in support of local farmers, local purveyors, and food that heals our nation and our planet rather than hurts it.

I’m going to get up and go to the farmer’s market today. I don’t know what I’m going to prepare, but I promise I’ll report back early next week with news of my fully-local meal. After all, as far as I’m concerned, eating can be as much an act of patriotism as waving a flag.

What locally sourced ingredients will be on your table this Fourth of July? Share your ideas and food finds in the comments below.