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In our modern society as things become automated, valuable knowledge and genetic diversity is being lost because individuals and the communities they live in have become detached from their food supply. The individual in general gives little thought to where their food comes from and how it gets there. Most people’s knowledge ends at the grocery store shelves. Most take for granted all the individuals, time and energy involved in getting their steak from field to fork. The internationalization of food production has created a bad case of the haves and the have not’s. One group can easily control another simply by controlling the food and water supply, therefore it is necessary for both individuals and the communities they live in to become educated about and involved in the production and distribution of their food sources, this in tern will create a conscious, conscientious society, and healthy empowered citizens. The first step is always education, as technology advances and knowledge about sustainable farming practices increases; people have begun to forget even the basics about what they eat and how it got there. Mindlessly eating a frozen burrito, or the burger from a fast food chain happily ignorant to the damage they are doing to their bodies and the environment because of the choices they make or are not making. Individuals need to understand the wheres and the hows to make responsible choices about what they are consuming. According to one study from the Humane Society, “Production of chicken meat, for instance, requires 14 times as much energy and 40 percent more cropland per unit of protein as the production of soybeans.” People need to understand fully that the steak they eat was once a cow and that the eggs they eat indeed came from chickens; apples do grow on trees and so on and so fourth. Comprehension that the hamburger they are eating was once a cow that ate grass and grain and was most likely factory farm raised in a filthy, congested environment, shoved into a truck, went to market, and was finally slaughtered having its throat slit while still alive so it bleeds out faster. . Large feed lots of animals create even larger amounts of waste, they not only smell bad,(there is nothing like driving past a chicken farm in the summer the stench is enough to turn ones insides out)but the animals are usually confined to windowless sheds, or open air mud lots. This type of production also creates problems for the local water supply if waste seeps into ground water. “A North Carolina study of nearly 1,600 wells adjacent to hog and poultry operations showed that 10 percent of the wells tested were contaminated with nitrates above the drinking water standard, and 34 percent were contaminated with some level of nitrates.[7] Another study in that state found severe seepage losses of nitrogen from more then 50 percent of the lagoons tested by the state, posing a risk to groundwater.” The mass amounts of space, energy and money involved never mind the toll it takes on the people working in these environments; could easily be compensated for if individuals understood that eating low on the food chain and locally not only takes less energy, but feeds more at the same time. The family farm (meaning a farm run by an individual or small group) provides another option. Individuals can easily grow enough produce that is acclimatized to their area to supplement their diets while collaborating with neighbors to fill other nutritional needs. The family farm reduces the need for the local community to rely on outside help to sustain its citizens, while keeping knowledge about farming viable and preserving heirloom vegetables and livestock. The family farm strays away from acres of the same plant usually requiring enormous amounts of water and pesticide. Smaller tends to maintain standards of responsible animal husbandry and quality over quantity, while still allowing for a fair market price. “The word "organic" refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weed killers, organic farmers may conduct sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay.”- Mayo Clinic When people begin to understand how their food choices affect the world around them, often times they see the connection between a grains based diet and a meat based one. Grain based diets require less energy and water to produce and distribute, where as the same grain in a meat based diet goes to feed livestock instead of people. This adds an entirely new set of expenses and energy consumption. Grain and vegetable based diets are also better for health reasons as animal products contain high amounts of fat and cholesterol. An individual can personally connect themselves to their food simply by having a small garden. Even tomatoes growing in pots on the porch create a physical and psychological connection to understanding the ways of the universe through food. The act of cultivating earth to plant, the time and commitment involved in getting the plant to not only grow but produce food, fosters respect for not only the plant but the food itself. This connection is important for humans to maintain because it reminds us of universal cycles, and our connection to earth. There are many important reasons for localizing a community’s food supply. One being that it supports the local economy by keeping the production and distribution jobs in the community. This creates a sustainable symbiotic economic relationship with in the local community, because the money being paid in wages goes back into the local economy when the workers in turn buy food from the local market, or trades for other goods or services. The second and more important reason for localizing the food supply is independence. When a society i.e. community can feed its own people, it does not need to depend on outside sources for help. It also creates a unique opportunity for the community as far as having valuable produce to trade in exchange for other things. With all the talk in our country about the world as we know it ending, food and water would be more valuable then money. Think again on the haves versus the have not’s. Or better how we citizens of the United States are controlled by what we consume, and how we consume it. How different things might be if individuals and communities took back control of what they were eating'