Before the advent of modern transportation and storage systems, eating locally grown food was the norm–as it still is in many parts of the world. Within our memories we see our parents and grandparents with hands full of fruits and vegetables from their gardens or gardens nearby. Eggs, milk, and meat also came from local sources…. Today, the average food item travels more than a thousand miles before it lands on our tables. We have become distant from our food, and not just in terms of geography. Who grows our food? What are their lives like? How is the soil tilled, cultivated, and prepared for the next year? How are the animals treated in life and in death? What are the growing conditions of the fruits, vegetables, and grains we eat? How does their production affect the land and the people who raise them?