Food, Water & Air

Food and Farm

Food is any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol.

Although many human cultures sought food items through hunting and gathering, today most cultures use farming, ranching, and fishing, with hunting, foraging and other methods of a local nature included but playing a minor role.
Most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy. Many cultures have diversified their foods by means of preparation, cooking methods and manufacturing. This also includes a complex food trade which helps the cultures to economically survive by-way-of food, not just by consumption.

Many cultures study the dietary analysis of food habits. While humans are omnivores, religion and social constructs such as morality often affect which foods they will consume. Food safety is also a concern with foodborne illness claiming many lives each year. In many languages, food is often used metaphorically or figuratively, as in "food for thought".
Source: Wikipedia/Food
Photo: Food

Local Food and Farm Resources:
Allyson's Kitchen
Ashland Food Cooperative
Barking Moon (poultry)
Costco (Medford)
Four Winds Buffalo (meat)
Gooseberries (Grants Pass)
Go Sustainable (farm labeling)
Living Oneness Foundation (farming community near Mt.Shasta) and Shamhala-Shasta
Market of Choice
Rogue Valley Growers and Crafter's Market
Ruch Country Store
Shop N' Cart
Willow-Witt Ranch (meat and dairy)
[SUGGEST LOCAL FOOD & FARM RESOURCES IN DISCUSSION FORUM]

Local Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA's):
Ashland Village Farm 301 6447
Barking Moon Farm 846-6297
Blue Fox Farm
Fry Family Farm
Garden Basket 201 0372
Happy Dirt Veggie Patch 499-4903
Meadowlark Family Farm 820-8182
Siskiyou Sustainable Cooperative
White Sage Gardens 488-7489

Local Restaurants:
Dragonfly Cafe and Restaurant
Greenleaf
Grilla Bites - Member
Morning Glory
[SUGGEST LOCAL RESTAURANTS IN DISCUSSION FORUM]

Local Wineries and Resources:
Conscious Wines
Valley View Winery
Wild Wines
SUGGEST LOCAL WINERIES IN DISCUSSION FORUM]

Food and Farm Resources:
Acres USA
Alchemical Solutions (organic alcohol)
Anastasia's Garden
Alchemical Solutions
Bright Earth Foods (superfoods)
Cascadian Farms
Cell Tech
Co-op Directory Service
EcoTrust (farm to school programs)
Edible Communities
Edible Publications Directory
Essential Living Foods
Food Quality
Local Harvest
Oregon Farmer's Market Association
Open Source Food
Organic Food
Organic Gardening Magazine
Organic Producer Magazine
Raw Built Magazine
Raw Foods Superstore
Rising Sun Farms
Sunfoods (superfoods)
Survival Foods and Basics
Sweet Creek Farms
The Future of Foodby Deborah Koons Garcia
The Natural Market
Whole Foods Market
World Pantry
[SUGGEST FOOD & FARM RESOURCES IN DISCUSSION FORUM]

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Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor. About 1.460 petatonnes (Pt) of water covers 71% of the Earth's surface, mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation. Saltwater oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes and ponds 0.6%.

Some of the Earth's water is contained within water towers, biological bodies, manufactured products, and food stores. Other water is trapped in ice caps, glaciers, aquifers, or in lakes, sometimes providing fresh water for life on land.
Water moves continually through a cycle of evaporation or transpiration (evapo-transpiration), precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Winds carry water vapor over land at the same rate as runoff into the sea, about 36 Tt per year. Over land, evaporation and transpiration contribute another 71 Tt per year to the precipitation of 107 Tt per year over land. Clean, fresh drinking water is essential to human and other life.

However, in many parts of the world - especially developing countries - there is a water crisis, and it is estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability. Water plays an important role in the world economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70% of freshwater is consumed by agriculture.
Source: Wikipedia/Water
Photo: Iceberg

Water Resources:
Arundhati Roy (activist)
Global Hydrology Resource Center
Multi-Pure Drinking Water Systems (household)
Pur Water Filters (survival or camping)
Sea Surface Temperature Charts
Water Pollution
Water Quality
[SUGGEST WATER RESOURCES IN DISCUSSION FORUM]

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Air

The Earth's atmosphere (i.e., air) is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, trace amounts of other gases, and a variable amount (average around 1%) of water vapor. This mixture of gases is commonly known as air.
The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation and reducing temperature extremes between day and night.

There is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. It slowly becomes thinner and fades into space. Three quarters of the atmosphere's mass is within 11 km of the planetary surface. An altitude of 120 km (~75 miles or 400,000 ft) marks the boundary where atmospheric effects become noticeable during re-entry. The Kármán line, at 100 km (62 miles or 328,000 ft), is also frequently regarded as the boundary between atmosphere and outer space.
Source: Wikipedia/Air
Photo: Atmosphere

Air and Oxygen Resources:
Alpine Air Products (low-grade air purification system)
Air Pollution
National Air Quality and Act (1967)
Flood Your Body with Oxygen by Ed McCabe
Healthy Transformation (high-grade ozone air purification systems)
Oxygen Medicine
Oxygen Therapies
Ozone in the Atmosphere
[SUGGEST AIR RESOURCES IN DISCUSSION FORUM]

Mission Statement and Purpose:

For the health and well-being of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies we're fed with living, organic food grown in healthy soil with clean, fresh water to drink and clean air/oxygen to breathe.

Eating nutritious food prepared with loving hands, not with chemical additives and preservatives, but with life force intact to deliver sustenance to our human expression.

Topical Index & Tags

• Air
• Addiction (Alcohol, Food, Drugs, Pharmaceuticals, Sugar)
• Agriculture and Farming
• Diet Programs
• Farming & Gardening
• Food Distributors
• Food Organizations
• Health & Wellness
• Hemp
• Hunger
• Macrobiotics
• Media<<br /> Natural Antibiotics and Disinfectants
• Natural Beef
• Natural Nutrition
• Permaculture
• Raw Food
• Water

Note: These group "About" pages will emerge into wiki-like summaries of the best resources and information gleaned from member and organizer contributions to discussions, events, blogs, photos, slideshows, videos on the Ashland Resource Center. You may suggest resources to be included in this profile by submitting them in the discussion forum.